2016 Post Office Holiday Hours: Is There Mail Delivery Christmas Eve Or Christmas Day? UPS, FedEX, USPS Schedule Dec 24-26

What time does the post office close on Christmas Eve and will USPS, FedEx, and UPS be delivering on December 24? If you are waiting for a package to be delivered, or need to ship one out, the holiday hours vary for all three shipping companies so you may want to cross your fingers and hope that your gifts arrive before Santa does.

Christmas falls on Sunday this year, so that is stirring up some confusion as to which days the USPS will be closed. According to the Office of Personnel Management, when a holiday falls on a Sunday, the holiday is observed on Monday. That means Christmas Eve (December 24) is your last chance to get mail delivered until Tuesday, December 27, but even the post office holiday hours the day before Christmas will be brief.

Here’s the latest scoop on holiday mail delivery schedule as well as the Christmas Eve hours and delivery schedules for the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, and FedEx.

Before we get to the holiday hours for the USPS, UPS, FedEx, here’s something to keep in mind if you’re a little late shipping out gifts and holiday cards. At this point, it may be too late for them to arrive in time for Christmas unless you pay big money for same-day or next day shipping.

According to the official USPS website, the shipping deadline for Priority Mail Express packages is December 23. UPS customers will have to use UPS 2nd Day Air and choose Saturday delivery to get their packages delivered on Christmas Eve. FedEx packages must be shipped by FedEx First Overnight, FedEx Priority Overnight, and FedEx 2Day to arrive on time.

2016 Post Office Holiday Schedule

Christmas Eve: Your mail carrier will be out and about on Christmas Eve, but doors to local post office branches will close by noon at most locations. If you have a package that’s out for delivery, chances are it will arrive on your doorstep on Saturday, but according to the U.S. Postal Service all post office locations will be closed on Christmas Day and Monday, December 26, so if it doesn’t arrive, you won’t see it until the USPS resumes delivery on Tuesday, December 27.

Christmas Day: There will be a limited staff working on December 25, and only Priority Express Packages will be delivered.

Any mail that is dropped into the iconic blue post office boxes during the holiday weekend will be collected but won’t be processed until the day the next business day — December 27. Use this handy tool to find a USPS collection box near you.

2016 UPS and FedEx Holiday Schedule

UPS and FedEx observe a number of federal holidays, and Christmas is one of them. With Christmas Eve and Christmas Day falling on the weekend this year, all of your packages will have to be delivered by Friday, December 23 if you want to get them in time for Christmas.

FedEx is offering limited service on December 24 and 25, with only the priciest of services available for holiday delivery. According to Federal Express website, FedEx SameDay service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for urgent shipments.

There will be no FedEx Ground or Home Delivery service on December 24 and 25. Drivers will deliver FedEx SmartPost packages on Christmas Eve but will not make pickups. All FedEx offices will be closed on Christmas Day.

According to the United Parcel Service (USPS) holiday calendar, all UPS Worldwide Express, UPS Next Day Air and UPS 2nd Day Air packages will be delivered on Christmas Eve. There will be no pickups for UPS Ground, Standard, or 3-Day Select packages until Tuesday, December 27.

UPS deliveries will not be made on Christmas (December 25) and the company officially observes the holiday on Monday, December 26. Only packages marked “Custom Critical” will be delivered on Monday; all other deliveries will be made when business resumes on December 27.

[Featured Image by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]