Baltimore Post Offices Add Weekend Hours, Open Sundays Through Christmas
Baltimore area post offices extended Saturday hours and will open Sundays until Christmas to handle higher holiday mail and package volume. The changes aim to give residents more options for last minute drop offs and to ease delivery pressure during the peak season.
On December 5 the Postal Service announced expanded retail hours across Maryland, including several Baltimore branches that will extend Saturday service and open on Sundays through Christmas. Local locations listed include the Baltimore Main Post Office at 900 E Fayette St., the Loch Raven Post Office at 808 Gleneagles Court, and the Nottingham Post Office at 4990 Mercantile Road. The moves were made in anticipation of heavier delivery demands during the peak holiday season.
The Postal Service said it has installed additional package sorting machines and hired tens of thousands of seasonal workers to handle the holiday volume. For Baltimore residents planning to mail gifts, recommended deadlines for holiday delivery are December 15 for Retail Ground Service, December 17 for First Class Mail, December 18 for Priority Mail, and December 23 for Priority Mail Express. Extended retail hours and Sunday openings provide more windows to meet those cutoff dates and reduce reliance on last minute express shipping.
These operational changes have immediate local effects. Expanded hours ease pressure on busy counters at downtown and neighborhood branches, which can shorten in person wait times and create more predictable access for small businesses that ship goods. Seasonal hiring provides temporary employment opportunities that can boost household incomes in December, while the temporary staff help absorb surges that would otherwise slow deliveries or increase late packages.
The adjustments also reflect broader trends in parcel demand and postal operations. Online shopping has sustained higher parcel volumes compared with pre pandemic levels, prompting the Postal Service to add equipment and temporary labor each holiday season. Those short term fixes can improve service during the busiest weeks, but they also highlight ongoing policy questions about long term capacity, funding, and workforce planning for a network that serves every neighborhood.
For Baltimore residents, the practical takeaway is to use the expanded retail hours and the specified mailing deadlines to avoid delivery failures and added costs. The Sunday openings through Christmas will be an option at listed branches, and residents should plan ahead for peak day traffic near major post offices.
