Today is Wednesday, January 14, 2026. If you are staring at an empty mailbox or wondering why your tracking status hasn't budged in the last few hours, take a breath. Yes, the US Postal Service is running today. It is a standard Wednesday. Your letter carrier is out there. The blue collection boxes are being emptied on their usual schedule. Local post office branches are open for business, likely with those familiar lines of people clutching pre-labeled boxes. Honestly, unless you live in an area currently getting hammered by a freak blizzard or a localized emergency, your mail is moving.
Why You Might Think the Mail Stopped
Confusion often hits this time of year because we are sandwiched between two major federal holidays. We just finished the New Year’s Day slump, and we are only a few days away from Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which falls on Monday, January 19, 2026.
When people ask "is the US postal running today," they're usually worried about a "bank holiday" they might have forgotten. While some international regions or specific sectors might observe minor dates—for instance, some banking sectors in India observe Makar Sankranti today—those have zero impact on the USPS. In the United States, if it isn't one of the 11 designated federal holidays, the mail trucks are rolling.
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The 2026 USPS "No-Go" Dates
To keep your sanity for the rest of the year, it helps to know exactly when the post office actually takes a break. For 2026, the remaining days where mail delivery is completely suspended (except for Priority Mail Express in some cases) are:
- January 19 (Monday): Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- February 16 (Monday): Presidents' Day (Washington's Birthday)
- May 25 (Monday): Memorial Day
- June 19 (Friday): Juneteenth National Independence Day
- July 4 (Saturday): Independence Day
- September 7 (Monday): Labor Day
- October 12 (Monday): Columbus Day / Indigenous Peoples' Day
- November 11 (Wednesday): Veterans Day
- November 26 (Thursday): Thanksgiving Day
- December 25 (Friday): Christmas Day
What About UPS and FedEx?
Basically, if the USPS is open, the private guys are usually open too. UPS and FedEx generally follow a similar rhythm, but they don't always align perfectly with federal holidays. For today, January 14, both are operating at 100% capacity.
If you're waiting on a package and the tracking hasn't updated, it’s probably not a holiday issue. It's more likely a logistics bottleneck at a sorting facility or a "label created" status where the sender hasn't actually handed the box over yet. We've all been there, refreshing the page like it's going to make the truck drive faster.
The "Sunday Rule" and Late-Night Packages
One weird thing that trips people up: you might see a USPS truck in your neighborhood on a day when the mail "isn't running."
The Postal Service has a massive contract with Amazon and other major retailers to deliver packages on Sundays and even some holidays. So, while you won't get your electric bill or a postcard from your aunt on Martin Luther King Jr. Day next Monday, you might still see a carrier dropping off a box of paper towels from Amazon. This "dynamic routing" is a separate beast from regular mail delivery.
Is the US Postal Running Today in My Specific Area?
While the national schedule says "yes," local reality can say "no."
Service alerts are a real thing. If a massive storm hits or a specific post office has a structural issue, the USPS will issue a local suspension. You can check the USPS Service Alerts page online, which provides real-time updates on residential service disruptions. It’s pretty rare, but for folks in extreme weather zones, it’s a more reliable source than a general calendar.
If your mail didn't show up today, don't blame a holiday. It could be as simple as a new carrier learning the route, a vehicle breakdown, or just an unusually heavy volume of "junk mail" slowing things down.
What You Should Do Next
- Check Informed Delivery: If you aren't signed up for this free USPS service, do it. They email you a grayscale image of the mail arriving in your box that day. It ends the "did they come yet?" guessing game.
- Verify Tracking: Look for the "Out for Delivery" scan. If it says "Processing at Destination," it’s still at the local hub and likely won't hit your porch until tomorrow.
- Hold Your Outgoing Mail: If you're worried about a delay, don't leave sensitive mail in your personal box overnight. Drop it in a blue collection box or at the post office counter.
- Prepare for Monday: Remember that the post office will be closed this coming Monday, January 19. If you have a deadline for a tax document or a bill, get it in the mail by Friday at the latest to ensure it gets a postmark before the long weekend.