How Much Does it Cost to Send A Letter Overnight
How Much Does It Cost to Overnight a Letter or Parcel?
Did you ever end up in scenarios where you needed to mail something urgently to someone?
Of course, we all face such situations sometimes and need to select a next-day mailing service. Hence, it is crucial to understand your options and be ready in advance.
Overnight mail is the best option for individuals and companies that need to ship something urgently. It can help them get their mail items delivered the next day. However, the overnight mail costs can drain their shipping budgets.
If you want to save costs, you need to consider the urgency level of your mailpiece and see if it can wait for a few days. Otherwise, it is better to overnight a mail item and get the work done as soon as possible.
There are times when you only need to get your letter or parcel postmarked by a specific date. For example, you need to postmark your tax returns by 15th April every year, but they may or may not reach the IRS on the 15th itself. Thus, you need not overnight your envelope and send it through any mailing service you want.
But, suppose you need to get your package someplace the following day due to an emergency — overnight mailing services are your only option.
However, before sending anything, go through the overnight letter cost USPS. You can also consider the costs of mailing through other options like FedEx and UPS.
In this blog, we will discuss all your one-day shipping options. Moreover, we will also learn about their rates to give you an idea of how much does an overnight letter cost.
Let’s begin!
How Does Overnight Mail Work?
As the name implies, overnight mail travels towards the destination overnight and gets delivered the following business day. Make sure you aren’t mailing one day before a federal holiday or weekends making the task impossible.
However, some overnight shipping options allow you to pay an extra fee for Saturday or Sunday deliveries.
But, there’s another condition for mailers to overnight a letter—they need to post their mailpieces before the cut-off times. These timeframes are different for every carrier, and we will get back to them in a little bit!
Please note that it is hard to deliver your mail items the next day if you post them too late. In such cases, it takes the carrier at least two working days to get them to the delivery address.
Also, your letters and parcels may or may not be eligible for overnight delivery; it depends on your mailing address and mailpiece type. For example, it is often impossible to complete one-day deliveries while mailing to rural areas. But, you can send items from one metropolitan area to another hassle-free.
Several overnight mailing services offer guaranteed delivery times, like arrival by 10 am, 12 pm, 4.30 pm, or so on. If the carrier does not keep up with its commitments, you can claim a full refund.
How Much Does It Cost to Overnight a Letter?
The cost to mail a letter overnight depends upon several factors relating to your mailpiece and destination. Luckily, you have many options to choose from according to your needs and budget.
Before discussing the overnight letter cost UPS, let’s discuss the aspects affecting it. Here, we have mentioned the key factors that you should take into consideration:
Shipping Carrier
The carrier you select makes a massive difference to your costs and delivery timeframes. Some carriers can deliver your mail by early morning whereas others might take the whole day and deliver it by late evening.
Thus, try talking to your mail carrier before deciding to send anything through it. Check out all your options and their corresponding rates to make an informed decision.
Your three main options to overnight your envelopes and packages in the United States are:
- USPS
- UPS
- FedEx
Mail Dimensions
As mentioned earlier, some of your mail items might be ineligible for overnight shipping. Thus, you need to send them through other options available.
Take care to learn the prescribed mail dimensions beforehand and select a carrier that enables you to send your items smoothly.
Mail Weight
Weight is one of the most crucial factors to consider while sending mailpieces overnight. Like dimensions, every carrier also has weight restrictions that mailers need to follow.
Most overnight shipping carriers use air transportation to get your mail to its destination quickly. But, some items are too heavy for air transport and hence, aren’t eligible for overnight delivery. However, the carrier may agree to send your mail if they have enough space in the cargo bay.
Also, remember that letters or parcels that weigh more cost much more than lightweight items.
Distance Between Origin and Destination
Usually, the more the shipping distance, the more your shipping rates. Both these factors are directly proportional to one another.
Also, the carrier might not be able to offer overnight delivery while mailing to remote or weather-challenged areas.
How to Overnight a Letter or Package?
The process of sending an overnight letter is not very different from sending other mail. Mailers only need to take care of the cut-off times and select the appropriate mailing option that assures overnight delivery.
Below, we will discuss the three significant overnight mailing options available for you:
USPS Overnight Shipping Costs
The USPS offers overnight shipping in the form of its Priority Mail Express service. This option provides mailers with next-day to two business days mailing. It is available 24 x 7 on all days of the year.
You can request holiday and Sunday deliveries for an additional fee. If the shipping distance is less, the USPS completes the delivery on the following day. Otherwise, it delivers your mail on the second business day before 6 pm.
