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Holiday package shipping deadline approaches

USPS carrier Michael McDonald gathers mail before making his delivery run in February in Atlanta.
David Goldman
/
AP
USPS carrier Michael McDonald gathers mail before making his delivery run in February in Atlanta.

The United States Postal Service says deadlines are fast approaching to get holiday packages to their destinations on time. Today is the last day to ship items by to members of the military serving overseas. Those packages will have to be sent by priority mail or first class.

Debra Fetterly with the U.S. Postal Service says there are time saver tools for customers to use when time gets short for shipping things.

“We have a program called click and ship where you can create your labels at home, or we have free carrier pick-up," she said. "If you go online to USPS.com, and sign up, you have your carrier pick up your packages for free.”

Fetterly says re-using cardboard boxes to ship holiday items is fine, if customers remove all previous address labels.

“It’s always a good idea to protect your identity," she said, "and, if you use a used box, be sure that all the information, including prior addresses, return or and send to, are removed from the box, and that the box is still sturdy.”

Fetterly also suggests avoiding mistakes that shippers seem to make year after year. One is using twine to wrap holiday packages which can get tangled in mail sorting machines.

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