WASHINGTON, DC — Sending a birthday gift cross-country, a care package to a college student, or a reminder of home to a military member overseas? The Postal Service has launched a new box for larger shipments, giving customers three different size and shape options — all with convenient flat-rate pricing — to meet their shipping needs. The new box is 50 percent larger than the current flat-rate boxes. If it fits, it ships, for just $12.95 to any U.S. address beginning March 3.

“Flat-rate shipping is the best value in the marketplace,” said Postmaster General John Potter. “Our new, bigger box gives customers even more room to send items across the country, with one flat price, regardless of how much they weigh or how far they’re going.”

New Priority Mail Large Flat-Rate Box
The current flat-rate boxes, introduced in November 2004, give customers a single, predetermined rate regardless of the weight or delivery zone. The new, larger box extends the Postal Service’s line of successful flat-rate offerings, providing more choices for small businesses and consumers.

The new Priority Mail Large Flat-Rate Box (12" x 12" x 5 ½" or nearly 800 cubic inches) will be available in Post Offices nationwide beginning March 3, but customers can begin ordering them now at usps.com/supplies or by calling 800-610-8734.

Some of the new boxes are co-branded with the logo of America Supports You, a Department of Defense program that connects citizens offering support to the military and their families.

Mail to APO/FPO addresses receive $2 discount
Priority Mail Large Flat-Rate Boxes shipped to an APO/FPO destination receive a $2 discount, a postal first for the military; either version of the new larger box can receive the discount. The two existing flat-rate boxes (11 7/8 " x 3 5/8" x 13 5/8 " and 11" x 8 ½" x 5 ½"), which currently retail for $8.95 for U.S. addresses, are not eligible for the military discount. All flat-rate boxes can be used for shipping to international addresses.

All Postal Service Priority and Express Mail packages and envelopes are environmentally friendly, exceeding the highest standards for recyclability.

*20-pound weight limit

For more information, please visit usps.com.

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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, 151 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 32,000 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 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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