More and more shipping companies have expanded their delivery schedules in the last 10 or 15 years, especially with online shopping becoming a lot more popular. The United States Postal Service has always offered Saturday delivery and FedEx has offered weekend deliveries for a while, too. UPS recently got in on the weekend delivery action as well, providing Saturday and Sunday delivery for residential and commercial customers alike. Below we dig a little bit deeper into the ins and outs of what you need to know about UPS weekend delivery. We cover the kinds of services available, the delivery hours you can expect, whether or not you need to spend more for weekend delivery, and so much more. Let’s get right into this, shall we?
Does UPS Deliver on Weekends?
Right out of the gate we can tell you that UPS does back to offer weekend delivery to customers in the United States (as well as selected regions around the world). UPS started back in 1907, established itself as one of the most trusted US-based shipping companies over the next 50 years or so, and then quickly ballooned into one of the top providers of deliveries and shipping services outside of the United States Postal Service. UPS and FedEx have always going toe to toe with one another, continuously trying to one up each other by offering better services, faster services, and less expensive options. This is why it shouldn’t surprise anyone that when FedEx decided to move forward with weekend delivery UPS would be quick to follow, and today both of these companies provide great weekend services at inexpensive price points. As the services from UPS get dialed in even more over the next few years it likely that these options get even faster, even more consistent, and less expensive for the consumer, too!
What is Saturday Delivery?
The Saturday delivery program with UPS (via their ground delivery service) began in 2019 and was originally only available in the continental United States. Over time, though, the program expanded – first to places like Alaska and Hawaii, and then later to more than 122 different countries that UPS has a presence in around the world. Today Saturday delivery from UPS is one of the most consistent and one of the most reliable weekend delivery options. FedEx and USPS both offer similar services, but neither one have the same kind of reputation that UPS has when it comes to their Saturday services in specific.
What About Sunday Delivery from UPS?
Right now UPS does not offer a Sunday delivery option, which is a bit of a bummer considering the fact that both USPS and FedEx provide Sunday delivery right now. The USPS began to offer Sunday delivery in partnership with Amazon exclusively a handful of years ago, and FedEx has provided Sunday delivery as a premium option for a few years as well. It wouldn’t be at all surprising for UPS to offer this kind of service in the near future. As we highlighted a moment ago, the company loves to stay competitive with their main competitors – USPS and FedEx – and if Sunday deliveries continue to prove to be as popular as they are it’s likely this service will be added later, too.
Those that absolutely, positively need to advantage of Sunday delivery from UPS may have a couple of workarounds, though. For starters, if you order packages from Amazon you may have your package sent via UPS and handed off to the USPS on Sunday for “last mile delivery”. There’s no real way to schedule or set this up, though, but it is (technically) possible for UPS to do the bulk of the heavy lifting for transporting your Amazon order across the country while USPS actually delivers it to your door on Sunday. You can also order Express Critical Care Package services from UPS on a Saturday or a Sunday and have that package delivered to its ultimate destination on a Sunday most of the time. The only wrinkle here, though, is that the services expensive (really expensive) and only available in the continental United States as of early 2021. Still, if you have packages that absolutely need to get to someone as quickly as possible – or need to get to someone on a Sunday – this may be the route to go with just a little bit of careful planning.
What UPS Services Deliver on the Weekend?
Now that we’ve answered the “does UPS deliver on weekends” question, it’s important to dig deeper into the kinds of services that provide weekend delivery from UPS, too. Ground and Three Day Select from UPS can provide weekend delivery free of charge, depending on the day that these packages are sent out and how quickly they moved through the UPS infrastructure. There’s no real opportunity to guarantee a Saturday delivery with the “standard” shipping services from UPS. But if they go out on the right day (like Wednesday, for example) the chances are pretty good they’re going to arrive on the weekend.
Second Day Air can also provide UPS customers with weekend delivery as long as they go out before the end of the business day on Thursday. UPS will almost always be delivering these packages on Saturday when that’s the case.
Next Day Air and Next Day Air Early services from UPS that are taken advantage of the on a Friday will guarantee delivery on Saturday – usually Saturday morning. If you pick Next Day Air Early services from UPS your package will arrive around 9 AM on Saturday, whereas the standard Next Day Air services will usually arrive somewhere between noon and 1:30 PM on Saturday. Worldwide Express, Worldwide Express Plus, and Worldwide Express Freight options all may be able to be delivered on the weekend as well.
Where is UPS Weekend Delivery Available?
