SCARBOROUGH, Maine — The holiday season is fast approaching, and so are the package and mail shipping deadlines.
The United States Postal Service's Southern Maine processing and distribution center said it's preparing for a busy season.
Plant manager Michael Mitchell said it was hard last year for employees to keep up because of pandemic-related issues.
"Trying to hire during COVID, and also the impacts the COVID pandemic had on our workforce, and our people still came to work every day," said Mitchell.
American Postal Workers Union Local 458 President Scott Adams said he saw more mail last year than ever before.
"We know people got used to ordering online. They realized how easy it is to have their parcels delivered right to their door, and we anticipate we will have a large volume once again," said Adams.
They both advise people to ship early.
USPS 2021 holiday shipping deadlines
- Dec. 17 — First-Class Mail service (including greeting cards)
- Dec. 17 — First-class packages (up to 15.99 ounces)
- Dec. 18 — Priority Mail service
- Dec. 23 — Priority Mail Express service