Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

Holiday shipping deadlines are approaching if you want your gifts to arrive in time for Christmas.

This Saturday is the U.S. Postal Service deadline for both ground advantage and first-class mail – including greeting cards. The deadline for priority mail is next Monday, December 18.

“Please have everything packaged and ready to go so it doesn’t hold up the lines and we can move smoothly through everything,” says John Grable, a postal clerk in downtown Howell. “There’s different requirements and limits for everything, so just be honest when we ask you the HAZMAT question and make sure you tell us if anything is liquid or fragile.”

“There’s $100 of insurance on every package that’s mailed. They’re pretty good at estimating the time, but getting tracking on anything that’s even a little valuable because things get pretty crazy this time of year.”

The deadline for FedEx ground/home delivery is this Wednesday. Three-day select at UPS is next Tuesday, December 19.