Shipping holiday gifts just got more convenient. The Great Bend Post Office at 2100 16th St. will extend its retail window hours to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9 and Dec. 16, Postmaster Travis Trendel said.
“As we count down to the holidays, we know how demanding the season can be as we rush to get everything done on time,” Trendel said. “Extending our Saturday retail hours will help our customers’ check holiday mailing off their to-do list.”
USPS employees will be available to help customers ensure their holiday packages are packed, tracked and delivered with ease. In addition to holiday Forever Stamps, Post Offices offer Priority Mail supplies and other packing items to provide customers with added convenience.
These include bubble mailers, shipping boxes, bubble wrap and packaging tape. Also available are a selection of greeting cards and gift cards.
Online services
Stamps and packaging supplies are available 24/7 online at usps.com where customers can also use their credit or debit card to purchase mailing labels for packages and then request a free carrier pickup for those packages the next business day.
“Customers can count on the Postal Service and our more than 640,000 dedicated employees to deliver their holiday gifts, cards and letters on-time this holiday season,” Trendel said.
The Postal Service expects to deliver more than 15 billion pieces of mail this holiday season, and a record 850 million packages, which is more than a 10 percent increase compared to 2016 holiday season. A similar increase is expected locally.
The USPS began expanding its Sunday delivery operations to locations with high package volumes on November 26th. Locally, people can expect Sunday parcel delivery on Dec. 10 and Dec. 17.
The Postal Service already delivers packages on Sundays in most major cities, and anticipates delivering more than 6 million packages on Sundays this December. Mail carriers will also deliver packages on Christmas Day in select locations.
The Postal Service offers a new service this year called Informed Delivery, which allows users to interact with their incoming mail and packages in one convenient, online location.
Informed Delivery is an optional notification service for residential consumers that sends an email to users containing images of the outside of letter-sized mail pieces that are arriving soon.
Users will also be able to view delivery status of packages, provide delivery instructions, manage their notifications, and schedule re-delivery — all from a smart-phone, tablet or computer.
Go online to informeddelivery.com to sign up for the free service.
Mail early
The U.S. Postal Service recommends the following Christmas mailing and shipping deadlines:
Military
• Dec. 11 - APO/FPO/DPO Priority Mail & First Class Mail
• Dec. 16 - APO/FPO/DP0 Priority Mail Express
Domestic
• Dec. 14 - USPS Retail Ground
• Dec. 19 - First Class Mail
• Dec. 20 - Priority Mail
• Dec. 22 - Priority Mail Express
Additional news and information, including all domestic, international and military mailing and shipping deadlines, can be found at the U.S. Postal Service Holiday Newsroom at usps.com/holidaynews.
