When's it Too Late to Ship Holiday Packages?

Thanksgiving and Black Friday are already behind us, and with their passing the the holiday shopping season is in full swing.

But what is the point of all of that shopping if your perfect gift doesn't reach the intended recipient on time?

Fear not, we've assembled some shipping information to make sure that fruitcake, or sweater or Furby arrives by Dec. 24.

Below are deadlines and policies for the United States Postal Service, UPS and FedEx.

United States Postal Service

Deadlines for domestic shipping:

• Parcel Post: Dec. 14
• First-class mail: Dec. 20
• Priority Mail: Dec. 21
• Express Mail: Dec. 22

Locations

• USPS Brookside: 2 E Main St Mendham, NJ 07945
• USPS Mendham: 2 Tempe Wick Rd Mendham, NJ 07945
• USPS Chester: 1 Sentry Ln Chester, NJ 07930

Extras: The USPS website has deadlines for shipping internationally and to military personnel. You can also order packaging supplies, holiday stamps, and find store operating hours on the USPS website.

FedEx

Deadlines for domestic shipping:

• FedEx Ground/Home Delivery: Dec. 17
• FedEx Express Saver: Dec. 19
• FedEx Overnight: Dec. 22
• FedEx Same Day: Dec. 25

Locations

• Fedex Drop Boxes in the Chester area are: at the Chester USPS, Chester Woods Bus Condo, Markowitz Law Office.
• Fedex Drop Boxes in the Mendham area are: Outside the Mendham USPS and Jockey Hollow Professional Park

Extras: The FedEx website offers location information and ideas for packing and shipping holiday items. It also outlines a suspension of certain money-back guarantees for services from Tuesday December 18 through Monday December 24.

UPS

Deadlines for domestic shipping:

• UPS 2nd Day Air: Dec. 20
• UPS Next Day Air: Dec. 21

Locations:

• UPS Store Mendham: 88 E Main Street, Mendham NJ 07945-1832
• UPS Store Chester: 95 West Main Street Chester, NJ 07930

Extras: UPS has normal delivery service for air, international and ground packages on December 24 and no pickup or delivery on December 25. Visit the UPS website for details on international shipping. Click here for the complete UPS 2012 Holiday Shipping schedule.

Do you ship any gifts for the holidays? What is your preferred shipping method? Let Patch know in the comments.