If you’re not that into tracking stuff and want to ensure whether you’re expecting a cheque or a parcel would be delivered to your doorstep when it arrives. You might come across questions like “what time does mail run to my zip code/area?” or “is mail running on weekends?”
But the real question is – is there a way to find what time your mail will get delivered? The answer is both yes, and no.
So, right off the bat, if you have sent by first class, mail should arrive at its destination within 1 day. Keep reading, in this blog post we’ll cover everything you might need to know.
What time does the mail run today for FedEx, DHL, and UPS, exactly?
FedEx
Delivery hours are between 8 AM to 8 PM from Monday to Friday, and also on Saturday and Sunday for domestic deliveries only. FedEx Express shipments only operate within business days.
FedEx Express delivery times also vary by service. If you got a message that states, “we’ll deliver your package by end of the day” – this probably means your package should arrive before 8 PM. Mostly, you’ll receive it the next day because that’s also the time when FedEx starts wrapping up.
When you see the “end of the day” status, you should consider an extra day. And don’t worry, these companies can be lazy sometimes but the package would be sent and kept safely.
Again, to get an estimated delivery time, just enter your tracking number into their tracking tool available on the FedEx website. You will get to see your scheduled delivery date and delivery window, if available.

And if you are thinking about FedEx store hours?
Their operation hours vary by location. To find out your nearby store, you just need to enter your location on the FedEx website.
You’ll get to see operating hours filtered by location, and service, including packing, shipping, printing, and more.
Helpful, isn’t it?
And checking mail status by their tracking tool isn’t the only way, you can use the below methods too:
- Using the mobile app.
- Text “follow” and your door tag number to 48773.
- Call 1.800.GoFedEx 1.800.463.3339, say “track my package,” and follow the prompts.
DHL
DHL delivery times are similar to FedEx, but their delivery hours vary by your chosen service, and country.
DHL delivery operations happen between 8 AM to 6 PM, Monday to Friday in the US only. They don’t offer weekend or holiday delivery in the US unless you’re willing to pay extra though.
And even if you pay extra for holidays, and weekends deliveries still face a delayed delivery, sometimes. So, not so similar at all to FedEx then? What are your thoughts?
For domestic shipments, it takes anywhere from 2 to 8 business days within the US alone. If we talk about international shipments, it’ll easily take anywhere between 3 to 14 business days.
But they offer easy rescheduling to change delivery times via their DHL app. Have a look at the table below to see the estimated days to deliver:
DHL eCommerce Service | Estimated Delivery Time |
Expedited Max | 2-3 business days |
Expedited | 2-5 business days |
Ground | business days |
To track the DHL package, you can visit DHL’s website here.
USPS
We’ve noticed USPS delivers mail faster and more economically than any other shipping carrier like FedEx or UPS. The best thing USPS offers is free Saturday delivery (incorporated into USPS’s regular delivery schedule).
If you’ve chosen priority mail express, irrespective of the zip code, your mail will reach your doorstep by 10:30 AM.
How you may ask? Because the earliest delivery time slots are reserved for everything that has been shipped at a higher cost. Which of course makes sense.
if you’ve chosen domestic express mail, every mail under domestic express will be delivered before midnight.
And lastly, if you’ve chosen international delivery, shipping times vary by service from 1 to 3 days delivery with global express guaranteed up to 20 days for first class packages.
But still, if you want to know your package status between delivery timelines, visit our USPS tracking tool.
UPS
How can I find out when I’m going to receive my package? It is simple, just enter your tracking number into the tracking tool to see what day your package arriving.
Most drivers deliver between 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM. You can even set “Send Updates from Tracking” to receive email or text notifications of mail status.
Other than air deliveries, shipments are typically delivered between 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM more or less to houses, and businesses for commercial addresses.
With UPS App, packages sent via UPS Next Day Air, UPS Worldwide Express, and UPS Worldwide Express Plus can be tracked on a live map.
The best thing about the app is that location is updated every two to three minutes as the vehicle moves closer to the destination. And yes, this works on both smartphones and PC.

Pre sending checklist for faster delivery…
Here are 3 things to ensure:
- Service — pick from “originating”, “destinating”, and “destination entry”.
- Mail Class — To ensure an optimal level of accuracy experience check the class you sent it by. You’ve options ranging from “1st class mail”, “package services”, “periodicals”, and “standard mail”.
- Zip code, house number, and city — We’ll recommend you to double-check the zip code, and the house number and city name of your receiver, this mistake alone can make you pay double the amount!
And to be extra sure, why not start tracking your package? Yes, it looks like a hassle but believe us it’s worth the time. Keeping up to date using tracking will help you acknowledge the current package status so, action can be taken promptly.
Why there is such delivery confusion to my ZIP Code every time?
For USPS alone there are 74,000+ rural postal routes, which connect to 145,000+ city routes across the whole United States. We’re taking this as an example. But this applies to all companies.
Now, if you’re wondering why make deliveries to rural areas first? Well, most postal carriers are paid for the time it takes them to complete their route.
Now, if you think about it, it makes sense. Rural homes are further apart. So, this structure makes sense. Reaching their first covers the most cities they’ll cross.
However, city postal carriers’ route is designed within an 8-hour window. This makes sense for cities because avg. delivery routes are short but involve a lot of homes.
Even what we told you above, this is logically how their systems works but these route decisions are designed by software – algorithms create the optimal delivery route for the most efficient mail delivery.
So, it depends, on which type of packages and destinations it has to reach. And several factors do influence the delivery time. We’ll discuss that just in a minute.
We even personally asked our nearest post office, and clerks working in them, and they all told us, what we have just told you; it just depends on how many parcels they have and what time they show up.
All carriers on average starts delivery at ~9:00 AM. And at 7:30 AM or 8:00 AM they check-in and start loading their trucks. Don’t forget they’ve to be back at the post office by like 4:30 PM or 5 PM.
Here’s a quick TIP…
To know the average time to be extra sure, you can reach out to your nearest post office to know the first stops on the route. This will help you to be able to give you an exact time most likely they will tell you either a time window.
Mostly, package posties’ google searches consist of “mail office is open on weekends”, even on an unofficial holiday like black Friday or Thanksgiving. We’ve covered a detailed piece of blog, click here.
These days, carriers get awfully busy which directly impacts the delivery dates due to the high volume of parcels.
Many other factors determine when the package will get delivered, the biggest of all are weather, shipping service, and package size too.
Final Words:
You might have observed this yourself; the delivery time is different in every case. Many variables can impact the delivery times of the packages.
You should expect that the mailman will arrive at your home between 9 AM to 5 PM. Why? Because it’s the most common time in every postal carrier service. If you do not receive the package, this means that the delivery is not being made to your area or it is delayed.
And NO, you can’t track your mailman. The only way is to find where he is by calling him since there is no way to track your mailman.
Now that you know what time the mailman comes in your zip code. So, just plan around it.
The information you just read is extremely useful in a variety of situations. Therefore, please use our contact form if you have any questions related to it. We would be happy to answer and don’t forget to share it if you liked it and found it helpful.