Christmas-time is the peak season of shipping. During the days leading to Christmas, truckloads upon truckloads of packages arrive at post office and shipping hubs to be delivered to their destinations in time for the Holidays. While the postal service and most shipping companies claim that they have the manpower, equipment and system to efficiently deal with the high volume, glitches and accidents still happen during such period, leading to delayed deliveries.
If you want to avoid additional stresses and have your holiday presents arrive on time, here are some things to do that can help you ensure that your packages do no get caught in the holiday rush.
Plan ahead. Do your your holiday shopping early so you have enough time to wrap, pack and ship the presents. Then, send them out early, or at least two weeks before the big day.
Choose the right gift. Apart from something that the recipient will like, also consider buying a gift that you can ship easily. A great choice would be something that can easily fit into a box, does not require special packaging and can survive the bumpy trip.
Package safely. Use the appropriate supplies and enough amount of packing materials to keep your item protected from impact and heavy load. During peak season, your package may be exposed to rough handling due the high volume of shipments. Make sure that the box you are shipping in is sturdy and can withstand other heavy boxes placed on top of it. Carriers usually load their trucks to the brim during peak season to deal with the high volume so your package should be strong enough and will not break even when placed under a pile.
Remove shipping labels when re-using a box. If you have to re- use a shipping box, make sure to take out labels and bar codes from previous shipments. This is to prevent confusion by shipping personnel or scanning machinery. Errors caused by old labels can lead to lost packages and delayed delivery.
Address the gift properly. Aside from placing a label with the address of the sender and the recipient on the outside of the package, it is a good idea to place the same information on an index card and insert inside the package. In case the outer label is destroyed during transit, the extra address card inside can provide shipping personnel with information as to the destination of the package.
Keep your tracking numbers handy. You have enough things to be stressed about during the holidays so don’t add worrying about your shipments to the list. Use your tracking numbers to pinpoint the whereabouts of your package and advise the recipients when to expect its arrival.
We hope these tips will help you get all your holiday shipping accomplished with less stress and more time to spare to enjoy this most wonderful time of the year.