This USPS service comes with a money-back guarantee so you can request a refund if your mail does not arrive on time. Plus, you get several more features, and they are:
- Free Package Pickup from your office or home address: You don’t need to drop off your packages in a mailbox or book them at the Post Office. A USPS carrier comes to your doorstep to collect the package on request on any day you want.
- Free USPS tracking: It helps mailers track their items in real-time, which is particularly crucial while using overnight delivery services. USPS tracking assures them that their mail delivery is lined up and will be completed promptly.
- $100 insurance coverage: Mailers get an insurance cover of up to $100 on most shipments. Hence, they can mail valuable items without worrying about their cost.
- Free Saturday delivery: While other carriers charge an extra fee for Saturday deliveries too, the USPS offers it for free. Hence, you can mail something on a Friday and get it delivered by Saturday.
- Proof of delivery: The USPS provides proof of delivery in the form of signature records to mailers if requested at the time of posting.
Priority Mail Express allows you to mail envelopes and packages at flat-rate pricing. Hence, using this option enables you to avail flat USPS overnight letter costs that aren’t based on weight or distance.
It costs the same irrespective of whether you are stuffing items weighing 20 lbs or 50 lbs in a Flat Rate Box. Plus, you can mail anywhere in the US at the same prices.
However, mailers should make sure that their items are under the USPS maximum weight and size limits. They can only mail letters and packages weighing up to 70 lbs.
The maximum combined girth and length is 108” (girth refers to the distance around the thickest part of an item). Also, note that the flaps of your shipping box or Flat Rate Envelope must close within their normal folds while sealing.
Below are the USPS overnight letter shipping costs (in case you don’t want to use Express flat-rate packaging):
| Not weigh more than (lbs) | Zone | |||||||
| Local, 1 and 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |
| 0.5 | $26.95 | $27.20 | $29.20 | $33.25 | $35.70 | $38.10 | $40.90 | $56.00 |
| 1 | $27.40 | $29.60 | $33.55 | $39.75 | $43.05 | $45.70 | $48.45 | $66.30 |
| 10 | $14.10 | $15.05 | $16.75 | $22.20 | $30.50 | $40.50 | $46.30 | $95.00 |
| 20 | $21.95 | $24.20 | $26.15 | $39.35 | $50.10 | $70.75 | $82.10 | $161.40 |
| 30 | $31.35 | $35.45 | $46.00 | $61.45 | $75.50 | $91.00 | $109.25 | $210.70 |
| 40 | $35.70 | $44.20 | $56.35 | $77.75 | $96.30 | $110.15 | $129.90 | $252.20 |
| 50 | $140.80 | $244.60 | $285.40 | $321.70 | $332.70 | $347.60 | $362.75 | $494.15 |
| 60 | $167.50 | $293.05 | $342.50 | $384.20 | $399.50 | $416.05 | $435.55 | $593.30 |
| 70 | $195.15 | $339.05 | $397.45 | $443.65 | $463.30 | $480.80 | $505.25 | $688.20 |
Sunday and holiday deliveries cost you an extra $12.50.
The cost to overnight a letter via Post Office using flat-rate pricing starts at $26.95. Mailers can purchase a Flat Rate envelope measuring 12.5” x 9.5” at this price. Legal Flat Rate and Padded Flat Rate envelopes cost $27.10 and $27.50, respectively.
Undoubtedly, the cost to overnight a letter through USPS is one of the lowest prices for overnight mail. Furthermore, the flat-rate pricing system makes it even more cost-effective to send items via Priority Mail Express.
Cost to Send Overnight Letter UPS
Like the USPS, United Parcel Services (UPS) also offers an overnight delivery option to mail to most US states and territories by the next business day. The service is known as UPS Next Day Air.
There are two other options within this service, depending on the arrival time of your mailpieces. Naturally, the cost of a UPS overnight letter for every option varies considerably according to its mailing speed.
UPS Next Day Air Early
The most expensive option is UPS Next Day Air Early. It guarantees delivery between 8 am to 9.30 am on the following working day. You need to post your packages before the UPS drop-off times for express shipping.
UPS offers a money-back guarantee if your items aren’t delivered on time. Also, it provides free UPS packaging to help mailers make their items ready to mail.
Please note that the UPS provides mail delivery by 8 am only for major cities. The timeframe of 8.30 am to 9.30 am is allotted to shipments heading to other US cities, like Anchorage, Alaska.
