Dash Holiday Cards To The Mailbox By Thursday

All Post Offices Open Christmas Eve, Many Closing Early

Are you dashing through the snow with errands left to go? More than 251,000 delivery routes around the nation will dash out with millions of holiday cards and packages throughout this weekend.

Local residents need to dash to a mailbox, too, to be part of those Christmas deliveries:

Postal officials say Thursday is the last day to deposit stamped cards and Priority Mail packages for receipt by the holiday.

For last-minute shoppers and shippers, the Postal Service offers three ways to make spirits bright:

Automated Postal Centers: APCs are stand alone Post Offices that can dispense stamps, be weigh and measure packages, print postage and accept credit cards.

In this region, there are 12 APCs located at Post Offices in Clifton Park, Glens Falls, Latham, Plattsburgh, Rome and Watertown. There are three in Albany (the Karner Road General Mail Facility, Colonie Center and Stuyvesant Plaza) and three in Syracuse (the Taft Road General Mail Facility, Carousel Center and Teall Station).

usps.com: Calculate and print postage, find a Post Office or ZIP code and request a free package pickup online.
Express Mail Service: Express Mail for delivery in major metropolitan areas will be accepted through Saturday, Dec. 22 for guaranteed delivery in major markets by Christmas Day.

The Postal Service provides a money-back guarantee that all Express Mail sent by Dec. 22 will be delivered by Christmas Day. Gifts sent by Express Mail are automatically insured for $100.

On Christmas Eve, Post Offices will be open but many will shorten retail lobby hours. Regular mail delivery for Dec. 24 will be unaffected.

“As many businesses close early Christmas Eve, the number of customers visiting our lobbies greatly diminishes,” said U.S. Postal Service’s Connecticut District Manager, Edward Phelan Jr. Revised hours will be posted at each Post Office.

Mr. Phelan said the last collection of mail deposited in blue collection boxes for Dec. 24 processing will be noon. Commercial customers are asked to check with their Bulk Mail Acceptance Unit for Dec. 24 hours of operation.

All regular postal operations, including window services and delivery, will resume Dec. 26.

# # #

Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/news.

An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation, 146 million homes and businesses, six days a week. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products, and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.