Sometimes it can be really frustrating being in a situation where you need to send mail or a package and realizing it’s Sunday and there are no post offices open.
That’s why it would be useful to know the answer to the question: Is USPS open on Sunday and whether you could get your mail to your recipient on that particular day.
Is USPS Open on Sunday?
Well, yes and no.
Deliveries can be carried out on Sundays, but the post offices will be closed. And not even all of the deliveries can be carried out.
It basically goes like this: Depending on the mail class that you’re using and the area where you live, it is possible for you to get your package delivered on a Sunday.
The Beginning of Sunday Deliveries
In 2013, the USPS began with a test program where they decided to try delivering Amazon packages on Sundays. This program began in two of the largest United States metropolitan cities, Los Angeles and New York.
After that it began spreading to all the large metropolitan areas in the United States. And after the rapid growth of e-commerce, USPS began delivering all of the packages, not just from Amazon.
So now if you live in a large metropolitan area, it is possible you could have your package delivered on a Sunday.
However, mail cannot be delivered as it is not a package. Only packages can be delivered on a Sunday, and only in selected metropolitan areas in the United States.
Are Post Offices Open on Sundays?
Now regarding post offices, those are not opened on Sundays nearly across all of the United States of America.
The only centers that are open are the bulk mail processing centers and the USPS distribution centers, but those are only for managing the mail already on the way to their destination and these centers are not open to the general public.
So to answer the question: “Is USPS open on Sunday?” the answer would be: Generally no, but you can get your package delivered if you live in a selected metropolitan area.
USPS Open on Sunday near Me?
What If you typed into Google: “USPS open on Sunday near me” with the goal to find a post office somewhere near you?
For that there is a great web app on USPS.com that lets you type in your city and state or the zip code of the city or town you live in.
With this web application, you can locate USPS services like stamps, passport acceptance and Self-Service Kiosks.
This is the link to the Post Office locator:
https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorAction!input.action
Now, this is how it works.
There is a dropdown menu called “Location Types”. When you click on it, it will give you a list of USPS locations by type, for instance there are Post Offices, Self-Service Kiosks, Collection Boxes, Passports, Business Services etc.
You can even narrow your search down to include Village Post Offices or Alternate Locations to buy stamps.
Then you just type in your city and state or you can type in your ZIP code.
When you click search, the app will list out all the USPS facilities at the nearest location to you.
For instance, you will get Bulk Mail Acceptance, Retail Hours, Lobby Hours etc.
What you’re interested in are the working days and hours.
So for instance, the results will show working hours from Monday to Friday, which can be different for each facility, and the working hours for Saturday if a certain facility is open on Saturday. Sundays will mostly be marked as closed. But there can be exceptions.
For example, if I do a search for Santa Clarita Post Office, I would get results like these:
Retail Hours
- Mon-Fri 7:00am – 10:00pm
- Sat 9:00am – 9:00pm
- Sun 11:00am – 7:00pm
Last Collection Hours
- Mon-Sun 5:00pm
Lobby Hours
- Mon-Sun 12:01am – 11:59pm
Passport Walk-In Hours *
- Mon-Fri 9:00am – 6:00pm
- Sat 10:00am – 2:00pm
- Sun 11:00am – 3:00pm
Passport Photo Hours *
- Mon-Fri 9:00am – 6:00pm
- Sat 10:00am – 2:00pm
- Sun 11:00am – 3:00pm
PO Box Access Hours
- Mon-Sun 12:01am – 11:59pm
As you can see, all of these facilities are working on Sundays. But it’s best to plan your shipment around Sundays to avoid unnecessary problems.
Buying USPS Postage on a Sunday
If you’re wondering where you can buy USPS postage on a Sunday, the good news is that you can go to Stamps.com and buy and print the postage yourself. And you can do it for any mail class and denomination 24/7.
If you have an internet connection and a printer you can go to Stamps.com and print yourself postage stamps and shipping labels but also access all of Post Offices’ services from the comfort of your home.
USPS Holiday Work Times
Since we’re talking about working days and hours of USPS, it’s important to mention holidays. The USPS follows a federal holiday structure. This means that the office buildings will be closed during those days but also the shipping services will not be available.
An important thing to notice is that postal holidays may differ from holidays of government institutions like schools or banks. So keep in mind to follow the holidays of post offices separately.
Here’s the list of USPS Office Holidays in 2019:
- New Year’s Day – Tuesday – January 1st 2019
- Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday – Monday – January 21, 2019
- Washington Birthday – Monday – February 18, 2019
- Memorial Day – Monday – May 27, 2019
- Independence Day – Thursday – July 4, 2019
- Labor Day – Monday – September 2, 2019
- Columbus Day – Monday – October 14, 2019
- Veteran’s Day – Monday – November 11, 2019
- Thanksgiving Day – Thursday – November 28, 2019
- Christmas Day – Wednesday – December 25, 2019
Also, it may be possible that a federal holiday falls on a Saturday or on a Sunday. In that case, the holiday for the post office will be transferred to the nearest workday following the federal holiday.
So for example, if January 1st, New Years, falls on a Sunday, January 2nd, will be a holiday and USPS will not work that day.
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