JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, Texas –
The United States Postal Service is expecting another extra busy holiday season this year, estimating the delivery of nearly 15 billion pieces of mail and 900 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
A continued surge in online shopping, buoyed by guaranteed free shipping from many internet retail merchants, is contributing to an upswing in mail traffic during the weeks before Christmas.
“With the economy as robust as it is, people are taking advantage of free shipping during the holiday season,” said Jeff Sanna, USPS sales and services associate at the Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph postal facility. “From what I’ve seen, there’s been a big upsurge in mailings.”
Because of the heavy volume this season, it’s imperative to mail Christmas cards and packages as early as possible, he said.
The families of service members deployed overseas or assigned to installations outside the United States should especially pay heed to the postal service’s annual advice to mail early.
To ensure timely delivery of priority and first-class mail, USPS recommends mailing cards, letter and packages to Air/Army Post Office, Fleet Post Office and Diplomatic Post Office ZIP code 093 no later than Dec. 4 and to other APO/FPO/DPO ZIP codes by Dec.11.
The postal service’s other recommended deadlines are Nov. 27 for space-available mail, Dec. 4 for parcel airlift mail and Dec. 18 for Priority Mail Express Military Service, which is available to selected military and diplomatic post offices.
Domestic mailing deadlines for delivery by Christmas are Dec. 14 for USPS retail ground, Dec. 20 for first-class mail and priority mail, and Dec. 22 for priority mail express.
USPS offers a reduced price of $17.40 on its largest priority mail flat rate box for mail sent to APO/FPO/DPO destinations worldwide, which is a $1.50 discount from the regular price.
Priority mail flat rate
boxes are available at no cost at post offices and also can be ordered online at store.usps.com/store/home.
The postal service also offers a free military care kit for presents and care packages, available by calling 800-610-8734. The kit contains two priority mail APO/FPO/DPO flat-rate boxes, four priority mail medium flat-rate boxes, priority mail tape, priority mail address labels and appropriate customs forms.
Special care should be used in sending packages to APO/FPO addresses. The service member’s full name should be included along with the unit, APO/FPO address and nine-digit ZIP code, but not the country’s name. A return address is required.
To meet the holiday rush, postal service carriers will be delivering parcels seven days a week starting Nov. 18 and ending on Christmas eve, Sanna said.
Retail hours at JBSA USPS locations are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, 1804 Stanley Road; 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday at JBSA-Lackland, 2261 Hughes Ave.; and 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Friday at JBSA-Randolph, 220 B Street West.
JBSA post office phone numbers are 210-226-0089 at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, 210-671-0952 at JBSA-Lackland and 210-652-2606 at JBSA-Randolph.