"When to ship" with The United States Postal Service
USPS stands for United States Postal Service whom of which is the largest carrier in the United States, providing careers to over 497,157 career employees in 2018. The number of non-career employees was 137,290. The Postal Service prides itself on going the last mile to deliver the mail. We served 158.6 million delivery points nationwide in 2018 with 1.3 million new delivery points added to the network. USPS is regarded as the most competitively priced shipping carrier for shipping lightweight parcels. USPS offers free pickup, free Priority mail packaging, and a wide variety of shipping options that can be vital for startup companies. Since USPS delivers mail to just about every mailbox in the United States, they provide a reliable safe way to deliver your packages.
Shipping with USPS
Generating shipping labels with USPS can be done on the fly with BlippShip!
BlippShip hosts multiple shipping options for USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc. Our state-of-the-art solution utilizes modern API’s to show shipping rates, rate comparisons, and give you the ability to generate shipping labels.
How to Ship a Package
Use a box that is big enough to safely fit what you are sending. Try to stick to standard sizes and you will avoid paying fees for nonmachinable packages.
Pack your box to protect your contents and make sure the box arrives intact. Tape your box so that it closes flat on all sides without bulging and reinforce the flaps with 2-inch-wide packing tape.
Process your shipping label within BLIPPSHIP using the correct recipient address.
The best way to send your package depends on how quickly you want it to arrive and its size and weight. USPS has a variety of mail services, different delivery speeds, package sizes, and extras like tracking and insurance. BLIPPSHIP will automatically help you select the cheapest way, or the fastest way to get your package to your customer.
Step 5: Calculate & Apply Postage
Correct postage helps your packages arrive on time. Shipping costs depend on several factors. You can enter your package information into BLIPPSHIP to get postage prices for different services.
Where to mail your box depends on its size and where you live. You can leave the parcel in your mailbox, request free package pickups, drop small packages in a blue collection box, visit a Post Office™ location, or leave your box with an Approved Postal Provider®.
The Benefits of Shipping with USPS
Dimensional Weight – USPS Services do not charge “Dim-weight” on parcels that are less than 1cubic foot. Actual weight is the package weight rounded up to the next whole pound.
Dimensional weight reflects package density, which is the amount of space a package occupies in relation to its actual weight.
Determine the package dimensions in inches. For each dimension, measure at the longest point, rounding each measurement to the nearest whole number (for example, 1.00 to 1.49 will be considered 1, and 1.50 to 1.99 will be considered 2).
Multiply the package length (longest side of the package) by the width by the height. The result is the cubic size in inches.
For USPS, if the Cubic Size is 1,728 cubic inches or less in total, you will pay for ACTUAL weight. If the cubic inch total falls OVER 1,728, you will pay dimensional weight.
Divide the cubic size in inches by the divisor to calculate the dimensional weight in pounds. Increase any fraction to the next whole pound.
Dimensional Weight = (L x W x H) ÷ Divisor
L = Length in inches
W = Width in inches
H = Height in inches
Divisor for Dim Weight is = 139
No Surcharges
USPS offers “surcharge-free” shipping. Unlike UPS and FedEx, with USPS, the rate you see is the rate you pay. You will not be charged Residential Surcharges, Delivery Area Surcharges, Extended Delivery Area Surcharges, Fuel Surcharges, Address Corrections, etc. USPS provides a low-cost, premium service which delivers to every single US Mailbox every day (no Sunday).
Free Returns
Unlike UPS or FedEx, USPS offers free returns. If your mail parcel is deemed “undeliverable” due to the person no longer living at that address, the customer no longer wants the item, etc. USPS will return that package free of charge, as long as the original package is refused and unopened.
Unlimited Delivery Access
During 2020, Postal Service employees traveled 1.2 billion miles to deliver your mail, equivalent to 48,191 laps around Earth, 5,023 trips to the moon or 13 trips to the sun. *Based on the average moon and sun distance.
The U.S. Postal Service delivers more mail than any other post in the world. The Postal Service serves 161.4 million addresses in the country — covering every state, city and town. Everyone living in the United States and its territories has access to postal products and services and pays the same for a First-Class Mail postage stamp regardless of location.
Today there are 140,875 blue boxes in use across the nation, giving customers access to additional mailboxes daily.
The Postal Service processed and delivered an average of 429.9M mail pieces daily in 2020.
Protected Delivery
Tampering with a US Mailbox is considered a Felony, giving your parcels an extra layer of protection in which other carriers cannot offer.
Reliability
USPS has a reputation for being reliable and easy to use. It is one of the most consistent shipping companies out there, and it boasts the largest volume of retail packages shipped. Whether you’re mailing a fragile package or a light book, USPS will get it to its destination within their expected time frame.
Negotiating with USPS
USPS is quite different than UPS and FedEx when it comes to negotiating shipping rates. Carriers like UPS and FedEx offer discounts on their services to shippers of all sizes, thought small shippers rarely receive volume discounts that allow better rates than BlippShip.
USPS, however, does not offer discounts to small shippers directly. USPS has 4 pricing grids: Retail Rates, Commercial Base Rates, Commercial Plus Rates, and NSA pricing.
Retail: These are the rates in which you pay when you go to your local USPS customer counter. These rates are the highest, most expensive rates. If you’re generating your shipping labels at your local USPS without providing an account number, you’re paying Retail rates.
Commercial Base –BLIPPSHIP Rates Commercial Base Rates are discounted rates offered to USPS customers who buy and print shipping labels with an online postage service provider called a PC Postage vendor. Commercial Base Pricing is always cheaper than the retail rates given at the Post Office.
Commercial Plus – BLIPPSHIP Rates
As of 2019, Commercial Base rates and Commercial Plus rates are one and the same. The difference being, if a USPS customer wants to own their own USPS Commercial Plus rate card, they must qualify for Commercial Plus rates on their own based on their shipping volume. A shipper must ship roughly 50,000 pieces per month to access direct Commercial rates via USPS. It’s much easier for shippers to access Commercial Plus rates through a Postage provider such as BLIPPSHIP. By doing so, the shipper has access to worry free Commercial Plus/Base rates without having to meet specific volume requirements.
NSA Contract NSA stands for “Negotiated Service Agreement” which is USPS’ term for a custom negotiated contract. An NSA is not easy to obtain, and your volume must be substantial. There are a very few NSA’s out there in the market today. Unless you’re shipping a few hundred thousand Priority Mail shipments a year, you’re most likely not going to qualify for an NSA which provides deeper discounts than what one would receive through Commercial Plus pricing through a PC Postage vendor. NSA’s are also very complicated and difficult to obtain. Some of those general qualifications are listed below which were pulled from https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/709.htm.
- No proposed NSA may have an overall negative financial impact on the USPS. Any proposed NSA must also contain, at a minimum, the following general candidate requirements and conditions:
- The candidate must permit USPS inspection of mail content to determine price eligibility.
- The candidate must prepare mail under current applicable mailing standards, unless they are to be modified under a proposed NSA.
- The candidate must meet and adhere to quality management standards for the classes of mail and prices claimed.
- The candidate must make available to the USPS necessary records and data related to the NSA in a form that facilitates monitoring of compliance with the terms and conditions of the NSA.
- The candidate must provide proper specified notice to cancel the NSA.
- The USPS has the right to cancel the NSA at any time with specified proper notice for any failure or, where appropriate, material failure of the mailer to:
- Use the NSA within the time period specified in the NSA.
- Provide accurate data, present properly prepared and paid mailings, or comply with any other material term or condition in the NSA.
- The candidate must engage counsel and file testimony as necessary in support of the NSA before the Postal Regulatory Commission.
