Online Post Office Eases Americans Out Of Line

USPS.com Week Showcases Convenience, Depth of Postal Service Products

'Twas a modern day family and all through that house, no one runs to the Post Office…thanks to a computer mouse.

Each day, more than one million people visit the Postal Service website, usps.com. To introduce area residents to the quick, easy and convenient products and services available online, the Postal Service hosts “USPS.com Week” through March 14.

USPS.com Week lets the Postal Service deliver some of its most convenient, easy-to-use solutions in time for the spring mailing season — IRS deadlines, Mother’s Day, graduations, weddings, anniversaries and Father’s Day, said Anita Bizzotto, chief marketing officer and executive vice president.

“Our customers have discovered that it’s easy to do all their shopping and mailing from the convenience of their computer,” Bizzotto said. “Almost anything you can do at a Post Office, you can do online. Today’s mail needs usps.com.”

Only the Postal Service offers the “green advantage” of eco-friendly, free Express Mail and Priority Mail envelopes and boxes (usps.com/shop). All Express Mail and Priority Mail packaging is Cradle to Cradle certified for its environmental attributes. Conducting Postal Service business online reduces gas and carbon emissions.

A number of services are available online to help customers better manage their mail. The fastest, easiest and most convenient way to change an address is with Movers Guide online (usps.com/moversguide). More than 6 million people have used this Internet portal to file a change of address notice since 2002.

There are on-line options that manage mail for residents who are away from home. Mail can be placed on hold for vacation or an unexpected business trip (usps.com/holdmail) and redelivery of packages or mail can be made by going to usps.com/redelivery. Premium Forwarding Service reships all mail to a temporary address for a period of up to one year (usps.com/receive/premiumforwarding).

Post offices around the country will provide booklets and demonstrations to customers throughout the week. These will highlight a suite of nearly three dozen services and products to help small business owners and consumers, including:

Pay postage and print labels
Request free package pickup
Send shipments around the world
Provide ZIP Code look-up and general how-to's on business mail
Track packages and confirm deliveries
Design customized postage
Explore postal career opportunities or community history

Postal officials note that the most popular use of the site is tracking numbered articles.

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

An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation — 146 million homes and businesses. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.