WASHINGTON, DC —Starting today, take advantage of the new, Priority Mail Large Flat-Rate Box from the U.S. Postal Service, now giving customers three different size and shape options — all with convenient flat-rate pricing.

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. There is a $2 discount when shipped to an APO/FPO destination a postal first for the military.

“Flat-rate shipping is the best value in the marketplace,” said Postmaster General John Potter. “This new box is one more way the Postal Service is responding to our customers’ shipping needs.”

Flat-rate shipping, introduced in November 2004, gives customers a single, predetermined rate regardless of the weight or delivery zone and when combined with Click-N-Ship, no scale is necessary.

The new Priority Mail Large Flat-Rate Boxes (12" x 12" x 5 ½" or nearly 800 cubic inches) are available without cost to customers in Post Offices nationwide and 24/7 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. The America Supports You version of the new box is available online, at select Post Offices near military bases, or by calling 800-610-8734. Either version of the new larger box is eligible for the $2 military discount, as long as it is sent to an APO/FPO address.

The new, larger box extends the Postal Service’s line of successful flat-rate offerings, providing more choices for small businesses and consumers. Two smaller flat-rate boxes (11 7/8 " x 3 3/8 " x 13 5/8" and 11" x 8 ½" x 5 ½"), 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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