UPS Holiday Schedule 2026: Closed Days and Deadlines

The UPS holiday schedule for 2026 has seven full closures with no UPS pickup or delivery: New Year’s Day (January 1), Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 19), Memorial Day (May 25), Independence Day (July 4), Labor Day (September 7), Thanksgiving (November 26) and Christmas Day (December 25). Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve run on a modified schedule, and New Year’s Day 2027 (Friday, January 1) is the next closure after that.

Every other federal holiday, including Presidents Day, Good Friday, Juneteenth, Columbus Day and Veterans Day, is a regular UPS business day. The only catch on those days is that services which hand packages to the Postal Service for final delivery can slip a day, because USPS is closed.

What Days Is UPS Closed in 2026?

On a full UPS holiday, no Ground, Air or international packages are picked up or delivered, and the day doesn’t count as a business day for transit times. UPS Express Critical, a separate urgent-shipment service provided by Marken, is the exception: UPS says it runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day became a UPS holiday under the Teamsters contract that took effect in 2023, which is why older calendars don’t list it. Some third-party calendars print January 20 for MLK Day 2026, but the third Monday of January 2026 is January 19, and that’s the date UPS lists.

Independence Day falls on a Saturday in 2026, so the closure mostly affects Saturday air deliveries and weekend Ground deliveries. Our page on whether UPS delivers on Labor Day walks through how a Monday closure shifts transit times, and the same logic applies to MLK Day and Memorial Day.

Which Holidays Is UPS Open?

UPS runs regular pickup and delivery on the federal holidays when banks and the Post Office close. That makes UPS a useful option on those days, but it also means mixed-carrier services can slow down.

For more detail on one of these dates, see our guide to UPS delivery on Columbus Day. If you also ship with the Postal Service, the USPS holiday schedule lists the 11 federal holidays when mail delivery stops.

How Does UPS Work on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve?

Both eves are modified days, and the rules differ. On Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24, 2026, UPS delivers for all services, but it picks up only Air and international Air packages, and only when the pickup was arranged by December 18. There’s no Ground pickup that day.

On New Year’s Eve, Thursday, December 31, 2026, UPS picks up Air and international Air packages only if the pickup was arranged by December 28, and it delivers Air and international Air packages only. There’s no Ground pickup or Ground delivery, so a Ground package due on December 31 rolls to the next business day, Monday, January 4, 2027, after the New Year’s Day closure.

When Should You Ship UPS Packages to Arrive by Christmas?

To arrive by Christmas Eve 2026, count back business days from Thursday, December 24. That points to Monday, December 21 for UPS 3 Day Select, Tuesday, December 22 for UPS 2nd Day Air and Wednesday, December 23 for UPS Next Day Air. Check UPS’s year-end holiday page for the official ship-by dates, which UPS posts each fall.

UPS Ground has no single deadline because its transit time runs from one to five business days depending on distance. Look up your exact origin and destination ZIP codes in the time-in-transit tool on ups.com, and remember that the last Ground pickup before Christmas is Wednesday, December 23. Our explainer on how long UPS takes to deliver breaks down typical Ground transit by distance.

Treat these as the latest possible dates, not targets. Winter weather and peak volume cause more late deliveries in the final week before Christmas than at any other time of year, and UPS’s money-back guarantee is currently suspended for Ground, 3 Day Select and standard 2nd Day Air. Those peaks follow holiday consumer demand, which our look at consumer spending this holiday season examines.

How Do UPS Holidays Affect Transit Times?

A UPS holiday is not a business day, so it adds one day to any shipment in transit over it. A 2nd Day Air package shipped on the Friday before Memorial Day arrives on Wednesday instead of Tuesday, and a three-day Ground package shipped that Friday arrives on Thursday.

Expect a backlog on the first business day after each closure. Packages that would have moved on the holiday are processed alongside the normal day’s volume, so tracking scans can lag for a day or two after Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. The UPS delivery schedule explains regular delivery days and hours, including Saturday service.

