USPS says to ship Christmas packages ahead of time

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - The United States Postal Service (USPS) has an important holiday message for everyone: Send your gifts ahead of time. This is to ensure your loved ones who are far get their gifts in time for Christmas.

USPS has three different shipping services to guarantee gifts are delivered in time for the holidays.

"Express is guaranteed delivery and we get two days for that; it's one or two days depending on the state. The second one is Priority; that's between two to three days. There's an estimate you get with the priority but we do provide shipping supplies for that," said Leonardo Serrato, a carrier for the San Luis Post Office.

There is also Ground Service which takes three-to-five days.

If you are sending military mail overseas, you need to ship your packages between December 11 to the 15. For international mail, you can still use Priority Mail Express. 

The Postal Service recommends to plan ahead because activity increases significantly right before Christmas Day.

"During the season, we have a volume increase of 40% here in San Luis, so we need to keep that in mind as well. Another thing to keep in mind for our customers is that once the packages gets here, and is address correctly, we keep it for 15 days," Serrano shared.

One local, Daiela Leal, said she learned her lesson and now she's working to get ahead of the rush.

"Anything can happen. That's why I order everything ahead of time...maybe three weeks before Christmas. Same thing sending gifts," Leal added.

Larry Dean, the San Luis Post Office Postmaster, advises residents to use the parking lot next to the post office to avoid heavy traffic and accidents.

"I do suggest to use that parking lot. [It's] easier to get in and out that way and walk to the post office, and keep in mind, there are a lot pedestrian in the parking lot, so we need to make sure we are paying attention while we drive out there," Dean remarked.

If you have any other questions about shipping your holiday gifts in time, go to your local post office.