How to make sure your holiday package is delivered on time and skip the line at the post office

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - Holiday shopping means holiday shipping, and the United States Postal Service is getting ready to deliver more than 28 million packages per day between Dec. 16 and Dec. 21.

With the holiday rush, its good to remember that the longer you wait to ship your package, the longer it will take to get there.

Thanks to online shopping, USPS projects 800 million packages to be delivered between Thanksgiving and New Years Day.

"Make sure that they're early, that they're addressed properly and that the right postage is on them," said USPS Idaho Falls supervisor, Mike Fugh.

As far as the right shipping time for your package, "If it's going oversees like to military, it's December 9th, December 11th, and December 18th would be the latest on those. Any other mail, the last day to get anything there on time would be priority express mail which would be December 23rd, priority mail would be December, 21st," Fugh said.

USPS also wants to remind you to clear walkways and approaches to the mailbox, if it's too dangerous for the mail carrier to access, your package will not get dropped off.

Finding the perfect time to ship your holiday packages without waiting in a long line at the post office can seem impossible, but it can be much simpler than you think.

At the USPS Idaho Falls location, you can visit a self-service kiosk that runs 24 hours a day, even when the post office is closed.

The kiosk guides you through the questions a human teller would ask you about your package, then it weighs the package and then prints out your postage. Then you just drop the package in the designated drop off and you're done.

"With holiday shipping, this is a faster way to get through the line. Our lines do back up, especially with international packaging and everyone trying to mail everything to their loved ones, this is a quicker way to get through the mail," Fugh said.

The kiosk can be used for other services as well like renewing a passport, looking for a package, looking up a zip code and purchasing stamps. It accepts either a credit or debit card, no cash or checks.

USPS also offers a ship online service, that allows you to skip the trip to the post office.