Thanks to the holiday season, December is one of the busiest few weeks for shippers like the USPS and FedEx. Online shopping for gifts and the great deals many stores and companies are offering around the holidays causes an uptick in parcels in transport.
Most people want those packages by Christmas Eve or before, but for those who may have waited until the last minute to buy, they'll need to know whether their package will arrive on the Monday before Christmas.
Some companies have disclaimers at checkout to let their customers know the last date they can order and still expect to get their package by Christmas. Others don't, so shoppers should be aware they some things won't make it to them in time.
People who plan to ship their Christmas or holiday gifts to someone for the big day should also double check the last day they can ship items with different companies and still have the package make it there by Christmas. Each shipper is different so customers should check before shipping.
United States Postal Services
Some post offices might be closing early on Christmas Eve and the final collection from the blue boxes might also happen earlier than usually scheduled. The post office advises that anyone dropping mail at a blue collection box do it by noon at the latest. Mail will be delivered regularly as scheduled. For specific mail cutoff dates, shippers should check the USPS site.
FedEx
Some of FedEx's services will be limited on Christmas Eve day this year. There will be no FedEx Home Delivery or FedEx Freight and there will be modified hours for FedEx Office and FedEx Express. On Christmas Day every service with the exception of FedEx Custom Critical won't be open.
UPS
While Christmas Eve isn't a holiday observed by UPS there aren't full services on the day. There are limited options available, "UPS delivery service. Pickup service available only for Air and international Air packages if prearranged by Thursday, December 20. UPS On-Call Pickup service and UPS Drop Boxes are available for Air and international Air packages," according to the UPS site. On actual Christmas Day, there is no pickup or delivery service.
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About the writer
Nina was a breaking news reporter. She previously worked at Business Insider, The Boston Globe, and Boston.com.
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