Parcel post

Parcels, c. 1944.

Parcel post is a service of a postal administration for sending parcels through the post. It is generally one of the less expensive ways to ship packages that are too heavy to be sent by regular letter post and is usually a slower method of transportation.

UPU Parcel Post Treaty

The Universal Postal Union (UPU) parcel mail agreement of 1880 (in effect 1881), established an international postal agreement for the orderly shipment of mailed packages and parcels from one country to another according to predetermined rates.

Great Britain and Commonwealth

In 1882 the British General Post Office (later Royal Mail) first initiated domestic, commonwealth, and foreign parcel post services. The eight Australasian colonies (South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, New Zealand, British New Guinea and Fiji) and the other separate postal services of the colonies joined the UPU in 1891.^{[citation needed]}

United States

In the USA, Parcel Post® is a United States Postal Service (USPS) method of shipping parcels of books, merchandise, and other bulk goods economically via ground transportation within the United States. Items mailed via domestic Parcel Post® can weigh up to 70 pounds and take from two to eight days to reach the recipient.

History

In the U.S., Parcel Post® service actually began with the introduction of International Parcel Post between the USA and foreign countries in 1887. That same year, the U.S. Post Office (predecessor of the USPS) and the Postmaster General of Canada established parcel post service between the two nations. A bilateral parcel post treaty between the independent (at the time) Kingdom of Hawaii and the USA was signed on December 19, 1888 and put into effect early in 1889. Parcel post service between the USA and other countries grew with the signing of successive postal conventions and treaties. While the Post Office agreed to deliver parcels sent into the country under the UPU treaty, it did not institute a domestic parcel post service for another 25 years.

Domestic parcel post service within the USA was eventually inaugurated by Postmaster General Frank H. Hitchcock on January 1, 1913 under the administration of President William Howard Taft. The advent of domestic parcel post service, which exclusively utilized ground transportation methods such as truck or rail shipment, greatly increased mail volume in the U.S. while stimulating the development of nationwide trade and commerce. Many rural customers took advantage of inexpensive Parcel Post® rates to order goods and products from businesses located hundreds of miles away in distant cities for delivery by mail.

In 1917, the Post Office imposed a maximum daily mailable limit of 200 pounds per customer per day after a business entrepreneur, W.H. Coltharp, used inexpensive parcel post rates to ship more than 80,000 masonry bricks some 407 miles via horse-drawn wagon and train for the construction of a bank building in Vernal, Utah.

Current U.S. Parcel Post service

The USPS, successor to the U.S. Post Office, officially ended International Parcel Post® service in May 2007 after some 120 years of existence. International Parcel Post® service was replaced by First-class Mail International® service for parcels up to four pounds. For heavier parcels and/or printed matter, Priority Mail International®, Priority Mail International Flat-Rate, Express Mail International®, Airmail M-Bags, and Global Express Guaranteed® service is available to foreign countries allowing these types of mail delivery.

USPS Domestic Parcel Post® is still available as an affordable method of sending large parcels of up to 70 pounds and a maximum combined length and girth of 130 inches via ground transportation across the U.S.

See also

• Courier
• Package delivery
• Snail mail
• Surface mail
• Universal Postal Union

External links

• General Post Office, United Kingdom
• United States Postal Service