Thanksgiving stops both private networks and the Postal Service. Everything else in that week runs.
November 2026, as the carriers have it
Five dates in November appear on a published carrier calendar. The rest of the month is ordinary, which is worth saying plainly because peak-season copy tends to imply otherwise.
| Date | Day | UPS | FedEx | USPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 November | Wednesday | Open for ground, air and international | Modified service | Veterans Day holiday, Post Offices closed |
| 25 November | Wednesday | Not listed, ordinary operations | Modified service, FedEx Office modified hours | Not a listed USPS holiday |
| 26 November | Thursday | Closed for ground, air and international | Closed, FedEx Office closed | Thanksgiving Day holiday, Post Offices closed |
| 27 November | Friday | Open for ground, air and international | Modified service | Not a listed USPS holiday |
| 30 November | Monday | Not listed, ordinary operations | Not listed, ordinary operations | Not a listed USPS holiday |
Veterans Day is the row people miss. UPS and FedEx both work it while the Postal Service does not, so a mixed-carrier week in mid-November already has a split calendar before the sale even starts.
Setting a cutoff you can actually keep
A promotional cutoff is a promise about a delivery date, and a delivery date is your quoted window plus every non-operating day inside it. On a sale week that runs Wednesday to Monday with one full closure in the middle, ground parcels tendered on the Wednesday are competing with everyone else in the region for the same Friday capacity.
- Tender before the closure, not after it. A parcel accepted on 25 November is inside the network when 26 November stops it. One accepted on 27 November starts behind everything already sitting there.
- Publish the window you were quoted. If the rate came back at 6-7 business days, that is the number the product page should carry, not a rounder one that reads better.
- Keep the second carrier warm. When ground options on a lane sit within a dollar of each other, switching around a closure or a modified pickup day costs almost nothing.
- Decide the free-postage threshold from a real quote. Absorbing postage is a margin decision, and it should be made against the rate your own parcels actually return rather than an average.
What upgrading a tier costs on a real seller parcel
Two weights of the same box shape on one lane, both quoted through the SMKlog calculator on 2026-07-28 from Newark, NJ 07102 to Atlanta, GA 30303. Prices are the full checkout amount.
| Box and weight | Carrier and service | Price | Window returned |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 x 12 x 8 in, 8 lb | FedEx Ground Economy | $15.64 | 6-7 business days |
| 14 x 12 x 8 in, 8 lb | UPS Ground Saver | $15.71 | none returned |
| 14 x 12 x 8 in, 8 lb | UPS Ground | $20.02 | 2-3 business days |
| 16 x 14 x 10 in, 16 lb | UPS Ground Saver | $20.50 | none returned |
| 16 x 14 x 10 in, 16 lb | FedEx Ground Economy | $20.98 | 6-7 business days |
| 16 x 14 x 10 in, 16 lb | UPS Ground | $23.70 | 2-3 business days |
At 8 lb, moving from the cheapest option to the 2-3 business day option costs $4.38 and cuts the quoted window by around four business days. At 16 lb the gap between the cheapest row and the 2-3 business day row is $3.20. On a sale week those are the numbers to hold against your promotional promise, and they are small enough that promising a slow window and delivering fast is often the better trade.
Black Friday logistics: seller questions
Do carriers run on Black Friday itself?
Yes. The 2026 UPS calendar marks the day after Thanksgiving, Friday 27 November, as open for domestic ground, air and international. FedEx lists the same date as modified service, which its footnote defines as early on-call and drop box pickups in some areas rather than a suspension. USPS does not observe the day as a holiday.
What stops in Thanksgiving week?
Thursday 26 November. UPS shows domestic ground, air and international closed with only Express Critical available, FedEx shows its parcel services and FedEx Office closed, and USPS lists Thanksgiving Day among the eleven holidays it observes in 2026. Wednesday 25 November is open on the UPS calendar and modified service on the FedEx one.
Should I promise two-day delivery during a sale?
Only if you have priced it on your own lane. A 5 lb box from Newark to Atlanta quoted 2026-07-28 came back at $14.05 on UPS Ground with a 2-3 business day window and $21.96 on UPS 2nd Day Air with the same window. Promising a tier you have not priced is how a sale margin disappears.
How early do peak surcharges usually start?
The last UPS demand surcharge document we could read, dated 28 August 2025, opened its air and ground residential periods in late October and stepped the amount up for the stretch covering Thanksgiving through late December. Nothing for the 2026 peak had been posted when we checked on 2026-07-28, so build your cutoffs on the calendar and confirm the fees when they land.