The U.S. Postal Service will be adding Sunday delivery this holiday season to make sure delayed deliveries doesn’t happen again.
The extra delivery day will be added in major cities and high volume areas starting on Nov. 17 through Christmas Day, the USPS said today. USPS expects a double-digit growth in package shipping this season, so the extra day is necessary to make everyone happy by Dec. 25.
“The Postal Service will be out making deliveries every single day during the holiday season, including Christmas Day,” Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a statement. “During the holidays, no carrier makes more deliveries to more places than the Postal Service, and this year, we’re raising the bar with enhanced tracking and Sunday delivery.”
They expect to ship between 450 million and 470 million packages this season, up around 12 percent from the same period last year.
Today’s announcement is likely in response to the kerfluffle the shipping industry faced last year. UPS and FedEx were criticized for not getting packages to their destinations last year, with UPS claiming that the number of packages were more than expected.
The absolute last day you can ship an item and expect it to arrive by Christmas Day is on Dec. 23 for Priority Mail Express packages. Here’s the deadlines:
Dec. 2 – First-Class Mail International/Priority Mail International
Dec. 10 – Priority Mail Express International
Dec. 15 – Standard Post
Dec. 17 – Global Express Guaranteed
Dec. 20 – First-Class Mail/Priority Mail (domestic)
Dec. 23 – Priority Mail Express (domestic)
It’s also another move to give USPS some added life, since it did threaten last year to stop Saturday deliveries. Eventually, USPS backed down, agreeing to keep Saturday delivery.