Find below the Next Day Air Early UPS overnight letter costs for different zones:
| Zone | Letter Rates ($) | Package Rates ($) (1 lb) |
| 102 | 56.59 | 62.09 |
| 103 | 62.30 | 77.51 |
| 104 | 71.56 | 92.72 |
| 105 | 74.92 | 100.26 |
| 106 | 75.82 | 103.98 |
| 107 | 80.89 | 114.01 |
| 108 | 83.21 | 116.30 |
| 124 | 92.14 | 123.72 |
These early-morning delivery rates for packages can rise depending on your mail weight. Take care to ask the carrier- how does overnight letter work to understand its working in detail.
UPS Next Day Air
If you are not in a hurry, you can avail the UPS Next Day Air option. The UPS workers deliver items between 10.30 am to 12 pm under this service. Optional pickup service and Saturday delivery are also available for mailers.
Below are the UPS Next Day Air rates
| Zone | Letter Rates ($) | Package Rates ($) (1 lb) |
| 102 | 26.59 | 32.09 |
| 103 | 32.30 | 47.51 |
| 104 | 41.56 | 62.72 |
| 105 | 44.92 | 70.26 |
| 106 | 45.82 | 73.98 |
| 107 | 50.89 | 84.01 |
| 108 | 53.21 | 86.30 |
| 124* | 62.14 | 93.72 |
| 125* | 45.00 | 72.77 |
| 126* | 67.76 | 93.77 |
Note: Zone 124 consists of metro Hawaii and Alaska, and Puerto Rico comes under zone 125. UPS guarantees next-day shipping to these places, but not for zone 126, which consists of remote Hawaiian locations.
UPS Next Day Air Saver
It is the most affordable UPS overnight mailing option and ensures delivery between 3 pm and 4.30 pm. However, shipments going to residential addresses arrive by the end of the day and not the prescribed time.
This service guarantees next-day shipping to 48 contiguous US states and a few locations in Hawaii and Alaska.
UPS Next Day Air Saver is an ideal option if you aren’t concerned about the delivery time. Here are the rates for different zones under this service:
| Zone | Letter Rates ($) | Package Rates ($) (1 lb) |
| 132 | 26.07 | 29.35 |
| 133 | 31.66 | 40.63 |
| 134 | 39.44 | 54.90 |
| 135 | 42.76 | 61.02 |
| 136 | 43.61 | 66.13 |
| 137 | 47.80 | 72.19 |
| 138 | 49.98 | 75.78 |
FedEx
FedEx stands for Federal Express and is known for its trackable and efficient shipping services. It also offers overnight shipping that helps mailers send time-bound mailpieces without any issues.
FedEx’s overnight delivery service is called FedEx Overnight and enables you to select from three options:
- FedEx First Overnight: It is also known as the early-morning delivery service. FedEx assures item delivery between 8 am to 9.30 am to most destinations. However, delivery to other locations can take up to 2 pm.
- FedEx Priority Overnight: Under this option, commercial deliveries are completed by 10.30 on the subsequent business day. However, FedEx delivers residential mail by noon and rural mail by 4.30 pm.
- FedEx Standard Overnight: FedEx guarantees delivery by—4.30 pm to commercial addresses and 8 pm to residential addresses. The FedEx overnight letter cost for using this service is the lowest as compared to other options.
Mailers can ship packages weighing up to 150 lbs using any of these overnight delivery services. But, FedEx can deliver your mail only between Monday to Friday.
Below are the FedEx overnight shipping rates:
| FedEx First Overnight | FedEx Priority Overnight | FedEx Standard Overnight | ||||
| Envelope (up to 8 oz) ($) | Package (1 lb) ($) | Envelope (up to 8 oz) ($) | Package (1 lb) ($) | Envelope (up to 8 oz) ($) | Package (1 lb) ($) | |
| Zone | ||||||
| 2 | 59.04 | 65.14 | 28.04 | 34.14 | 27.48 | 31.22 |
| 3 | 65.04 | 81.55 | 34.04 | 50.55 | 33.37 | 42.55 |
| 4 | 74.82 | 97.74 | 43.82 | 66.74 | 41.57 | 57.85 |
| 5 | 77.91 | 104.80 | 46.91 | 73.80 | 44.64 | 64.09 |
| 6 | 78.85 | 108.69 | 47.85 | 77.69 | 45.54 | 69.46 |
| 7 | 84.15 | 119.23 | 53.15 | 88.23 | 49.91 | 75.50 |
| 8 | 86.58 | 121.67 | 55.58 | 90.67 | 52.19 | 79.59 |
Undoubtedly, the cost to send FedEx overnight letters is far more expensive than USPS and UPS. Hence, don’t forget to compare prices beforehand and select an option best suited to your requirements.
You may check out the overnight letter cost DHL for overnight shipping to international destinations. But, please note the rates for international overnight mailing can be expensive.
What Does Guaranteed Shipping Mean?
