Memorial Day 2026 Specimen Shipping Guidelines and Schedule


Due to the Memorial Day holiday (recognized on Monday, May 25), Mayo Clinic Laboratories' specimen pickup and delivery schedules will be altered. To ensure that your specimen vitality and turnaround times are not affected, please note the following plans for Domestic and International shipping:

Guidelines for domestic clients

Guidelines for shipping FedEx or UPS

  • FedEx or UPS deliveries sent on Friday, May 22, or Saturday, May 23, may not arrive until Wednesday, May 27.
  • Delays are possible. To help minimize sample impact, courier routes shipping by UPS will be moved to FedEx or Delta by Mayo Clinic Laboratories' Global Logistics.
  • Clients shipping on their own, choosing to ship via FedEx or UPS should add additional frozen cool packs to refrigerate shipments and use sufficient dry ice to cover the extended transit time.

Holiday shipping schedule

Friday, May 22

  • Regular courier pickup
  • If there is an unexpected delay, shipments may not arrive at Mayo Clinic Laboratories until Wednesday, May 27.
  • Clients on courier routes shipping by UPS will be moved to FedEx or Delta by Mayo Clinic Laboratories' Global Logistics, where possible.

Saturday, May 23

  • Regular courier pickup occurs, but we recommend holding samples rather than shipping via FedEx or UPS.
  • Deliveries will arrive at Mayo Clinic Laboratories on Tuesday, May 26, or Wednesday, May 27.
  • Clients on courier routes shipping by FedEx or UPS will be moved to Delta where available by Mayo Clinic Laboratories' Global Logistics.

Sunday, May 24

  • Regular courier pickup

Monday, May 25 (Memorial Day)

Tuesday, May 26

  • Regular courier pickup
  • Regular delivery operations

Questions or need to cancel pickup? Contact Customer Service at 800-533-1710.

Guidelines for international clients

To safeguard your samples, we strongly recommend the following guidelines for international shipments.

  • Two- and three-day transit shipments may be delayed due to U.S. Customs and Border Protection operations and may not be delivered until Wednesday, May 27, or later. Please hold any irretrievable samples.
  • Regular carrier (UPS, FedEx, DHL) deliveries will resume on Tuesday, May 26. When creating shipments, be sure to select "Saturday Delivery" on your airway bill, following the standard shipping process.

Shipping schedule

Thursday, May 21

  • 1-day transit: OK to ship
  • 2-day transit: OK to ship

Friday, May 22

  • 1-day transit: OK to ship (except for clients in Canada and Mexico)

Saturday, May 23

  • 3-day transit: OK to ship

Sunday, May 24

  • 2-day transit: OK to ship
  • 3-day transit: OK to ship

Monday, May 25

  • OK to ship

Tuesday, May 26

  • OK to ship

For questions and concerns, email RSTMMLTRANSINTL@mayo.edu or your regional service representative.

Mayo Clinic Laboratories

This post was authored by the Marketing Team at Mayo Clinic Laboratories.