UPS is making great efforts to offer weekend delivery to every single one of their customers, first in the United States and then every other country that they offer services in right now. As of early 2021, though, about 85% of the American population is covered with weekend delivery zones in the US. This includes more than 100 major metropolitan areas throughout the country. Just know that Next Day Air services are not currently available in Alaska and Hawaii. Weekend UPS delivery services are also available in 112 nations around the world. These services outside of the United States are little more hit and miss compared to the always really consistent and always really speedy services in the US, though.
Does Weekend Delivery Cost Extra?
There’s no cut and dry, flat rate that customers can expect to spend when they are looking to take advantage of weekend delivery options from UPS when you are shipping via the Ground service. Instead, UPS weekend delivery fees are always going to be assessed on a package by package basis and wholly dependent upon the kind of delivery service that you are taking advantage of from UPS, too.
For example, UPS Ground deliveries are always going to be significantly less expensive than Second Day packages that use more expedited (generally air based) transportation in the UPS infrastructure. You really have to time your package right during the week – and that means getting them ready to go out the door either Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday (depending on the type of shipping service you’ve picked from UPS, too).
When you are shipping via expedited air services, though, there’s a $16 flat rate charged on every UPS package that includes Saturday delivery. That’s on top of all of the standard feeds you’d expect to pay to take advantage of air delivery and expedited services from UPS, too. As we mentioned above, most of the expedited services from UPS are going to include weekend delivery as a general rule. UPS Ground can be “timed” to make sure that your package arrives on the weekend, too. If you really need your package to arrive on Saturday, choose Second Day Air and mail your package through the UPS on a Thursday. You can always take advantage of either of the Next Day Air express options and make sure that your package goes out from a UPS facility on a Friday (ideally before noon time), too.
Can Commercial Customers Get Weekend Deliveries?
It used to be that weekend delivery was really only available for residential customers via UPS. But in the last year or so UPS has decided to open up this kind of delivery option to customers with commercial addresses as well. This has opened up a lot of opportunities for retail operations, food service organizations, and service-based industries that were hoping to take advantage of package delivery on the weekend to use UPS instead of just USPS or FedEx, too.
The standard feeds that we highlighted above for weekend delivery via UPS are going to be the same across residential and commercial packages (right now, at least). It’s likely that commercial customers shipping packages for delivery on the weekend in higher volumes will be able to take advantage of discounted rates. This will have to go through any volume agreements that they have entered into with UPS already, though. That’s something that business owners will have to speak to their UPS representative about to find out more, though.
Can I Get UPS Packages Picked Up on Saturday, Too?
UPS also expanded their weekend pickup schedule, making it possible for residential and commercial customers to request UPS drivers to pick up their packages on Saturday as well. This makes UPS the only major shipping either in the United States to provide Saturday pickup for every level of service, giving them a significant competitive advantage that allows commercial customers specifically to improve their efficiency and get orders out the door faster. That in turn creates happier customers, let’s businesses move more merchandise faster, reduces overall shopping cart abandonment rates, and generally will create happier customers and better relationships with their market. These kinds of pickup schedules can be initiated at any UPS office, UPS Store, or online via the UPS website.
Commercial customers can set up recurring Saturday pickups with their shipping partners via their UPS representative or through their UPS commercial dashboard online. At the end of the day, it’s nice to know you’ll not only be able to receive your UPS packages on Saturday but can also send them out (right from your home or business) on Saturday as well!
Choose US Global Mail for Your Modern Virtual Mailbox
At the end of the day, if you’d like to guarantee that all of your packages arrive at your doorstep when you want them to – as opposed to when the shipping partners are able to bring them to use – it might not be a bad idea to consider US Global Mail and their virtual mailbox service. As a US Global Mail customer, you’ll be able to have all of your packages from UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL, and more (as well as all of your standard mail) sent to a specific, secure address that provides you better privacy and security.
Every time a new package or piece of mail arrives you’ll get a digital notification that includes a scan of your package, showing you exactly what’s arrived at your mailbox in real time. This blows UPS tracking alerts out of the water! You can then either choose to have those packages forwarded to you directly (at up to 80% off traditional retail shipping rates) or you can wait to have a handful of packages ready to go so that everything arrives together once a week, every couple of weeks, or every month. You are in total control! You’ll also be able to enjoy a up to 180 day holds on all your mail and your packages, the ability to funnel mail from multiple addresses to a single address, check depositing features, and so much more.
There’s a reason why so many people trust US Global Mail as their modern mailbox solution and have for more than 20+ years. For more information about everything US Global Mail has to offer, as well as how to take advantage of the services, contact them today or visit their website.
