Understanding Sunday Delivery Options with Major Shipping Carriers

Weekends, especially Sundays, are the most preferable times for consumers to receive their packages as they don’t have to go to work. So, you must plan your shipping strategies around weekend delivery, keeping in mind the increased order volume around weekends. 

While many e-commerce businesses work seven days a week to process orders, they still tie up with third-party logistics (3PL) providers for deliveries. 

Contrastingly, many logistics providers are on resting mode on Sundays. So, they may not always be available for shipping on Sundays. As a business owner, you would want your customers to be happy with prompt deliveries. 

Hence, you need to ensure that weekend downtime on shipping does not obstruct your delivery timelines. This blog will help you know more about the shipping services that work on Sundays.

Overview of Sunday Delivery Services

There are times when companies need to make deliveries beyond their work week. Every mail carrier has its own schedule and timing to deliver parcels. Some offer Saturday delivery, while some offer Sunday delivery based on their business model.

But if you are going to be shipping on Sundays, but facing issues with time crunch, you need strategic planning to avoid delivery delays. Almost all major shipping companies provide Sunday deliveries by charging an additional amount for weekend shipping. So, which delivery service to choose from FedEx, DHL, USPS, and UPS? Let’s explore them and find out the options that deliver on Sundays.

DHL Sunday Delivery

No. DHL doesn’t ship deliveries on Sundays in the US. But, some countries of Europe and Asia can avail their weekend delivery services. However, these services may be largely restricted to Saturdays. So, when it comes to weekend delivery services, DHL comes with the most limitations.

DHL offers many shipping services and solutions for business requirements. It has suitable shipping solutions for small, medium, and large business sizes. You can also avail of software integration solutions if you wish to opt for DHL. 

Here are a few popular services they offer:

• DHL Express
• DHL Supply chain
• DHL eCommerce
• DHL Global Forwarding
• DHL Freight

FedEx Sunday Delivery

Yes, FedEx does offer Home Delivery on both Saturdays and Sundays. A report shows that around 80% of the U.S. population received deliveries on Sundays through Fedex home delivery. On top of that, the normal residential delivery is available at no additional cost.

Although FedEx offers free weekend deliveries, there are a few limitations on the packages to be eligible for free home delivery. However, factors like destination can impact the price. FedEx uses zones to determine to ship based on distance.

Moreover, the cost may vary based on size, package type, weight, and density. The package requirements are 150 lbs, up to 108″ length, 165″ length plus girth (L+2W+2H). 

USPS Sunday Delivery

Yes. United States Postal Service (USPS) delivers Priority Mail Express packages and Amazon packages on Sundays. Monday to Saturday are their usual business days, while Sunday is called the resting day.

The USPS also delivers Amazon packages such as Amazon Prime mail on Sundays. With USPS Priority Mail Express, you have the benefit of two-day or next-day delivery by 6 pm at a flat-rate. It comes with up to $100 of insurance and USPS tracking with most shipments. The price also includes signed proof of delivery (if requested during purchase). 

Although USPS has a long list of prices, the exact price will vary based on parcel weight, type, size, and shipping distance.

UPS Sunday Delivery

Yes, UPS offers delivery from Monday to Saturday. The Sunday delivery option is available for residential packages and people who use the UPS SurePost service. Needless to say, you will need to pay somewhat higher shipping rates if you want faster delivery.

The additional delivery cost will vary based on the factors such as weight, size, and the distance of the location. UPS also offers a next day delivery option till Saturday. So, the parcel must be of up to 150 lbs, and have a length of up to 108”. 

Can You Ship Mails on Sundays?

As we saw, shipping on weekdays and weekends differ based on the factors decided by the delivery service company. 

• If you wish to send parcels on a Sunday, you can opt for FedEx. Businesses can take the opportunity to schedule pickups on Saturdays and Sundays with FedEx as per their eligibility criteria. You can contact their executives to know more about qualifying for the same.

• USPS, on the other hand, doesn’t offer package pickups on holidays or weekends. You can request a Saturday or Sunday pickup, but it may not happen until the next operational day. So, if you place a request on Saturday afternoons, it will be scheduled for Monday pickup. But, that Monday shouldn’t be a postal holiday. You can schedule a pickup from Monday to Saturday till 2:00 AM CT on the pickup day.

