What is Business Days in Shipping?

19 Feb What is Business Days in Shipping?

Shipping and delivery times are crucial parts of the e-commerce customer experience. Customers want their orders delivered quickly and reliably. As an online seller, setting and communicating delivery timeframes to meet customer expectations adequately is essential.

A critical element in estimating delivery times is understanding business days in shipping. What is business days in shipping? How do weekends and holidays impact delivery times? This article will provide a comprehensive overview of business days in shipping to help e-commerce merchants accurately calculate and communicate shipping timeframes.

What Are Business Days?

In shipping and logistics, a business day refers to the days of the week when typical business operations occur. This excludes national holidays and weekend days when most businesses are closed.

The most common business days are Monday through Friday. However, some industries or companies may observe different business hours and days of operation. For example, some warehouses work on Saturdays or have extended nighttime hours.

When estimating shipping and delivery times, business days refer specifically to the days when critical services related to shipping are operating:

• Postal services like USPS and Canada Post only deliver mail on business days. They do not offer delivery on weekends and national holidays.
• Courier services such as UPS and FedEx primarily operate on business days but may offer limited weekend delivery for an extra fee.
• Warehouses and fulfillment centers typically pack and ship orders on business days.
• Customs offices and freight forwarders clear international shipments on business days.
• Logistics companies ‘ customer service and support teams work business hours on business days.

Knowing shipping-related services’ operating days and hours allows merchants to set delivery expectations based on business days only accurately. Weekends and holidays where these services are closed are not transit days.

How Holidays Impact Shipping Time

Major national holidays can significantly impact shipping times and transit calculations. Postal services and most courier companies do not offer delivery services on holidays.

Some common holidays that affect shipping in the United States include:

• New Year’s Day – January 1
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day – Third Monday in January
• Presidents’ Day – Third Monday in February
• Memorial Day – Last Monday in May
• Juneteenth – June 19
• Independence Day – July 4
• Labor Day – First Monday in September
• Thanksgiving – Fourth Thursday in November
• Christmas Day – December 25

Other holidays like Columbus Day, Veterans Day, and postal holidays may affect USPS or other shipping providers. It’s important to check annually for exact holiday closure dates.

For example, if a 2-day delivery timeframe falls over Christmas and no deliveries occur on December 25, the package transit would take three business days. The day the holiday falls on does not count towards the transit time.

Other countries have their own national and regional holidays that suspend delivery services. When estimating cross-border shipping times, consider holidays in all origin and destination countries.

How Weekends Affect Shipping Timeframes

Weekends are another key period where standard shipping services are unavailable.

The USPS and Canada Post do not deliver mail on Saturdays or Sundays. Major couriers like UPS, FedEx, and DHL have no regular deliveries on Sundays.

Saturday delivery is hit-or-miss with courier services:

• UPS: No regular Saturday delivery, except UPS Next Day Air deliveries. UPS SurePost packages handed off to USPS won’t be delivered on Saturdays.
• FedEx: Offers limited Saturday delivery for FedEx Express and FedEx Ground services depending on the shipment’s origin and destination zip codes. FedEx SmartPost packages transferred to USPS won’t be delivered on Saturdays.
• DHL Express: There is regular Saturday delivery for DHL Express shipments only, depending on origin and destination.

Whenever a shipment’s delivery timeframe falls over a weekend, those weekend days do not count toward the total transit days. For example, a 3-day UPS Ground shipment on Wednesday can only be delivered on the following Monday at the earliest since there are no UPS deliveries on Sunday.

Accurately accounting for weekends ensures merchants don’t miscommunicate faster delivery than logistically possible. Setting proper expectations prevents negative reviews and returns.

Estimating Transit Time Based on Business Days

Merchants should only quote business day timeframes when displaying estimated shipping times on a website or calculating order cut-off dates.

Here are some tips for configuring shipping time estimates based on business days:

• Use business days for all quotes: Only use Monday-Friday in shipping estimates; don’t include weekend days. Make it clear to customers that estimated delivery days are “business days”.
• Configure shopping carts and order management systems for business days: When setting up shipping timeframes in e-commerce platforms, use business day configurations. Don’t rely on calendar day estimates.
• Factor in extra days for weekends/holidays: If a delivery timeframe falls on a holiday or weekend, add extra buffer days to account for the closures. Make sure no deliveries get promised over closed shipping days.
• Account for origin/destination variations: Double-check business days and holidays in all origin, destination, and transit countries. International shipping gets more complicated with multiple countries’ calendars.
• Confirm with carriers: Validate that your estimates match the shipping providers’ advertised timeframes for service levels. Carrier commitments should align with your website messaging.
• Allow a margin of error: Even with the best planning, hiccups can happen. Build in 1 extra business day as a buffer within advertised timeframes. Under-promise and over-deliver.

