You’re standing there with a package, it’s Monday morning, and the neighborhood is quiet because of the holiday. You’ve got a deadline, or maybe a gift that needs to get across the country by Wednesday. Then it hits you: Is FedEx even moving today?
Honestly, the answer is usually a "no," but it’s not a flat "no" for everything.
People often assume that because it's a federal holiday, the entire shipping world just evaporates for 24 hours. While most of the purple and orange trucks are indeed parked, there are weird loopholes and specific services that actually stay live while the rest of the country is grilling burgers.
The Reality of FedEx Open on Memorial Day 2026
If you are looking for standard Ground or Express service, you're basically out of luck. For Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2026, FedEx has officially marked its primary services as Closed.
This means:
🔗 Read more: Biggest Fisheries in the World: What Most People Get Wrong
- FedEx Ground: No pickups, no deliveries.
- FedEx Express: Closed. Your overnight envelope is sitting in a bin until Tuesday.
- FedEx Freight: No movement.
- FedEx Home Delivery: Also closed.
It’s kind of a ghost town for the standard courier routes. If you left a package in a drop box on Sunday night, don't expect it to be scanned until Tuesday morning. Couriers aren't making their rounds. The logic here is pretty simple—FedEx aligns its main operations with the federal holiday schedule to give their massive workforce the day off.
The Custom Critical Loophole
Now, here is where it gets interesting. There is one part of the company that literally never sleeps. FedEx Custom Critical remains open 24/7/365, including Memorial Day.
This service is meant for the "the world is ending if this doesn't get there" type of shipments. We are talking about life-saving medical supplies, high-value tech components, or emergency industrial parts. It is incredibly expensive. You’re not using this to send a birthday card. But if you have a genuine business emergency, this is your only path forward on the holiday.
What about FedEx Office locations?
This is where the most confusion happens. You might see the lights on at a FedEx Office (the old Kinko's spots), but that doesn't mean they're "open" in the traditional sense.
For 2026, most FedEx Office locations will operate with modified hours. Some will be closed entirely, especially those inside quiet business districts or malls. Others might open at 10:00 AM and shut by 6:00 PM.
Even if the doors are open and you can walk in to print a resume or buy a roll of tape, the shipping trucks are still not coming. You can drop off a package at the counter, but it’s just going to sit in their back room until the regular Tuesday pickup.
Pro Tip: Always call your local store specifically. The "hours" listed on Google Maps during a holiday are notoriously unreliable because they are often based on automated guesses rather than the manager's actual schedule for that day.
Smart Shipping: The "Before and After" Strategy
If you know Memorial Day is coming, you have to play the calendar like a pro. Because May 25 is a Monday, the "weekend lag" is real.
- Friday, May 22: This is your last "normal" day. If you ship via FedEx Ground on Friday, it might move a bit over the weekend, but that Monday holiday will add an extra day to the ETA.
- Saturday/Sunday: Limited Express services might be moving in major hubs, but Ground is effectively paused.
- Tuesday, May 26: The floodgates open. This is the busiest day of the week for drivers because they are catching up on a three-day backlog.
Expect "delivery by end of day" to actually mean late evening on that Tuesday. Drivers are usually swamped.
The Logistics Reality
Why doesn't FedEx just stay open? It's a question of volume. Businesses—the lifeblood of FedEx's revenue—are mostly closed on Memorial Day. It doesn't make financial sense to run a full fleet of planes and trucks when 80% of their commercial recipients aren't there to sign for the boxes.
UPS and the USPS also shut down, so the entire logistics infrastructure of the U.S. takes a collective breath.
If you are a small business owner, the move is to set customer expectations early. Put a banner on your site on the Thursday before. Let people know that any orders placed after Friday afternoon won't even see a carrier scan until the following Tuesday. It saves you the headache of "where is my package" emails on Monday afternoon.
Actionable Steps for Your Memorial Day Shipping
If you find yourself stuck with a package on the holiday, here is exactly what you should do:
- Check Custom Critical: If the shipment is worth hundreds (or thousands) in shipping fees to get it there immediately, call 1-800-762-3787.
- Use the Drop Box: If it’s a standard shipment, find a FedEx Drop Box. It’s safer than leaving it on your porch, and it’ll be the first thing the driver hits on Tuesday morning.
- Verify FedEx Office Hours: Use the FedEx Locator tool online, but back it up with a phone call before you drive over.
- Wait for Tuesday: For 99% of us, just wait. The system resets at midnight on Monday, and everything returns to its regular high-speed chaos on Tuesday morning.
Plan for the Monday standstill, and you won't be the one frantically searching for an open storefront while everyone else is at a barbecue.