• USPS offers free pickup for Priority Mail Express products, Priority Mail items, First Class Package Service Commercial products, and international or return packages. First Class Mail products are also picked up if you combine them with one of the high-end items mentioned above. 

• Lastly, you may not be able to avail of weekend deliveries with DHL in the US. However, a few regions of Asia and Europe have the opportunity for weekend deliveries.

Pros and Cons of Sunday Delivery

Sunday delivery can have benefits for both businesses and customers. However, seeing from the perspective of a delivery business, it of course adds to the additional expenses for them. 

Pros: 

• Increased flexibility for customers: Offering Sunday shipping helps increase the flexibility for customers as they can order their package without excluding Sunday from the business days. Thus, they can get their delivery fast and schedule it for Sunday when they are likely to be available at home to receive the package, avoiding missed deliveries or rescheduling incidents. 
• Competitive edge: Offering weekend deliveries helps meet customers’ evolving expectations and preferences, giving you a competitive edge over those who don’t provide them. It can help you prevent losing your customers and retain them through enhanced customer satisfaction. 
• Optimal utilization of delivery vehicles and resources: Unlike on busy weekdays, businesses don’t have to worry about traffic and overcrowding, making it easy for them to deliver more orders, maximizing their vehicle and resource utilization.

Cons: 

• High delivery costs: Offering deliveries on Sunday may require you to arrange additional staff and resources, which may add to your operational costs.
• Employee health concerns: Working on weekends may negatively impact drivers’ well-being, especially if there are a few of them handling most orders. It can cause them to fall sick and exit the company.

Strategies for Optimizing Weekend Deliveries

You can deliver on Sundays by starting your own delivery service. For instance, if you own a restaurant and want to make fast delivery of meals, you can hire your own team of drivers.

Local delivery businesses such as flower shops, dry cleaners, or pharmacies can also take the advantage of their own delivery service. It will save you from getting into a third-party logistics provider and reduce money on shipping costs.

Keeping an in-house delivery team helps you remain in control of all the delivery operations and manage your drivers. You can have a strategy to plan things with your dispatch team and keep things streamlined. In short, you can choose which vehicles or shipping carriers you need. 

Those who run a furniture delivery company or a caterer can start a cargo van business based on your requirements. Since you are ready to perform deliveries on your own, leave the hassle of route planning to a route optimization software. 

Routing software makes time-saving and cost-effective deliveries by finding the best routes and assigning them directly to your drivers. Additionally, your delivery executives can also capture proof of delivery after task completion. 

Utilizing Upper Route Planner for Weekend Delivery

Worried about last-mile deliveries or stuck with a workload of shipping products on Sundays? You can let a route optimization software plan and manage your dispatch routes and make some extra deliveries during weekends. 

Upper is packed with advanced features that reduce the manual work of assigning routes to your drivers. It makes things easy and smooth for your dispatch managers. Here’s how:

• The feature to import addresses directly from your excel file reduces back office workload and helps you add multiple stops in a few seconds. 
• Your dispatch managers can review the addresses and edit them if needed. They can also add/remove duplicates as Upper’s smart algorithm highlights these automatically. 
• Advanced route scheduling and reassigning is easier on Upper. So, in case there’s weekend shipping required, you can rest assured that it will be performed on time.
• It uses time and distance-based sequencing and lets you set priority levels in case of urgent delivery requirements. 
• In case you are wondering how you will know if a parcel is delivered or not, Upper will ask the delivery person to capture e-signatures or click photos as delivery proof.

Conclusion

Shipping on Sundays is possible if you know which carriers and types of services would meet your requirements. Whether you have a small or a large business, you can opt for the shipping companies mentioned above. While making weekend deliveries, you need to ensure that your delivery routes are pre-planned.

As far as routes are concerned, leave the burden of manual route planning to a smart optimization software like Upper. It not only helps you plan routes but also takes care of your drivers and delivery schedule. So, what’s making you wait longer? Start your FREE 7 days trial now!