Many companies — including FedEx, UPS, and the United States Postal Service, as well as, for instance, Target — now offer efficient and guaranteed 2-day shipping options to deliver orders to their customers in a timely manner. This option is an excellent choice for the shipment of countless different types of items, ranging from perishable goods or even lab samples to almost any eCommerce order. Today’s consumers place orders just before they need the goods, after all, and expect them to be delivered quickly and conveniently.
How does 2-day shipping work, and what do you need to know?
What Is 2 Day Shipping?
Individual carriers may have slightly different definitions of 2-day shipping, with delivery deadlines also depending on whether the order is sent to private consumers or businesses. Generally speaking, however, 2-day shipping means that a package will be delivered within two (business) days from the time the order was placed or the goods were entrusted to the shipping carrier.
That means that orders placed on Monday will be delivered on Wednesday, those placed on Tuesday on Thursday, and so on. Orders placed on Saturday and Sunday may be delivered on Wednesday or within two days, depending on the carrier’s policies. The beauty of 2-day shipping is that customers are guaranteed the same timeline — whether they are depending on the delivery of items from in-state or from all the way across the country.
Cut Offs for 2 Day Shipping
When opting for 2-day shipping, it is important to note that carriers and other companies will have cut-offs in place — they need time to process your order and ensure that all the logistical steps to deliver the package to its location in time can be taken, after all. The cut-off can vary, but it will always be before the end of the business day. More typically, orders need to be placed before 12 pm to make 2-day shipping possible.
Each carrier will also have its own delivery timelines. Often, commercial ventures can expect the goods they ordered to be delivered by 10.30 pm, while private residences receive their orders by 12 pm. In some cases, the delivery deadline is, instead, the end of the business day.
What Process Do Goods Go Through During 2 Day Shipping?
Unless the company organizes its own shipping, the goods are first delivered to a mail carrier. This carrier logs the package and promptly starts the process of delivering the package to its destination. Where possible due to shorter geographical distances, the package will be delivered by ground, with the use of multiple delivery trucks. Two-day air shipping is used for longer distances. Trucks deliver goods to planes and unload them once the plane lands, in order to deliver the goods to their final destination.
Strict cut-offs and logistical optimization mean that 2-day shipping is an excellent choice for orders that need to be delivered quickly but that do not need overnight shipping, as this fast shipping option remains significantly cheaper than next-day shipping.
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