'Tis the season...Christmas shipping deadlines are here!

For the US Postal Service, today (12/15/15) is the last day that standard shipping services will make your package arrive in time for Christmas. In the freight world, similar deadlines are here. Standard LTL service can take 5 - 8 business days from coast to coast, which means that shipments headed to retailers, wholesalers and distributors who want to make that product available to buyers in time for Christmas must be on trucks soon. To that end, many carriers have announced their holiday schedules, including FedEx (which many others around the industry tend to follow with regard to holiday closures and scheduling).

For the Christmas and New Year's holidays, FedEx Freight will be open on 12/21, 12/22 and 12/23, with modified or limited schedules on 12/24 and a complete closure on 12/24, 12/25 (Christmas day) and 12/26. On 12/27, FedEx is back to normal scheduling, though that doesn't mean that there won't be delays and excess volume from the days prior which could change your transit time expectations.

For New Years, FedEx Freight will have modified service on 12/31 and will be closed on 1/1 and 1/2-2016. Be sure that you take these closures and schedule changes into effect when planning your shipments, and take note that even guaranteed shipments may have changes to transit time expectations, so you should always call to check.