Busiest day for holiday shipping? It’s every day. Here’s how to avoid the stress

Every day is a busy day when it comes to holiday shipping for Kansas postal carriers.

Due to an increase in early and online shopping for gifts, the United States Postal Service has said there is no longer a “busiest day” for holiday shopping.

Rather, the busiest time is from Dec. 18 through Dec. 24. They expect about 26 million packages to be delivered each day during that week, for a total of about 180 million packages.

In Kansas, postal carriers expect to deliver a record 5.6 million packages for the holidays, according to a release. That is a 10 percent increase over last year’s holiday season. Nationwide, a record 850 million packages are projected to be delivered this season.

“We have planned for this holiday season all year long and have flexed our network and expanded delivery hours to accommodate the increased volume,” said Wichita Postmaster Ryon Knopik. “We are delivering packages seven days a week in larger cities and smaller cities where volumes merit. Our carriers are also making morning and evening deliveries. Our goal is to provide outstanding service to our customers and ensure all those holiday cards and packages are delivered on time.”

Knopik also provided a few shipping tips to make your holiday shipping less stressful:

▪ Use the 24/7 Post Office in your home – You can ship your packages from home, and a postal carrier will come to your door to pick up your packages for free through Click-N-Ship.

▪ Use self-service kiosks – These are located in the lobby of three Wichita Post Offices: Corporate Hills, Downtown and at the General Mail Facility at 7117 W. Harry.

▪ Use informed delivery – This allows you to see what packages are in route and receive daily emails about what mail will be delivered. You can sign up for free at informeddelivery.com.

To make sure your cards and gifts arrive in time, USPS provided these suggested mail-by dates destined for U.S. addresses:

▪ Dec. 14 – Retail Ground

▪ Dec. 19 – First-Class Mail

▪ Dec. 20 – Priority Mail

▪ Dec. 22 – Priority Mail Express

For other holiday mailing tips, visit https://www.usps.com/holiday/.

This story was originally published December 14, 2017 at 11:26 AM with the headline "Busiest day for holiday shipping? It’s every day. Here’s how to avoid the stress."