Postal Service Plans Upgrades to Priority Mail Service
The U.S. Postal Service announced several changes to its Priority Mail service, offering free insurance and tracking, and day-specific delivery of packages.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said he expects the new features to make the Postal Service more competitive with private package-delivery services and generate more than $500 million in new revenue over the next year.
Priority Mail generated $5.9 billion in revenue in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, an increase of 8.9% since 2010. Overall postal service revenue fell 2.7% to $65.2 billion, from $67.1 billion over the two-year period.
Postal officials said package volume has grown more than 14% since 2010, mostly due to growth in online commerce, which is expected to continue growing for the next decade with e-commerce sales expected to grow by 41% to $370 billion annually by 2017.
