Will UPS And FedEx Deliver Packages This Christmas Weekend? Here's The Answer

The holiday season is always hectic. There are decorations to put up, presents to buy, sweets to bake, dinners to prepare, family photos to take, and cards to send out. It can feel scattered at the best of times and downright chaotic when things start falling behind–especially when it comes to shipping gifts. Whether you're picking out fun tech gifts or something for the car lover in your life, you want to ensure the package arrives on time.

December is the busiest time of the year for delivery services like UPS and FedEx. You've probably seen fleets of delivery trucks making constant rounds through your neighborhood as these unsung heroes endeavor to get everyone's packages delivered on time.

But this year is a little different than most. December 25, 2023, lands on a Monday, meaning the last few days before Christmas will be part of the preceding weekend. This has left many gift senders wondering if their packages will be able to get under the tree before Christmas morning. So will delivery trucks be on the road, or will Santa's sleigh be the only one dropping off presents?

UPS is one of the biggest delivery systems in the U.S., and many people rely on its regular service hours to get their packages delivered on time. Luckily for them, it seems that UPS will mostly operate like normal in the days leading up to Christmas. According to the official website's 2023 Year-End Holiday Schedule, normal pickup and delivery services will be available Monday, December 18 through Friday, December 22. There will also be special Saturday pickup and delivery services on December 23. All services, except UPS Express Critical, will be closed on December 24-25 in observance of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

For those wishing to have packages delivered before Christmas, UPS states that December 19 is the last day to ship UPS 3 Day Select packages, December 20 is the last day to ship UPS 2nd Day Air packages, and December 21 the last day to ship UPS Next Day Air packages for them to be delivered by Friday. After that, packages that would have been delivered on a holiday date will be rescheduled for delivery on Tuesday, December 26.

FedEx's services that will be available over the weekend preceding the holiday are a little more complicated. The company has posted a 2023 Holiday operations schedule (PDF), which explains that some services will be limited by area while others will be closed on the days leading up to Christmas.

The page states that starting on Friday, December 22, FedEx Office locations will be open, and FedEx Freight will be operational. Still, the shipping service will have a modified haul-line schedule. This means that new shipments that are picked up will not be moved until operations resume on December 27. Also, early station, on-call pickups, and drop boxes will be closed in some areas throughout the duration of the holiday weekend. On Saturday, December 23, FedEd home Delivery will still be open, but FedEx Ground, FedEx Ground Economy, and FedEx Freight will be closed and will remain closed for the duration of the holiday. 

FedEx Office locations will be open but will have limited hours. On Sunday, December 24, some areas will have limited residential Sunday delivery, but most delivery services will be inactive until the following Tuesday. Some FedEx Office locations will be open with limited hours, while others will be closed. Finally, everything except for FedEx Custom Critical will be closed on December 25.

This can make it tricky to figure out what operations are available in your specific area, so FedEx recommends contacting your local FedEx Office for details.