WASHINGTON, DC —Find, and now rent, a Post Office Box along with the morning cup of coffee or after putting the kids to bed at night.

“PO Boxes Online” is a quick, easy and convenient online service that lets customers find, apply for and rent an available Post Office Box — simply by going online to usps.com/poboxes instead of making a trip to a Post Office.

“Convenient products and services easily accessible at times that fit our customers’ active, busy lifestyles. PO Boxes Online is one more way the Postal Service is responding to the needs of consumers and business owners,” said David Shoenfeld, senior vice president, Mailing Services.

This enhancement to usps.com allows customers to find a PO Box near their home or business, determine the box size that is available and, using either an existing Postal Service account or valid credit card, rent the box for six months to a year.

Five box sizes are available at most post offices. Fees are based on a six-month term and determined by box size. Customers also are charged a $2 key deposit. An email message is automatically generated at the beginning of the month reminding box holders that the fee is due.

After logging on to usps.com/poboxes, customers simply enter a street address or ZIP Code under “search for a PO Box,” click “search” and scroll through a list of Post Office locations within a 50-mile radius.  Search results provide box sizes available, fees, street address of the Post Office, business hours, lobby hours and available parking.

Once an available box is found, customers can indicate box size and complete the online application.  The printed application form and two forms of identification are needed for the customer to pick up the keys to the PO Box. Customers must be 18 years of age to rent a PO Box. Boxes also can be rented in person at the retail counter in Post Offices across the country.

PO Box renewal payments also made by made at Automated Postal Centers (APCs). Just as an ATM is a virtual stand-alone bank, the APC is a virtual stand-alone Post Office.

PO boxes are as secure as mailboxes but provide more flexibility for mail pickup. The convenience of earlier mail delivery is helpful to small business owners. Boxes provide home-based businesses with the ability to separate business and personal mail. Many Post Office Box lobbies have extended hours and are open 24 hours a day

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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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