As shipping and package volumes and revenues continue their impressive growth, the Postal Service took steps to simplify products, offer people more control over where, when and how they receive packages and provide superior labeling, manifesting and payment solutions.
Priority Mail Pricing — The Postal Service did not change Priority Mail prices in FY2015. This strategy builds on Priority Mail’s popularity with customers. Unlike others in the shipping industry, the Postal Service did not implement any new dimensional weight changes. When customers ship with Priority Mail, they get free insurance, expected delivery day and Flat Rate and Regional Rate packaging options. Priority Mail is one of the Postal Service’s most popular shipping products, helping to boost the Postal Service’s package volumes and meet customers’ needs for convenience at competitive prices.
Dynamic Routing and Sunday Delivery —To continue meeting the needs of today’s consumers, the Postal Service increased package delivery from six days per week to include Sunday in select ZIP Codes. While the Postal Service has delivered on Sundays during the holidays in the past, in FY2015, Sunday delivery was expanded across the nation throughout the year. All totaled, USPS delivered over 77 million packages on Sunday to homes, businesses and Post Office Boxes this year.
Package Pickup — We not only deliver to every address — we also will pick up packages from those same addresses. To improve convenience, more USPS shipping products now can be picked up from customers’ homes and offices through our free Package Pickup service. Customers go online to usps.com to request that their carriers pick up their packages during regular delivery the next business day. Previously, free Package Pickup was only available for expedited products, returns and international items. Now, free Package Pickup also includes First-Class Package Service, First-Class Mail parcels, First-Class Package Returns and ground products. We also made changes to our Pick up on Demand service, which provides pick up within a two-hour window for a fee. Requests for this option can now be scheduled up to a year in advance and the service can be requested on usps.com.
Metro Post — The Postal Service continued to expand its market test of Metro Post same-day delivery. The test product, which was introduced in 2012 in San Francisco, enables consumers to receive same-day delivery on packages ordered at participating retailers before 2 p.m. In FY2015 the Postal Service delivered nearly 200,000 Metro Post packages to consumers and businesses in the New York metro market.
Returns — The Postal Service expanded Parcel Return Service Return Delivery Unit (RDU) to 932 additional pickup locations. Customers now can pick up packages within 48 hours at 9,063 RDUs across the country.
gopost — Currently in a testing phase, gopost is the Postal Service’s convenient way to receive and ship packages. Our gopost units are automated, secure, self-service parcel lockers that are placed in convenient locations, where customers can pick up or ship packages 24 hours a day, seven days a week at most locations. Customers who sign up for gopost receive user ID cards and PIN numbers which they can then use to access lockers and retrieve or send packages. In FY2015, the program added eight new gopost locations in the New York City area. The gopost program is a key component of Postal Service efforts to better service the needs of our customers receiving packages.