Managing customer expectations around shipping duration requires diligently accounting for business days only. Avoid the temptation to quote faster timelines by ignoring weekends and holidays. Logistics don’t stop for the weekend!

Factoring Transit Time for Inventory & Order Cut-Offs

E-commerce sellers must also factor business days into inventory management and order cut-off decisions.

When making order preparation and fulfillment commitments, you must know the last order dates to meet delivery timeframes over weekends and holidays.

Here are some examples:

• If a customer orders on Monday needing 3-day delivery, the shipment must be sent by Wednesday to arrive on Friday. Any orders placed after Wednesday require 4-days since Thursday is a business day, but no deliveries occur over the weekend.
• For products with lengthy 2-week production times, you may need to calculate order cut-offs even further before holidays to account for closed days. Extra business days get added if a holiday falls in the middle of that production schedule.
• When stocking up inventory before big shopping holidays like Christmas, make sure to account for any closures in transit time. If USPS, FedEx, and UPS close for multiple days around Christmas, factor that downtime into safety stock calculations.

Build some buffer into inventory and order management timeframes to protect against variability in shipping durations. Holidays and weekends require extra advance planning compared to regular business weeks.

How Courier Services Handle Weekends

Understanding each shipping carrier’s weekend policies helps accurately estimate delivery times:

UPS Weekend Delivery

UPS offers minimal weekend delivery:

• There is no regular Saturday service except UPS Next Day Air shipments in certain areas.
• No Sunday delivery except in rare cases when Sunday is the next scheduled delivery day after multiple holiday closures.
• UPS SurePost packages handed off to USPS don’t qualify for weekend delivery.

UPS Next Day Air shipments will most likely deliver on Saturdays because that may be the next delivery day for overnight timeframes. All other UPS services are primarily provided Monday-Friday.

FedEx Weekend Delivery

FedEx provides more widespread weekend delivery than UPS:

• Limited Saturday Ground delivery is available based on the shipper’s origin/destination zip codes. Not all areas qualify.
• FedEx Express packages can be delivered on Saturdays, depending on origin/destination eligibility.
• There is no regular Sunday delivery except when Sunday is the next delivery day after multiple holiday closures.
• FedEx SmartPost packages transferred to USPS won’t be delivered on weekends.

FedEx advertises more expansive Saturday coverage for FedEx Ground and FedEx Express services. But there are still many zip code pairs where weekend delivery is unavailable.

USPS, DHL & Canada Post Weekends

Other major delivery providers have minimal to no weekend services:

• USPS: No regular mail delivery on Saturdays or Sundays. Packages are only delivered on weekends with infrequent exceptions.
• DHL Express: Has regular Saturday delivery but no Sunday service. Limited to eligible DHL Express shipments only.
• Canada Post: No weekend delivery on Saturdays or Sundays.

None of these carriers provide regular weekend delivery for essential economy services like USPS First Class or Canada Post Regular Parcel. Only expensive overnight and express options might deliver on Saturdays.

Impact of Early Cut-Offs on Transit Time

In addition to weekends and holidays, shipping cut-off times can impact transit days.

Many carriers implement early daily cut-off times for receiving shipments into their systems. Typically, packages brought to a post office, shipping store, or collection box after a specific time will not get picked up and entered into the carrier’s network until the next business day.

For example, UPS Ground may have a cut-off of 7 PM to get a package into their system for that same day. Anything dropped off after 7 PM would not ship out until the next business day, adding an extra day to the delivery timeline.

Similarly, USPS and Canada Post have end-of-day cut-offs to receive parcels into their network by closing time. Missing this could mean getting left out of the daily mail stream.

When estimating transit time for customers, make sure to factor these cut-off times into the timeline:

• Confirm the daily cut-off times for the shipping services you plan to use from your location.
• If a customer orders near your cut-off time, add an extra day to the standard delivery estimate.
• For expedited courier services, build in time to get the package to the carrier before their cut-off for same-day dispatch.
• Orders placed after your internal processing cut-off may also miss your carrier’s cut-off and add a day.
• Make your internal order cut-off 1-2 hours before your carrier’s cut-off to prevent this.

