Does my baggage come off the carousel quicker if I check in late for my flight?

Unless you're travelling in a class or with status credits that entitle you to a priority baggage tag, exactly when your bag will come off the carousel is a roll of the dice. On a wide-bodied aircraft, checked baggage is loaded into cargo containers or "cans", big metal boxes that are transported as a single unit.

Since weight distribution is a crucial factor in aircraft performance, the loadmaster will take account of the weight of each can and determine where it is placed within the aircraft's cargo bays.

This is what determines where your bag ends up, and in which order it gets unloaded at your destination, not the time when you check in. On single-aisle aircraft, loose loading is common practice. Bags are held in a common area until the flight is closed, then transported out to the aircraft and loaded individually, usually via a conveyor belt. In that case it's also a lottery where your bag ends up, and in which order it comes off at the other end.

Some flyers suggest that identifying your bag as "fragile" at the check-in desk means it's more likely to be placed on top of other non-fragile items, and therefore ahead of the pack at the carousel. However gaming the system in this way is yet another shuffling step into the moral abyss of "me first", and you're better than that. Hear the voice of your better angels.