FLORIDA — If you have procrastinated in mailing your holiday card or gift, this week is your last chance to make sure it arrives by Christmas.

The United States Postal Service has announced its deadlines for mail and packages to arrive by Dec. 25.

USPS Holiday Shipping Deadlines

  • Dec. 16 for mail to Alaska and Hawaii

  • Dec. 18 for ground and Priority Mail

  • Dec. 19 for Priority Mail

  • Dec. 21 for Priority Express Mail

USPS Post Master James Chambers said the Tampa area is seeing more mail and packages this year compared to last, and will receive and deliver hundreds of thousands of packages between now and the end of the year.

“It’s a challenging time of year for us, but we always try and staff up well, prepare our carriers. We have expanded delivery service hours to accommodate the extra workload,” Chambers said. “We have extra plans in place to time to deliver those extra packages earlier in the day, so we’ve got good plans.”

USPS says to save time in line, you can pay for postage and print labels online or at self-serve kiosks inside your local post office. Large packages will need to be dropped at the counter, or you can schedule a mail pickup at your home or business.