PRINCETON, WV (WVNS)– The United States Postal Service is going through its peak holiday season which started back on Thanksgiving Day and spans to New Year’s Day.

This means folks are out buying and shipping gifts across the country.

Susan Wright, who works for Corporate Communications for the postal service said they released recommended ship-by dates for holiday gifts.

“There are many customers this is the only time of the year they actually do mail packages so we want to assist them by giving them guidelines to ensure that their packages arrive in time for the holidays,” Wright said.

Wright said they’ve hired additional workers to keep up with high demand and put more helpful resources in place in order to get gifts where they need to go.

“We have installed an additional 137 package sorting machines across the country and that has increased our package sorting capacity to 60 million packages a day,” Wright said.

And one deadline is approaching less than two weeks away.

“Military mail going to APO/FPO addresses, the recommended ship-by date for priority is December 9th,” Wright said.

If you plan on using USPS Retail Ground Service or the First Class Mail Service, you have until Saturday, December 17, 2022, to ensure your loved ones receive gifts by the holidays.

If you’re using Priority Mail you have until Monday, December 19, 2022, and if you plan on using the Priority Mail Express Service, you have until Friday, December 23, 2022.