• Ship early in the week before a Monday holiday, so packages don’t sit in a hub over a three-day weekend.
• Allow an extra day after closures when promising delivery dates to customers.
• Use air services for firm deadlines during December, and check tracking daily.
• Watch USPS holidays too if you use UPS Ground Saver, since USPS handles the final delivery.

Does UPS Charge More During the Holidays?

Yes. UPS adds demand surcharges during its peak season, which begins in late September and runs through the holiday returns period, and the surcharge periods and amounts are published on the UPS shipping rates page each year. They apply on top of the base rate, and they hit residential and oversize packages hardest.

UPS’s annual General Rate Increase also lands right after the holidays. For 2027, UPS announced an average net increase of 5.9% effective December 21, 2026, so shipping in January costs more than shipping in early December for the same package. Our overview of UPS shipping rates explains how base rates and surcharges combine.

One way to offset peak pricing is to skip UPS retail rates. ParcelPath is free to use, with no subscription, per-label fees or minimums, and offers up to 85% off UPS and up to 89% off USPS. You can compare live UPS and USPS holiday rates in the ParcelPath rate calculator, create the label at home, and drop the package off at a UPS Store using a UPS Mobile Barcode instead of a printed label. For more general money-saving ideas, see how to ship for less.

What Are Your Options When UPS Is Closed?

If something must move on a UPS holiday, UPS Express Critical is the only UPS option, since it runs every day of the year with dedicated transport. It’s built for urgent items such as medical supplies or production parts rather than everyday parcels.

For anything less urgent, plan around the closure. Ship a day earlier, choose an air service that delivers before the holiday, or compare carriers: USPS Priority Mail Express offers holiday delivery in some areas, and our guide to how long USPS Priority Mail takes covers standard Priority transit times if USPS is open when UPS isn’t. The UPS Store locations are independently owned, so their holiday hours vary even when UPS itself is closed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is UPS closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2026?

Yes. UPS lists Monday, January 19, 2026, as a holiday with no UPS pickup or delivery service. MLK Day became a UPS holiday under the Teamsters agreement that took effect in 2023. Packages in transit wait until Tuesday, January 20, and the day doesn’t count toward transit times. UPS Express Critical remains available for urgent shipments.

Does UPS deliver on Christmas Eve 2026?

Yes. On Thursday, December 24, 2026, UPS delivers packages for all services. Pickups are limited to Air and international Air shipments arranged by December 18, and there’s no Ground pickup. Christmas Day is a full closure, so a package that misses Christmas Eve moves on the next delivery day: Saturday, December 26 where UPS offers Saturday delivery, otherwise Monday, December 28.

Is UPS open on the day after Thanksgiving?

Yes. UPS runs regular pickup and delivery on Friday, November 27, 2026, the day after the Thanksgiving closure. It is one of the heaviest volume days of the year, so tracking scans can lag and packages delayed by the Thanksgiving closure are delivered alongside that day’s normal volume. Allow an extra day for anything time-sensitive.

Does UPS deliver on Presidents Day and Veterans Day?

Yes. Presidents Day (February 16, 2026) and Veterans Day (November 11, 2026) are regular UPS business days with normal pickup and delivery. USPS is closed on both, so UPS Ground Saver and Mail Innovations packages, which rely on USPS for the final delivery, can arrive a day later than usual.

Is UPS open on New Year’s Eve?

Partly. On Thursday, December 31, 2026, UPS picks up Air and international Air packages only if the pickup was arranged by December 28, and it delivers only Air and international Air packages. There is no Ground pickup or delivery that day, and UPS is closed on New Year’s Day, Friday, January 1, 2027.

Sources

• UPS Holiday Shipping Schedule (U.S.)
• UPS 2026 U.S. Holiday Operations Schedule (PDF)
• UPS Shipping Zones and Rates: rate updates and surcharge notices
• UPS Service Guarantee

Part of our UPS Delivery Schedule guide. Related: How Long Does UPS Take to Deliver, How to Ship for Less, UPS Shipping Hub.