2023 US Shipping Deadlines

November 16th, 2023 Comments off

In order to keep your customer satisfaction high during the busiest time of the year, it’s crucial to communicate holiday shipping deadlines to your customers. As a quick reminder, holiday shipping deadlines are the last dates to send a package with your chosen carrier for it to reach its destination by the holidays.

Applying these holiday shipping deadlines to services allows carriers to account for the higher shipping volume, ensuring your customer’s orders are under the tree and into stockings on time. The earlier you let your customers know, the better the customer experience…and the better the chance of getting great customer reviews and engagement during the holiday season. 

When do packages need to be mailed for Christmas delivery 2023?

Shipping deadlines will vary by the carrier and service, but most carrier deadlines range from 6-12 days before December 25th. It’s also important to note that domestic and international services each have their own set of shipping deadlines, so keep this in mind when preparing your holiday shipments. The domestic shipping deadlines for USPS, UPS, and FedEx can all be found below.

UPS® Holiday Shipping Deadlines

  • UPS 3 Day Select®: Tuesday, December 19, 2023
  • UPS 2nd Day Air® services: Wednesday, December 20, 2023 or Thursday, December 21, 2023 with Saturday Delivery options
  • UPS® Ground: Check ups.com/ctc for details
  • UPS® Ground Saver: Check ups.com/ctc for details
  • UPS Next Day Air® services: Thursday, December 21, 2023, or Friday, December 22, 2023 with Saturday Delivery options

As a commitment to Stamps customers, UPS will not apply the recently announced Demand Surcharges†. Take advantage of discounts of up to 78% off on UPS® Ground shipments, up to 73% for UPS Next Day Air® and UPS 2nd Day Air® service, and up to 82% off on international services, with rates that include Fuel Surcharge and Residential Surcharge for all services and Delivery Area Surcharge for domestic services.*

*Discounts off UPS® Daily Rates. Rates are limited to shipping from the U.S. only. Rates and any applicable discounts are subject to change at any time without notice. Terms and conditions apply.

†Demand Surcharges are not applied to accounts opened on Stamps. 

USPS® Holiday Shipping Deadlines

In addition to these dates, USPS has confirmed that there will be no additional surcharges during the upcoming holiday season. This means that customers can fully enjoy the benefits of USPS services without worrying about unexpected costs.

  • USPS Ground Advantage™: Saturday, December 16, 2023
  • First-Class® Mail: Saturday, December 16, 2023
  • Priority Mail: Monday, December 18, 2023
  • Priority Mail Express*: Wednesday, December 20, 2023

USPS® Holiday Shipping Deadlines for Alaska and Hawaii

  • USPS Ground Advantage™: Saturday, December 16, 2023
  • First-Class® Mail: Saturday, December 16, 2023
  • Priority Mail: Monday, December 18, 2023 (Alaska), Saturday, December 16, 2023 (Hawaii)
  • Priority Mail Express*: Wednesday, December 20, 2023

FedEx® Holiday Shipping Deadlines

  • FedEx Ground Economy: Wednesday, December 13, 2023
  • FedEx Ground:  Visit FedEx’s website for more information about shipping deadlines for FedEx Ground® 
  • FedEx Home Delivery: Visit FedEx’s website for more information about shipping deadlines for FedEx Ground® 
  • FedEx Express Saver: Tuesday, December 19, 2023
  • 2Day & 2Day AM: Wednesday, December 20, 2023
  • FedEx SameDay: Friday, December 22, 2023

USPS, UPS, and FedEx shipping holidays 

All of the wonderful individuals who sort, handle, and deliver our mail and packages deserve a break during the busy holiday season too! Shipping holidays are designated days where postal workers, delivery drivers, and other people within this field are given time off and most or all services are suspended for the day. The shipping holidays for USPS, UPS, and FedEx are all outlined in the lists below. 

USPS shipping holiday schedule 2023*

  • Thanksgiving Day: November 23, 2023 
  • Christmas Day: Monday 25, 2023 

*Note: We’re only including the USPS holidays for the holiday season. A full list of USPS shipping holidays can be found on their website. 

UPS shipping holiday schedule 2023*

  • Thanksgiving Day: November 23, 2023 
  • Christmas Eve: December 24, 2023
  • Christmas Day: December 25, 2023

*Note: We’re only including the UPS holidays for the holiday season. A full list of UPS shipping holidays can be found on their website. 

Some of The UPS Store® locations may have modified business hours. Check with your local store for specific hours of operation.

FedEx shipping holiday schedule 2023*

  • FedEx shipping holidays vary by service and by date throughout the holiday season. Visit FedEx’s website for a complete list of FedEx shipping holidays. 

Unwrap branded notifications with Stamps.com 

You’ve communicated shipping deadlines to your customers. How else can you continue to improve customer satisfaction during the busiest shipping season of the year? Stamps.com merchants can enable branded ship notifications and branded tracking to give customers a personalized experience. 

Branded ship notifications allow your business to customize emails with your logo, preferred color scheme, and more. Additionally, your business can add social media links and promo messages to give customers access to special deals. Similar to branded ship notifications, branded tracking is a more personalized alternative to a traditional carrier tracking page. Our branded options can be enabled and customized throughout the year, so you aren’t limited to one specific message. Create shipping notifications in advance and cross another item off your to-do list, all while keeping the holiday season merry and bright for your customers. 

Make the holidays merry and bright with a 30-day trial to Stamps.com.

 

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