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NewsParcel Freight

Postal Service sets holiday delivery cutoff dates

Mark Solomon
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The U.S. Postal Service has announced 2024 tariff rates for shipping services. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

The U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday set its cutoff dates for shipments to be tendered in time to be delivered by Christmas Day.

Shipments moving under the Postal Service’s Retail Ground product must be tendered by Dec. 17 to arrive by Christmas, the Postal Service said. Retail Ground targets users shipping heavier packages who are willing to sacrifice faster transit times for lower rates.

Retail Ground, which is sold at postal counters to noncommercial customers, has a maximum weight of 70 pounds.

The same cutoff date will apply to First Class Mail service and shipments of up to 1 pound moving under the Postal Service’s First Class Package service, the Postal Service said.


The Postal Service set Dec. 19 for the cutoff deadline for Priority Mail two- to three-day delivery service. The agency set a Dec. 23 deadline for its Priority Mail Express overnight service.

Mark Solomon

Formerly the Executive Editor at DC Velocity, Mark Solomon joined FreightWaves as Managing Editor of Freight Markets. Solomon began his journalistic career in 1982 at Traffic World magazine, ran his own public relations firm (Media Based Solutions) from 1994 to 2008, and has been at DC Velocity since then. Over the course of his career, Solomon has covered nearly the whole gamut of the transportation and logistics industry, including trucking, railroads, maritime, 3PLs, and regulatory issues. Solomon witnessed and narrated the rise of Amazon and XPO Logistics and the shift of the U.S. Postal Service from a mail-focused service to parcel, as well as the exponential, e-commerce-driven growth of warehouse square footage and omnichannel fulfillment.