WASHINGTON — When new Postal Service Shipping Services prices take effect in January, customers will see an overall price increase of 2.4 percent.

In addition, Postal Service customers will have a new delivery choice for domestic Priority Mail Express in 2014. The new delivery service option will allow customers to send domestic Priority Mail Express packages to most locations in the U.S. by 10:30 a.m. for an extra $5.00 fee. Domestic Priority Mail Express is a fast, reliable service which offers day-specific delivery information, up to $100 free insurance and free package tracking.

Highlights of the new retail pricing for domestic Priority Mail Express products include:

• Retail Flat Rate, Padded Flat Rate and Legal Flat Rate envelopes — $19.99
• Flat Rate Boxes — $44.95

Domestic pricing for Priority Mail Flat Rate products will remain affordable in 2014, with retail prices starting as low as $5.60.

Most domestic Priority Mail products qualify for free insurance up to $50 or $100, and one, two or three date-specific delivery is based on destination ZIP Code. Improved USPS Tracking makes it easier to see packages at pick up, confirmed final delivery and many points in between.

“The Postal Service remains the best in value in the shipping business,” said Nagisa Manabe, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer. “We continue to offer excellent domestic Flat Rate shipping with a price that doesn’t vary by destination.”

The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) will review the prices before they become effective on Jan. 26, 2014. Today’s Shipping Services price filing will be available on the PRC website at www.prc.gov.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation: 152 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With more than 31,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world's mail. If it were a private-sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 42nd in the 2012 Fortune 500. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for seven years and the fourth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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