USPS prepared for its busiest week of 2025

Next week is the last week to get holiday gifts and greetings in the mail by the recommended deadlines for expected delivery at their destinations before Christmas Day, Dec. 25.

Customer traffic at all post office locations has steadily increased since Dec. 1, and this week is expected to be the busiest of the year.

U.S. Postal Service holiday schedule

Post office locations nationwide will be closed Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, 2026..

All post office locations will be open — and regular mail delivery will resume — Dec. 26 and Jan. 2, 2026, following each respective holiday.

Services and hours of operation might vary by location. Always check with the local post office for specific hours.

Visit the U.S. Postal Service website for more details.

2025 holiday shipping deadlines

U.S. Postal Service advises the public to make sure delivery of holiday packages and mailings is expected before Dec. 25 to send them by the following dates:

2025 holiday shipping dates for contiguous United States (mainland 48 states)

• Dec. 17: U.S. Postal Service Ground Advantage service and First-class Mail
• Dec. 18: Priority Mail
• Dec. 20: Priority Mail Express

2025 holiday shipping dates for Alaska, Hawai‘i, Puerto Rico and U.S. territories

• Dec. 16: USPS Ground Advantage service
• Dec. 17: First-class Mail
• Dec. 18: Priority Mail
• Dec. 20: Priority Mail Express

Postal officials also offer these tips:

1. Actual delivery date can vary and is based on origin, destination, post office acceptance time and other conditions.
2. For Priority Mail Express 1-Day shipments mailed Dec. 22-25, postage for the money-back, guaranteed service is not refunded if the shipment was delivered, or delivery was attempted, within 2 business days of the date of mailing.
3. Ground Advantage packages weighing more than 1 lb. shipped to or from offshore ZIP codes (Alaska, Hawai‘i, Puerto Rico and U.S. territories) could experience longer transit times and extended estimated delivery dates. Review the estimated delivery dates for these ZIP codes and adjust the shipping date as needed.
4. Excluding Puerto Rico, U.S. Postal Service does not process refund requests for guaranteed service on these items. Refund requests for loss will still be processed.

The Postal Service recommends visiting its holiday shipping web page for a complete list of suggested dates for customers sending packages to military or international addresses.

Modernization Investments

U.S. Postal Service has been prepping for the holiday peak season — the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day — since January.

Continued nationwide investment in modernization efforts resulted in more processing, logistics and delivery infrastructure capacity as the agency stays ahead of challenges and pulls together its people, technology, transportation, equipment and facilities into a well-integrated, streamlined mail and package network.

Network improvements even enabled U.S. Postal Service to outperform competitors last holiday season. The agency delivered 45% more packages and more than 350 million pieces of mail per operating day in December 2024 compared with competitors.

Key preparations for the 2025 holiday season include:

• Installation of more than 600 package sorters since 2020, including 94 this year. The machines have increased daily processing capacity to 88 million from 60 million.
• New service standards that enable U.S. Postal Service to expand its reach for turnaround service, or processing and delivering mail and packages within the same region. These enhancements now have a 2- or 3-day service standard.
• U.S. Postal Service receiving more than 36,000 new delivery vehicles to date. The organization expects to acquire a total of 106,480 new vehicles.
• Opening nearly 200 processing facilities nationwide in the past4 years. The new facilities ensure the agency has necessary space to not only process additional holiday volume but better serve customers all year.
• Nearly 232,000 pre-career employees converted to full time since 2020. A national drive began in October to hire an additional 14,000 seasonal employees — down from 40,000 just a few years ago. The seasonal workforce complements the full-time employees and better positions U.S. Postal Service to handle the extra holiday volume.
• Offering U.S. Postal Service Ground Advantage, with expected delivery in 2 to 5 business days; Priority Mail, with delivery expected in 2 to 3 business days; and Priority Mail Express, that gets packages and mailing to their destination in an expected 1 to 3 business days during the holidays. There also is $100 insurance and tracking included on most shipments.

The Postal Service also offers shipping tips in 10 video “how to” guides.

Each video is less than 3 minutes and touches on topics such as how to address packages, how to ship them and how to pack a box so items arrive safely.

Visit the U.S. Postal Service website for additional information about the holiday mail schedule, preparing packages, ordering stamps or free shipping supplies for the holidays, plus featured products and services.