APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – If you’re wondering how much time you have left to ensure your gifts arrive on time this holiday season, some important dates to remember have now been released.
Shipping deadlines for USPS, UPS and FedEx are out, and some shipping service retailers are already seeing quite an uptick.
“Very busy!” general manager at Appleton’s UPS Store Bobbi Stern said. “Yesterday, we were extremely full, as far as packages being dropped off.”
For the UPS Store, Monday seemed to be a never-ending flow of packages and customers.
Stern tells FOX 11 on just that day alone the store processed over 700 packages.
“We were starting to overflow into the front here, as far as packages that needed to be picked up. They brought an empty truck, and we filled it!”
Normally, the Appleton UPS Store starts to see an influx of customers shipping gifts around the first couple weeks of December. Business began flooding in as soon as November hit.
Workers there say, this time this year, don’t be surprised to see a line out the door.
“Not unusual at all!” Stern said. “The thing is, we have such a system down that you’re not waiting in line for hardly any length of time.”
Now, with two of the biggest shopping days wrapping up, the UPS Store expects to see even more customers walking through its doors.
Stern says there are a few things you can do to help speed up the process.
“Be prepared when you come in – be prepared with that address that you want to send it out to; if your return requires packaging and you aren’t gonna take advantage of the packaging services that we offer, have that ready to go,” she said.
And as for those Amazon returns, in particular?
“There’s always a code that needs to be scanned, screenshot that, have it ready to go when you get up to the line,” Stern said. “That will save you a lot of time.”
The UPS Store says, if you haven’t shipped your gifts, do that as soon as possible. That way, if there is a shipping delay, you’re still getting them to their final destinations before Christmas.
Here are the recommended ship-by dates for gifts to be delivered in time for the Dec. 25 holiday, which lands on a Saturday this year:
USPS:
Continental U.S.:
Dec. 15: USPS Retail Ground Service
Dec. 17: First-Class Mail Service (including holiday greeting cards)
Dec. 18: Priority Mail Service
Dec. 23: Priority Mail Express Service
USPS For Air/Army/Fleet/Diplomatic post office addresses:
Nov. 6: USPS Retail Ground Service
Dec. 9: First-Class Mail Service
Dec. 16: Priority Mail Service
Dec. 16: Priority Mail Express Military Service
FedEx:
Dec. 9: FedEx Ground Economy
Dec. 15: FedEx Ground and Home Delivery (including Alaska and Hawaii)
Dec. 21: FedEx Express Saver
Dec. 22: FedEx 2Day and FedEx 2Day AM
Dec. 23: FedEx Overnight
Dec. 24: FedEx Same Day
UPS:
Dec. 14-16: UPS Ground (It can take from 1 to 7 business days with ground. For more accuracy use the UPS Time and Cost calculator to find the last shipping date)
Dec. 21: UPS 3 Day Select
Dec. 22: UPS 2nd Day Air services
Dec. 23: UPS Next Day Air services
Dec. 25: No UPS pickup or delivery service (UPS holiday)