While weekends and holidays are fixed, early carrier cut-offs can catch merchants by surprise if not adequately factored into fulfillment schedules. Avoid disappointment by padding estimates to account for both.

Impact of Inclement Weather and Force Majeure Events

Other external events outside of holidays and weekends can also delay transit times for e-commerce shipments.

Inclement weather, natural disasters, and enormous regional disruptions can close delivery services and road networks. These force majeure events are unpredictable but occur often enough that merchants should account for them.

Here are some examples of how they delay time in transit:

• Winter storms or hurricanes – Dangerous winds, snow, and ice during winter storms or hurricanes can halt delivery trucks and mail services for one or more days in affected regions. Roads may be impassable due to severe weather.
• Earthquakes – Ground trembling and tremors caused by earthquakes can turn off transportation routes and require facilities to shut down until safe operations resume.
• Mass protests or strikes – Large-scale labor strikes can block roads and cause government offices and delivery services to suspend operations.
• Supply chain disruptions – Regional or global events like COVID-related shutdowns, labor shortages, and transportation bottlenecks can severely limit shipping capacity and reliability.

While carriers advertise guaranteed delivery timeframes, terms and conditions usually exclude force majeure events from compensation eligibility. These acts of God and nature are unavoidable.

When selling internationally or shipping goods through regions prone to natural disasters, build 2-3 extra business days into delivery estimates. This helps cover your business in case of unforeseen disruptions. Communicate that timeframes are subject to delay from external events outside your control.

Best Practices for Business Day Delivery Estimates

To provide accurate shipping timelines that meet customer expectations, follow these best practices around business days:

• Remove weekends, holidays, early cut-offs, and force majeure events from delivery time calculations. Only use business days.
• Confirm up-to-date holiday closures and delivery schedules with all carriers used. Double-check weekend policies for specific services.
• For last order/purchase cut-offs, factor in the total transit time needed, including non-business days. Avoid orders that can’t ship out in time.
• Build 2-3 day padding into the advertised time-in-transit to underpromise and overdeliver. This offsets minor delays.
• Be very clear in communication that timeframes are “business days only.” Educate customers on what this means.
• Set expectations that extreme weather or other disruptions could add time to delivery. Reference your liability exclusions.

Managing customer expectations around shipment duration is crucial for e-commerce sellers’ success and positive reviews. Following best practices for using business days in your shipping estimates helps provide realistic, achievable delivery promises. Remove the uncertainty of weekends and holidays from your timeframes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What are the shipping business days?

A: Business days refer to Monday-Friday, excluding major national holidays. They are the days of the week when critical shipping services like USPS, FedEx, UPS, and DHL operate to transport and deliver packages.

Q: How do holidays impact my delivery timeframes?

A: Major holidays can add extra transit days since no deliveries are on those dates. Timeframes that span a holiday weekend will take longer than usual.

Q: Should I include Saturday and Sunday in my delivery estimates?

A: Avoid including weekends in time-in-transit estimates unless you use an expedited courier service with Saturday delivery to the destination. Standard shipping services don’t operate on weekends.

Q: What happens if bad weather or other disruptions delay a shipment?

A: Leave a buffer of 2-3 extra days in your delivery timeframes to account for potential closures from severe weather, natural disasters, or other force majeure events. These can unpredictably extend transit days.

Q: Why should I confirm cut-off times with carriers?

A: Early daily cut-off times for shipping acceptance can cause packages to miss same-day pick-up and take one extra day to depart. Build this into your order timelines when near the cut-off.

Q: How much pad time should I add to my shipping estimates?

A: Add at least 1-2 business days of padding in timeframes to cover variability. Underpromise with extra time so customers are happily surprised by early arrivals.

Conclusion

Estimating transit times inclusive of actual business days is imperative for accurately setting customer delivery expectations. Weekends, holidays, early cut-off times, and external disruptions can all add days to shipments that seem counterintuitive. By factoring these into timeframes and building in padding, e-commerce merchants can confidently communicate realistic shipping durations. This helps delight customers with fast fulfillment while minimizing complaints about late arrivals. Embark on your entrepreneurial venture with confidence by utilizing an AI Business Plan Generator. Diligently following business day best practices ensures your buyers get their orders when promised, setting the foundation for a successful and well-planned business journey.