I’m DCA based and check bags every time I fly. The baggage handlers here are pretty efficient. Door opens, belt comes on, bags almost immediately come out. They’re loading them just on the other side of the wall. Typically the DL baggage agents are there as well to pull bags off if they go around more than once.
I’ve also seen this type of behavior at small out stations where there aren’t a lot of checked bags. Most recently PMW.