Don’t delay the delivery of your next mailing project because you’ve overlooked postal holidays! The U.S. Post Office operates on the same schedule with the rest of the Federal Government, and with that in mind here are the dates that you will not be able to launch your direct mail campaigns:
- New Year’s Day – Friday, January 1st
- Martin Luther King’s Birthday – Monday, January 18th
- President’s Day – Monday, February 15th
- Memorial Day – Monday, May 31st
- Independence Day – Monday, July 5th (In 2010, the 4th of July holiday falls on a Sunday, so the government is recognizing Monday July 5th as a holiday for its employees).
- Labor Day – Monday, September 6th
- Columbus Day – Monday, October 11th
- Veterans Day – Thursday, November 11th
- Thanksgiving Day – Thursday, November 25th
- Christmas Day – Friday, December 24th (In 2010, Christmas actually falls on Saturday, December 25th, so the government is recognizing Friday, December 24th as a holiday for its employees)
Anything else I should know about postal holidays? Bulk mail or presort standard mail (often referred to as 3rd class mail) is the last in line for attention by the USPS. Nonprofit bulk mail is treated is treated the same as standard bulk mail from a delivery urgency point of view. During postal holidays, the whole mail system can get backed up, and in addition to the day lost for the holiday, there’s a very good chance that an additional day or two can be lost as the USPS gets back up to speed. With this in mind, it’s always a good idea to avoid scheduling time-sensitive mailing projects to drop the day before a USPS holiday.
Can I drop my bulk mail campaign on a Saturday? Although the USPS currently delivers mail on Saturday, the bulk mail unit of the US Post Office is not opened on Saturdays.
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