The final stretch to Christmas 2022 is here. The Postal Service has been preparing for the holiday peak for a long time. That peak time lasts between Black Friday and New Year’s Day.
“Preparations include converting 100,000 workers to full time since the beginning of 2021, with more than 41,000 part-time workers converted to full time since January 2022,” according to a statement. “A national drive began in October to hire an additional 20,000 seasonal employees, an extra 10.5 million square feet of space has been added to the network to process packages, 23 temporary peak annexes have been opened in addition to the 48 parcel support annexes opened for peak 2021, and we’ve installed 137 new package sorting machines.”
They added, “This brings the organization’s total to 249 new processing machines since the launch of the Delivering for America plan in March 2021. The new equipment combined with increased operational and network improvements will expand the organization’s package processing capacity to 60 million packages a day.”
2022 Holiday Shipping Deadlines:
The Postal Service recommends the following mailing and shipping deadlines for expected delivery by Dec. 25 to Air/Army Post Office/Fleet Post Office/Diplomatic Post Office (APO/FPO/DPO) and domestic addresses*:
Dec. 16 — APO/FPO/DPO (except ZIP Code 093) USPS Priority Mail Express Military service
Dec. 17 — USPS Retail Ground service
Dec. 17 — First-Class Mail service (including greeting cards)
Dec. 17 — First-Class packages (up to 15.99 ounces)
Dec. 19 — Priority Mail service
Dec. 23 — Priority Mail Express* service
Alaska
Dec. 18 — Alaska to/from continental U.S.– First-Class Mail and Priority Mail
Dec. 21 — Alaska to/from continental U.S.– Priority Mail Express
Hawaii
Dec. 17 — Hawaii to/from mainland – First-Class Mail and Priority Mail
Dec. 21 — Hawaii to/from mainland – Priority Mail Express
*Not a guarantee, unless otherwise noted. Dates are for estimated delivery before Dec. 25.
