ARLINGTON, VA — The U.S. Postal Service’s new self-service parcel locker, dubbed gopost, was unveiled today at a ribbon-cutting ceremony witnessed by hundreds of shoppers and retailers at the Ballston Common Mall in Arlington, VA.  Designed for today’s on-the-go lifestyles, gopost contains dozens of individual parcel lockers that Postal Service customers can use to receive or ship packages while they’re out shopping or doing other errands.

A pilot program designed to expand service access to customers in locations they already frequent, the gopost parcel locker at the Arlington shopping center is one of 25 being rolled out in northern Virginia this year and the first at a non-Postal Service location.  

Six other gopost units are currently being tested at Post Offices in northern Virginia. These include the Arlington South Post Office, the Merrifield Post Office, the Kingstowne Post Office (Alexandria), the Prince William Post Office (Woodbridge), the Chantilly Post Office, and the Centreville Post Office.

The Postal Service is planning to install other gopost units at places such as grocery stores, pharmacies, transportation hubs and other shopping centers.

“The Postal Service is committed to improving the way we serve our customers,” said Kelly Sigmon, vice president, Channel Access. “We want to give them more convenience, more flexibility and more options. That’s what gopost is all about.

“gopost represents the next great innovation from the U.S. Postal Service,” added Sigmon. “It’s based on a simple, yet novel idea: Why wait for your package when your package can wait for you.”

To use the service, customers register at gopost.com, where they select their own personal ID numbers to use with their gopost access cards. The cards are mailed to customers once registration is completed. Packages are delivered to gopost by Postal Service carriers. When a package arrives, the gopost customer is notified via email that the item is available for pickup.

Customers also can use gopost to ship packages. “gopost is a great convenience, especially for busy small-business owners,” said Sigmon. “All they have to do is place a postage-paid package in one of the gopost lockers, and our local carrier does the rest.”
Customers are not assigned specific lockers; rather, packages are placed in lockers that are available and accommodate the size of the package.

At this time, only packages delivered via the U.S. Postal Service can be shipped to gopost. But we are examining ways that may allow for packages shipped via alternative carriers to be seamlessly provided to the Postal Service for “last mile” delivery into gopost.

According to Sigmon, many gopost stations will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. “It’s secure, convenient, and there’s no additional charge.”

Today’s ceremony marks the official launch of the pilot program. The Ballston Common Mall was selected for its high traffic and access to the community.

“We could not be happier that Ballston Common Mall was selected as the first shopping mall gopost site,” said John J. Moore, eastern regional vice president, Forest City Commercial Management. “We welcome the added convenience gopost provides to our customers.”

To learn more about gopost or to sign up for the service, visit gopost.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, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no direct support from taxpayers. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 28th in the 2009 Fortune 500.