We all know the United States Postal Service is busy around the holidays. Not only do they have to get all of those letter to Santa to the North pole on time, but they are also rushing to get Christmas cards, letters and packages to their destinations in time for the holidays. According to several spokespersons from the USPS, Monday, December 16 will be the busiest day of the year.

USPS estimates some 600 million packages and letters will go through post offices across the country Monday. Many USPS offices will be processing and delivering mail on the next two Sundays in order to make sure everything gets to its destination in time.

“We’re expecting an uptick of three times our normal volume. On a regular day we might have a million pieces of mail go through our system here in Cleveland, up to 3 million on that day,” said Van Allen, USPS Regional Spokesman in Cleveland.

If you still have more packages or letter to send before Christmas, don’t worry there is still time. The USPS has released a schedule that will tell you what date you need to send your letter and packages by in order to ensure that they are delivered on time. It is as follows,

1. First class: ship out by December 20

2. Priority mail: ship out by December 21

3. Priority express: mail by December 23

Always make sure all packages and letters are clearly marked with addresses and have the proper postage page when you send them. This will make sure there is no delay and everything can be processed and delivered quickly.

Image from Wikimedia Commons.