Even though some overnight shipping services offer guaranteed delivery, they might not be able to deliver your mail the next day sometimes. It could happen due to various reasons, like weather conditions, demand surge, non-availability of workers, etc.
The word ‘guaranteed’ assures the mailers a refund if their item is not delivered on time. However, it happens rarely, and you can mail using overnight delivery options confidently.
We highly recommend you avoid relying on express shipping at all times. Try using it for emergencies only so that you save costs and assure timely deliveries.
Why Do Mailers Pay For Overnight Shipping Instead of Sending Emails?
If overnight shipping is costly, why don’t people use emails instead? Well, sending something by direct mail has its own advantages, like:
- Safe for sending confidential documents: Some people find snail mail more secure than email, especially for sending private and confidential documents such as-
- Court papers
- Business contracts
- Account statements
- Bills or invoices
- Tax forms, etc.
- Offers a personal feel: As compared to email, direct mail creates a nostalgic effect and adds a personal touch to your communications. Most companies prefer sending recommendation letters, customer onboarding letters, etc. through offline mail.
- Direct mail gets more attention: Today, recipients tend to delete emails even without reading because they are bombarded with them all day. On the contrary, direct mail gets more attention from recipients as it is given more importance by people.
Also, sometimes, it is necessary to send some items by mail instead of email. For example, some gyms and publications allow their members to cancel memberships/subscriptions only by sending forms via direct mail.
Several mailers use snail mail actively to send out their marketing and transactional items for these reasons. They can use low-cost mailing options by the USPS, FedEx, etc., for sending regular items.
But, overnight shipping allows them to deliver mailpieces that are time-sensitive and urgent in nature. As said above, it is advisable to use next-day mailing services only if necessary.
However, sending mail takes a lot of time and effort. Mailers need to draft and print items on their home or office printer. In addition, they need to stuff them in envelopes and affix the right postage.
But, you can choose to automate everything instead to save costs, time, and manual effort. PostGrid’s print and mail API allows you to create and print mail items in only two business days.
How to Save On Overnight Shipping Costs?
Many mailers wonder how much to overnight a mail item and ways to lower shipping costs. Luckily, there are several ways to keep your overnight shipping rates.
For starters, you can keep your item weight as low as possible as it affects your overnight letter cost FedEx significantly. Moreover, try using lightweight packaging to avoid adding extra weight to your mailpieces.
Apart from the weight, you can also look into the item’s dimensions. Oddly-shaped, rectangular, or large-sized items cost way more than small, regular-shaped ones.
But, often, it is impossible to reduce the mail item’s weight beyond a specific limit. Also, you may have difficulty managing its size.
Another thing that mailers can do is determine the exact time when they want their envelope or parcel to arrive at its destination. If they don’t need the carrier to deliver it during the mornings, say by 9.30 am or 11 am—they can select options that drop off items by evening around 4 pm.
As discussed above, late-afternoon or early-evening deliveries are cheaper than early-morning deliveries. Thus, senders can save a lot of shipping charges by selecting an option that does not guarantee early-morning delivery. This way, you can avail of fast shipping, but at lower rates.
Also, it would be helpful if you printed your own shipping labels. Perhaps, you can set up an account with your service provider and get discounts.
Another way to cut down on overnight letter costs is by using flat-rate boxes and envelopes whenever you can. Using this method, you need not worry about the mail weight as long as it fits inside the envelope or box.
If you want to reduce costs even further and mail efficiently, PostGrid’s direct mail API can help you. It allows you to design, print, mail, and track items at all-inclusive rates suitable for types and sizes of companies.
Below is a list of PostGrid’s features that will give you an idea of how it can revolutionize your offline mailings:
- Address verification: Compile targeted mailing lists and verify your delivery addresses to avoid lost mail and delays.
- Zapier integration: Connect with over 1,600 apps through Zapier integration and expand your database.
- HTML templates: PostGrid offers several professionally-built templates to help mailers design their mailpieces and customize them according to their needs.
- Per-piece tracking: View the delivery status of all your sent mailpieces in real-time.
- Campaign insights: Get periodic campaign reports and analytics to measure campaign performance and improvise future campaigns.
Wrapping Up
The overnight letter costs for mailing via different carriers vary significantly. These rates depend on your mailing destination, weight, size, and additional services.
You can keep your costs under control by taking a few steps, like selecting late-afternoon delivery options and using flat-rate boxes.
PostGrid’s direct mail services allow you to create, print, and mail affordably, speedily, and efficiently. If you want to automate your offline mailing activities and avail the lowest rates possible, PostGrid is your best choice.
Sign up now to see how we help businesses reduce their overnight mail costs!
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