Carriers Announce Shipping Deadlines, Same-Day Delivery Is Another Option

When the time comes for Same-Day Delivery to impact the carrier industry, it will. Yet for now, it is only fully moving and expanding within the retail industry.  It is what companies like Amazon, Google, BestBuy, and more have all embraced, making it a viable shipping option during this holiday shopping season.  Either way, carriers are not getting their shipping time frames to be performed as fast as same-day delivery primarily.  Their focus for the holiday season is to ensure that they are accurate on and before Christmas.

The USPS, FedEx and UPS have all announced their respective shipping deadlines for retailers and shoppers to get their packages delivered by the biggest holiday of the year.  Yahoo recently talked about how FedEx, UPS and others have all made public their shipping deadlines in order for shoppers to know the shipping options that are at their disposal.  With only two weeks before Christmas, consumers are likely to prepare now and place their orders so their holiday gifts can arrive on time.  For Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, shoppers are going to be buying and shipping more than in 2015.

The article mentioned how the carrier package forecasts confirms the growth in retail will result in an increase in packages shipped this year.  FedEx expects to ship 25 million packages on peak days during the holiday season.  UPS predicts it will deliver over 700 million packages between Black Friday and New Year’s Eve, which is 14% growth from 2015.  Also, the US Postal Service expects to deliver 750 million packages this holiday season, resulting in a 12% spike up from 2015 and the carrier has guaranteed domestic deliveries by Christmas.

FedEx, UPS and the USPS shipping deadline dates are below:

FedEx
Dec. 16 — Last day to ship FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery
Dec. 19 — Last day to ship FedEx Express Saver
Dec. 21 — Last day to ship FedEx 2Day A.M and FedEx 2Day
Dec. 22 — Last day to ship FedEx Standard Overnight, FedEx Priority Overnight, and FedEx First Overnight.
Dec. 23 — FedEx Same-Day City
Dec. 25 — FedEx Same-Day and FedEx Same-Day City
Also, FedEx First Overnight, FedEx Priority Overnight, and FedEx 2Day will make deliveries on December 24th.  A $16 Saturday delivery fee will apply per package.

UPS
Dec. 19 — Last day to ship via UPS 3 Day Select to be delivered before Christmas Day (delivery on Friday, Dec. 23).
Dec. 21 — This is the last day to ship all UPS 2nd Day Air packages to be delivered before Christmas Day (delivery on Friday, Dec. 23).
Dec. 22 — Last day to ship all UPS Next Day Air packages to be delivered on Friday
Dec. 23 — This is the last day to ship all UPS 2nd Day Air packages to be delivered before Christmas Day, which must use the Saturday delivery option for delivery on Saturday, Dec. 24

USPS
Dec. 15 – Last day for USPS Retail Ground. Ground service for less-than-urgent deliveries and oversized packages.
Dec. 20 – First-Class Mail. Service for standard-sized, single-piece envelopes and small packages weighing up to 13 ounces with delivery in 3 business days or less.
Dec. 21 – Priority Mail. Domestic service in 1, 2 or 3 business days based on where the package is mailed and where it’s being sent, variety of flat-rate options.
Dec. 23 – Priority Mail Express. Fastest domestic service, guaranteed overnight scheduled delivery to most locations.  Some restrictions and exceptions apply.

FedEx does have it’s Same-Day and Fed-Ex Same-Day City according to their deadline dates will be operating.  It shows that carriers are slowly creating a competency for same-day delivery.  However, if retailers and shoppers are looking for a delivery source where fast delivery is their expertise, a viable option is a Same-Day Courier like 1-800 Courier to get their holiday packages delivered fast.  The Chicago Courier has just the right solutions for the holidays to get in-store and online orders delivered by Christmas.

Reference: 12.5.16, Yahoo Finance, Brittany Jones-Cooper, Holiday shipping deadlines for UPS, FedEx and major retailers