Christmas is always the busiest time of year for postal services in the U.S., as everyone scrambles to get their presents posted to their loved ones before the annual celebration.
Christmas Day and Boxing Day are federal holidays, so will postal services be impacted on Christmas Eve, too?
As always with sending mail in the run up to Christmas, it's always good to send items earlier instead of later, where there may be a risk of the item missing the festive deadline.
United States Postal Services
USPS will be running on Christmas Eve, and local post offices will be open. Hours may be different to usual. Please check your local Post Office location for specific times.
For Blue Collection boxes, mail may be picked up earlier than usual. All regular mail will be delivered, as long as you drop off your mail before noon (even if the collection time on the box is later).
Post offices will be closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and mail will not be picked up or sent. The only mail that will be sent will be Priority Mail Express.
It is worth noting that post offices will be open and mail will be delivered on New Year's Eve but not New Year's Day, as locations will be closed and regular mail won't be delivered.
FedEx
On Christmas Eve, there will be modified services of FedEx Express, FedEx Home Delivery and FedEx Office.
FedEx Ground services will be closed, as will be FedEx Freight. Other FedEx services, including FedEx Custom Critical and FedEx SameDay City, will be open. The courier's shipping for Christmas will be affected from December 17.
On Christmas Day, every FedEx service will be not operating, apart from FedEx Same Day City (modified service) and FedEx Critical, which operate every day of the year.
Some FedEx locations will have modified hours before the holiday, so make sure you contact your local FedEx office to ensure you don't miss the postal deadline.
If you are unsure of the last days to ship, please check on the FedEx website.
UPS
UPS delivery for all services is available on Christmas Eve. Some UPS stores may have modified business hours, and it is advisable to check with your local store for specific hours of operation.
There is no UPS pickup or delivery services on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. UPS Stores are closed on December 25, though some will be open on modified hours on Boxing Day.
The UPS Express Critical service will continue on December 24 and 25. It is available 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. For more information, call 1-800-714-8779 or visit upsexpresscritical.com.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Jack Dutton is a Newsweek Reporter based in Cape Town, South Africa. His focus is reporting on global politics and ... Read more
