If you send Christmas joy through the mail, you better plan to drop it off soon. Major carriers like the United States Postal Service, FedEx, and UPS are forecasting hundreds of millions of letters and packages being sent in the coming weeks and are already anticipating slower delivery times. UPS says tight airfreight capacity, backlogs at ocean ports, and truck driver shortages are all adding to delivery times. Christmas Day is also a Sunday, which presents additional challenges because of the days off for delivery drivers. Renard’s Cheese owner Ann Renard says they have noticed an uptick in orders and a slowdown in deliveries, making the call to submit your orders even more urgent.

To get your Christmas cards and packages to their destination by December 25th, you must pop them in the mailbox by December 17th if you’re relying on first-class mail and retail ground service, December 19th for priority mail service, and December 23rd for priority mail express service.