The United States Postal Service has announced the preparations they are taking to make sure holiday packages arrive on time during the 2024 peak holiday season and the deadlines to ship packages to ensure they arrive on time.

Here’s what you need to know if you’re using the U.S. Postal Service to send out packages by Christmas Day in the contiguous United States.

The USPS has released its holiday shipping deadlines for 2024, which include Dec. 18 for First-Class Mail Service and Priority Mail Service, Dec. 19 for Priority Mail Express Service, and Dec. 21

Customers shipping items nationally with ground advantage service, not including to addresses in Alaska and Hawaii, should mail their items by Dec. 18, the USPS said in a statement.

In response to a resurgence of COVID cases across the United States, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has announced it will deliver millions of additional at-home COVID tests to households nationwide. The effort is part of a new phase in the federal government's pandemic response,

If you’re shipping items internationally or by military mail, the USPS recommends sending them even earlier. For more information about holiday shipping dates and packaging guidelines, visit the USPS website.