The following information was released by the U.S. Postal Service:

The U.S. Postal Service is ringing in the new year with an expedited package delivery service that provides a simpler way to ship to regional destinations. Designed for commercial shippers, Priority Mail Regional Rate Boxes are an affordable solution for package shipments requiring fast delivery over shorter distances.

“Regional Rate Boxes are designed with commercial package shippers in mind,” said Gary Reblin, vice president, Shipping Services. “They have great potential for shippers requiring expedited delivery and cost-effective pricing for small and dense packages within smaller delivery areas.”

Introduced Jan. 2, Priority Mail Regional Rate Boxes are available to Priority Mail Commercial Base and Commercial Plus customers shipping small and dense packages in domestic zones 1 through 4. Postal Service-produced packaging is required, which can be ordered at usps.com/shop.

The two Regional Rate Box types (offered in top-loaded or side-loaded options) have an alpha identifier for each type, A or B. Pricing for Priority Mail Regional Rate Boxes is based on the box that is used and the destination zone. Regional Rate Box A has a 15-pound maximum weight limit and starts at $4.97. Regional Rate Box B has a 20-pound maximum weight limit and starts at $5.81.

The new offering also can be used with Merchandise Return Service (MRS) parcels returned at Priority Mail prices.

Priority Mail Commercial Base prices are 6.6 percent lower on average than retail prices, and Priority Mail Commercial Plus prices are 13.6 percent lower on average than retail prices. For more information, customers can contact their Postal Service account manager or the Office of Commercial Pricing at cpp@usps.gov. Background information and pricing for Priority Mail Regional Rate Boxes is available at usps.com/shipping/regionalratebox.

Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes this month celebrate their sixth birthday, showing continued growth since their introduction Nov. 20, 2004, and debunking public perception that “shipping is complicated.”

Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes changed the dynamics of the shipping industry, according to Gary Reblin, vice president, Shipping Services. Their ease of use attracts business shippers with exceptional value, and their simplicity and convenience appeals to customers who no longer have to worry about weighing contents (up to 70 pounds for domestic shipments) or calculating postage.

Factor in their versatility for domestic and international shipping — along with the discounts and free package pickup — and Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes offer winning combinations that are easy on customers’ pocketbooks, including:

* No hidden fees or surcharges.
* Free packaging supplies available online, by telephone or in person at most Post Offices.
* Environmentally friendly packaging.

In addition, customers who ship online using Click-N-Ship or a PC Postage vendor qualify for a postage discount, free Delivery Confirmation and free package pickup.

As a shipping product of choice, Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes performance shows:

* Average year-over-year volume growth rate of 58 percent.
* Volume for FY 2010 at 127.7 million pieces, 77 percent above FY 2009.
* Revenue for FY 2010 at $1.2 billion, 63 percent above FY 2009.
* Nearly 12 million Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes shipped in September 2010 — the highest total for any September.
* More than 350 million Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes shipped since the service made its debut in 2004.

“The growth story for the Flat Rate Box is still being written,” says Reblin. “Its success shows the Postal Service has the ability to design a unique, innovative product line and compete effectively when given the opportunity to do so.”

Reblin also credits product success to the service performance of Postal Service employees, along with a multi-year award-winning advertising campaign featuring the familiar letter carrier Al, providing his simple advice, “If it fits, it ships.”

Maybe you already noticed. The Priority Mail Flat Rate Box campaign — perhaps better known for the “If it fits, it ships” commercials — is promoting another item in the flat-rate products line.

This time, Al, the letter carrier who has appeared in previous commercials, reprises his role in a new ad featuring the Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope. According to Advertising and Media Planning Manager Joyce Carrier, USPS is focusing on the $4.90 envelope because research indicates large and small businesses will respond to the product.

“We know our ad campaign has resonated with viewers,” said Carrier. “Once again, Al provides a simple and competitive solution for customers who already understand the benefits of the flat-rate concept and will immediately recognize the benefits of expanding the basic offering.”

The Postal Service is airing the ad on several broadcast and cable TV networks. Supporting the new ad is direct mail to 6 million businesses, an

e-mail campaign, online advertising, and print commercials in trade and news publications.

USPS also has updated its prioritymail.com website to include the envelope as part of the flat-rate shipping story. And the fulfillment kit USPS sends to customers responding to the campaign now includes the envelope along with the four flat-rate boxes.

via USPS News Link – Oct 20, 2010.

Our cell phones had been acting up lately- refusing to hold a charge, failing to connect in places where they had always worked, etc., so I figured it was time to get new ones. On Thursday afternoon I logged in to the Verizon Wireless web site to check out what phones were available for our calling plan, and selected one (making sure I got the USPS employee discount!). Before too long I got an email confirming my purchase, and shortly after that, an email saying the phones had been shipped.

I’ve bought stuff online enough to know that a notice that an item has shipped often means ‘we sent it from the warehouse to the shipping room’, so I wasn’t too concerned that there was no info on the USPS Track and Confirm site the next day for the packages. I checked again on Saturday morning- still no data. That led me to believe that the phones probably hadn’t really been shipped at all yet.

So I was very pleasantly surprised when my rural carrier blew her horn and waved a pair of Priority packages at me. Yep- ordered Thursday afternoon, delivered Saturday morning! The packages came from either Texas (that’s where the mailing label said they were ‘shipped from’), or Pennsylvania (the meter strip insists they were ‘mailed from’ there!).

Either way, great service! Now if we could just get the tracking part down. Just for the heck of it, I checked the numbers again a few minutes ago, and there’s still no information. Makes me wonder if they ever got scanned at all- and yes, the confirmation numbers provided by Verizon match the ones on the bar code labels on the boxes.

On the other hand, I purchased another item on line last Friday. This item was shipped FedEx, and the tracking page at FedEx.com has been providing information about each and every move the package has made. The problem is that those moves haven’t added up to much so far. Since last Friday, the box has only made it from Sun Valley, CA to Bloomington CA. According to Google, that’s 64 miles. At that rate, it’s gonna be a while before it gets to Massachusetts!