SAN FRANCISCO — Visitors to the San Francisco Bay area can now ship their souvenir-sized crab pots and cable cars using the improved Priority Mail features from the U.S. Postal Service. Capitalizing on strong growth in its shipping business, the Postal Service has launched major changes to its Priority Mail line-up, including free insurance, free USPS Tracking™ and day-specific delivery.

This major upgrade of USPS Priority Mail products, which is expected to generate more than a half  billion dollars in new revenue over the next year, is one of the most dramatic new offerings from the Postal Service that meets the strong marketplace demand for core shipping features at affordable pricing.

This Priority Mail line-up positions the Postal Service very competitively in the shipping marketplace and gives small businesses and other frequent shippers, and shoppers, a continued and compelling reason to do business with the Postal Service.

Priority Mail will now provide scheduled delivery – one-day, two-day or three-day based on the origin and destination of the package. The Postal Service also will provide improved USPS Tracking™ for all Priority Mail products. Tracking and scheduled delivery information will be prominently and conveniently located on customer’s retail receipts and is also available online using Track and Confirm.

Free insurance is another new and important Priority Mail feature designed to close competitive gaps in the shipping market place and meet the growing needs of small businesses and other frequent shippers. Priority Mail one-day, two-day or three-day includes either $50 or $100 of insurance coverage for a lost, damaged or missing shipment.

Newly redesigned Priority Mail boxes and envelopes are available in Post Offices and online at usps.com with many Priority Mail Flat Rate sizes and pricing. Express Mail services will continue as Priority Mail Express, providing next day service with a money-back guarantee and up to $100 of free insurance.

The Postal Service has seen strong growth in its package business, which grew more than 14 percent over the last two years. This e-commerce-fueled growth trend is projected to continue for the next decade. Online consumers are expected to increase their spending by 62 percent by 2016 and U.S. E-commerce retail sales are expected to grow by 41 percent to $370 billion annually by 2017.

Other competitive advantages of Priority Mail products will continue to be the following:

• No hidden charges — no fuel or residential surcharges.
• Free supplies — free boxes and envelopes delivered at no charge.
• Free package pickup — regardless of the number of packages.
• Multiple packaging options — full family of variable and Flat Rate packaging with a variety of package sizes and pricing.

The Postal Service plans to educate business and residential customers about its new Priority Mail products through an integrated marketing campaign that will extend through the holiday season.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

# # #

Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at http://about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm.

For reporters interested in speaking with a regional Postal Service public relations professional, please go to http://about.usps.com/news/media-contacts/usps-local-media-contacts.pdf.

A self-supporting government business, 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 nearly 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. In 2011, the U.S. Postal Service was ranked number one in overall service performance, out of the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world, Oxford Strategic Consulting. 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.

Follow the Postal Service on twitter.com/USPS and at facebook.com/USPS.