National Carrier Holiday Schedule And Services
E-commerce merchants know that business never stops, not even over the holidays. However, there will be certain days at the end of this year in which deliveries will not be made. These days are reserved for food, family, and rest.
Knowing the national carrier holiday schedule and services in 2021 will allow you to plan accordingly and will allow you to better communicate with your customers to ensure they have the best shopping experience possible.
While there is a bit of overlap between the carriers, the recognized holidays and types of services do differ.
USPS Holiday Schedule
Since the USPS is a federal agency, they follow the same holiday schedule that all federal employees do. During these holidays, USPS will not be delivering any products or mail.
- Monday – October 11, 2021 Indigenous People’s Day (Columbus Day)
- Thursday – November 11, 2021 Veterans Day
- Thursday – November 25, 2021 Thanksgiving
- Saturday – December 25, 2021 Christmas
It’s important to note that since Christmas falls on a Saturday this year, most federal employees will not be working on December 24, 2021.
For a complete list of USPS holidays, click here.
UPS Holiday Schedule
Since UPS is a private company, it doesn’t operate under the same carrier holiday schedule as the USPS. However, because UPS works with the USPS for certain services, those services may be interrupted due to the USPS holidays.
Monday October 11, 2021 Indigenous People’s Day (Columbus Day)
- UPS store locations will be open. Pickup and delivery services will also be available. However, UPS Mail Innovations and UPS SurePost deliveries are going to take an additional business day in transit because the USPS will not be operating during this holiday.
Thursday November 11, 2021 Veterans Day
- Pickup and delivery services will be available. UPS stores will also be operating under normal business hours. Similar to October 11, UPS SurePost and UPS Mail Innovations will need an extra business day due to the USPS closing on this date.
Thursday November 25, 2021 Thanksgiving
- UPS store locations are closed and no pickup or delivery service will be available.
Friday December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
- UPS Air and International Air is only available if it was prearranged by Dec. 17, 2021. There will be no Ground Service pickup. Delivery for all services will be available and store locations will have modified hours of operation.
Saturday – December 25, 2021 Christmas
- UPS pickup and delivery services will be available. All UPS Store locations will be closed.
Friday – December 31, 2021 New Years Eve
- UPS Air and international Air services will only be available to those who have prearranged those services by December 24, 2021. Ground service pickup will not be available. However, UPS delivery for all service levels will be available. Store locations will have modified hours so shippers are encouraged to check their local UPS store hours before going.
Saturday – January 1, 2022 New Years Day
- UPS pickup and delivery will not be available and UPS stores will be closed.
It is worth noting that UPS Express Critical services will be available through all of these dates. However, this service is aimed towards those with emergency shipments. Online merchants are encouraged to be proactive when shipping during the holiday season.
For a complete 2021 UPS holiday schedule click here.
FedEx Holiday Schedule
FedEx follows a very similar carrier holiday schedule to UPS in that not every holiday is recognized like the UPS. However, certain services are affected by the USPS schedule.
Monday October 11, 2021 Indigenous People’s Day (Columbus Day)
- All FedEx delivery types will be available and FedEx offices will be open this day. However, FedEx SmartPost deliveries will be delayed because of the USPS observation of the holiday.
Thursday November 11, 2021 Veterans Day
- This will follow the same schedule as the holiday before in that FedEx offices will be open and all delivery types will be available. FedEx SmartPost services will take more time because the USPS will be shut down for this holiday.
Thursday November 25, 2021 Thanksgiving
- All FedEx delivery services will be closed for Thanksgiving. FedEx offices will also be closed for the holiday.
Friday December 25, 2021 Christmas Eve
- FedEx Express will incur a modified service. FedEx offices will also undergo modified hours of operation. All other FedEx services will be open with the exception of FedEx Ground Economy and FedEx Freight.
Saturday December 25, 2021 Christmas Day
- All FedEx Services will be closed as well as all FedEx offices.
Friday December 31, 2021 New Years Eve
- FedEx Express and FedEx Freight will incur a modified service. FedEx Ground Economy will be closed for New Year’s Eve. FedEx offices will incur modified hours of operation. All other FedEx shipping services will be open.
Saturday January 1, 2022 New Years Day
- All FedEx Services will be closed on New Year’s Day.
Also similar to UPS, FedEx has a dedicated 24/7/365 shipping service known as FedEx Custom Critical. Again shippers are encouraged not to rely solely on this service, but rather to be proactive in shipping before these key dates.
For a complete list of FedEx services during the 2021 holiday season, click here.
Stay Organized While Choosing Carriers, Printing Labels, and Shipping Orders During the Holidays
The holiday season is the busiest time of the year for e-commerce merchants, which means staying organized and driving efficiencies will be critical to shipping out orders on time.
Shippo allows users to generate cheaper shipping labels, organize orders, and track shipments across multiple sales channels. No matter the time of the year, having these features can save you time and money.
To learn more about shipping during peak season or tips on shipping products during the holidays, visit our holiday shipping center.
