The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an independent Federal agency that’s responsible for offering mail delivery services across the United States (U.S). USPS is also known as postal service, U.S. mail, or the post office. This department was founded in 1792 under the leadership of Benjamin Franklin as the first postmaster general.
In 1872 the department was promoted to a cabinet, and it later transformed into an independent agency in 1970 following the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970. Since then, USPS has been growing and has become a source of income for many citizens. Although digital services briefly disrupted employment in the Postal Office, the agency still offers employment to 516,500 people as of 2021.
Like regular employees, these people have day-offs, and they celebrate holidays. The postal services may not be available to serve you during these days, but it’s nothing you can’t wait. For that reason, it helps when you understand the working schedule of USPS. What are their operating hours? Are they open on holidays? Is there a mail delivery today? This article will not only answer these questions but will discuss other information concerning the post office.
Is There Mail Delivery Today?
Whether you’re a seller, buyer, or regular person sending a package, you want to ensure that the delivery will make it on time. That’s why the answer to the question, “Is there mail delivery today?” is very important before you send out a package.
You first need to know the USPS delivery schedule to answer that question. Luckily, all post offices, local or national run-on standard business hours. Therefore, expect the office to be open between 9 am to 7 pm local time, every Monday to Friday.
Although the post office strives to ensure all its deliveries are on time, there’s no specific delivery time. When would your package be delivered depends on several factors, such as:
- How many items were dispatched that day? The higher the volume of packages for dispatch, equates to the time the delivery will take.
- The specific day it was dispatched.
- The location where it was stored before delivering
- The location of the warehouse where it’ll be picked
- Extreme weather conditions- just like any other logistic task, mail delivery can be hindered by extreme weather conditions like storms, hurricanes, and snowstorms. For example, if a snowstorm forces transportation to stop, expect your delivery to delay significantly.
- Other factors that can delay delivery include a power outage, sudden illness or accidents, and transportation mechanical problems, to mention a few.
That being the case, you have to wait for the notification to pick up your package. There are days when USPS services aren’t available such as during federal holidays. Here’s the USPS 2022 holiday schedule for your reference:
- January 17 – Martin Luther King Jr.
- February 15 – Presidents’ Day
- February 21 – Washington’s Birthday:
- May 30 – Memorial Day:
- June 19 – Juneteenth National Independence Day. Monday, July 4- Independence Day
- September 5 – Labor Day:
- October 10 – Columbus Day:
- November 11 – Veterans Day
- November 24 – Thanksgiving
- December 25 – Christmas Day.
- December 31 – New Year’s Day
As mentioned before, during the holidays listed above, mail delivery services aren’t available. However, in some offices, the services are available for only a few hours before the workers close for the holiday. It’s advisable to check with your local office to be sure if USPS services are running on that given holiday.
Christmas holidays are the busiest time of year for USPS, they usually extend working hours due to the bulk of packages needed to be delivered right in time for Christmas. On the other hand, some offices with lesser workload may decide to have limited hours during the Christmas holidays. However, every local post office is required to post its Christmas schedule earlier for people to have a reference regarding their working hours. So, make it a point to check your local post office Christmas schedule.
Alternatively, you can check on your local post office working hours during the Christmas holidays by using the Find USPS location and entering your area zip code online.
What Is A Priority Mail?
A priority mail is part of the USPS classes of mail. As the name suggests, these kinds of mail are prioritized in delivery. It only takes one to three business days for it to be delivered. They also allow to prioritize the delivery of heavier packages of a maximum weight of 70 pounds.
Due to the speed of delivery and associated weight, this type of mail is expensive to send. However, it’s suitable for people who need to send and receive their shipments immediately. Moreover, due to the level of urgency for fast delivery, priority mails are delivered even during weekends and on holidays.
Does USPS Work On Weekends?
Yes, there are mail delivery services on weekends, although weekends refer to only Saturdays. Sunday is considered rest day even though there’s a category of mails that are delivered on this day which will be discussed later on.
Even with the availability of USPS on Saturday, there’s an exemption. The types of mails delivered on Saturday usually depend on their category. For example, priority mails and priority mail express may be delivered on a Saturday while first-class mail, standard post, and medial mail products will not.
What About Sunday?
The only types of mails delivered on Sunday are amazon packages and priority mails. The move to authorize deliveries on weekends was made in a bid to save the dwindling USPS service industry. Due to technology, people have found faster means to communicate and send packages. As a result, most people stopped using the post office, which led to a loss of income for the industry.
While the option would have been to close down the USPS services, it wasn’t possible since a few people still use it to run their businesses and personal life. Therefore, to boost income generated from the delivery of U.S. mails and packages, the government allowed deliveries of even on weekends.
During this time (2013), USPS and Amazon struck a deal that postal services would deliver Amazon packages. The condition is that the deliveries will be done every Monday to Sunday. Since then, USPS has been delivering amazon packages to Phoenix, New Orleans, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York.
To Sum It Up
USPS services are available on weekdays from 9 am to 7 pm. Priority mails and priority express mails are more likely to be delivered on a Saturday than other types of mails. Make this article your guide with regards to the USPS working days and schedule, plus, their holiday breaks. It pays to know this information to save you time and effort.