Believe it or not, today is actually USPS’s busiest day of the entire year. With Christmas only eight days away, packages and letters are flooding postal service locations around the country. The holiday season rush is expected to reach its peak today.

According to UPI, the United States Postal Service projects that more than an estimated 6 million customers will utilize domestic postal service locations to ship packages. An additional 6 million will add to the growing number of shipments by completing purchase transactions over the Internet, adding shipping specifications via USPS.com. The package processing total is expected to exceed approximately 600 million pieces of mail.

While the average consumer would easily assume that shipping packages today would ensure delivery for Christmas there can be instances were delivery issues may arise. For this particular reason, USPS has urged consumers to ship as soon as possible. With Thurs., Dec. 19, being declared ‘the heaviest day for deliveries,’ guaranteed delivery dates will be much more difficult to project and promise.

USPS took to Twitter to inform customers of the heightened shipping demands, in an effort to raise awareness of the countdown to Christmas.

Today marks the Postal Service’s busiest mailing day with more than 607 million pieces of mail processed! pic.twitter.com/zqntS7KCX2

— U.S. Postal Service (@USPS) December 16, 2013

It has also been announced that Dec. 17 will be the last official day for shipping service to the military. Dec. 20 will mark the last day for First Class Mail shipment to arrive on time for Christmas day. However, Priority Mail Express will be accepted through Dec. 21 with a guaranteed delivery date of Dec. 23.

USPS also provided a download link for the  USPS Tracking mobile application, which can assist customers in keeping up with the delivery status of their packages. The app can definitely prove to be useful during the hectic holiday season.

With our free mobile app, you can use USPS Tracking™ to view package delivery status and much more! pic.twitter.com/UfPUn9n6tN

— U.S. Postal Service (@USPS) December 13, 2013

But, if you want to reduce your level of stress and get that special gift delivered on time for Christmas, it’s recommended that you do so no later than Thursday. Otherwise, your package will become a New Year’s Eve gift!

Image via Wikimedia Commons | USPS