If you?re planning on sending a box of chocolate-chip cookies to your son or daughter serving overseas, it?s go time.
“For Military families and friends who are planning to ship overseas, we recommend you start now,” said Freda Sauter, spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service for the Baltimore region.
For soldiers serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, the last date to ship is Dec. 4, but shipping by Dec. 11 should ensure delivery to other parts of the world, she said.
For major mail-handling operations such as the Post Office, UPS and FedEx, the next month represents the Super Bowl of mail and shipping, except this main event begins the second week in December and lasts about two weeks.
“It?s very busy for us for the holiday season. We?ve been gearing up since August and September for this,” Sauter said.
Within the United States, letters and cards can be mailed up to Dec. 20, Sauter said. Express mail ships as late as Dec. 22 to arrive by Christmas. The Postal Service expects to handle 20 million pounds of mail to military installations around the world.
A lot of people are shopping online and seeking free shipping deals. Forrester Research estimates online shopping could hit $33 billionbetween Thanksgiving and Christmas. That?s up 21 percent from last year.
For Tom Michaels, who owns several UPS franchises, including one in Odenton, the season is “never a dull moment.
“It?s actually a lot of fun,” Michaels said. “I tell my employees after Thanksgiving we need all hands on deck, then it just builds from there.”
Michaels does a lot of packaging through the season, helping people ensure their valuables arrive intact, no matter how delicate or cumbersome they are.
“The most unique thing we ever had to package for shipment was a mannequin. That felt a little strange,” he said. Curiously, they also tend to package a good number of models of tall ships, due in part to Maryland?s seaport heritage.
Shipping deadlines
If you plan to ship, you may need to hustle, the early deadlines to get packages to your loved ones are coming up fast.
» Dec. 4: USPS shipping to conflict areas and Africa.
» Dec. 11: Military mail to other destinations
» Dec. 15: Domestic packages
» Dec. 20: First-class mail/priority mail domestic
» Dec. 22: USPS express mail domestic
» Dec. 25: FedEx same-day domestic
The USPS also offers a Military Care Kit ? a flat-rate box, tape and packaging materials to ship Priority mail at a flat-rate cost. The kits can be obtained at 1-800-610-8734.
