Postal Service To Offer Discount On Packages Sent to Servicemembers
Feb 20 2008
The U.S. Postal Service will begin offering a discount Priority Mail rate March 3 and a larger box for care packages sent to servicemembers overseas.
The new flat-rate box is 50-percent larger than the current Priority Mail package and it will be delivered for $10.95 to an APO/FPO address — $2 less than the cost for domestic destinations.
“This is the first time the Postal Service has offered a special price for our armed forces serving overseas,” Postmaster General John Potter says. “We’re proud that family and friends will be able to use this new larger-sized box to send much appreciated packages from home to our dedicated troops overseas.”
The new Priority Mail Large Flat-Rate Box (12″ x 12″ x 5 inches or 800 cubic inches) will be available in Post Offices nationwide beginning March 3, but customers can begin ordering them Feb. 20 at usps.com/supplies or by calling (800) 610-8734. Some of the new boxes are co-branded with the logo of America Supports You, which is a DoD program that connects citizens offering support to the military and their families.
The $2 discount is applied when the Priority Mail Large Flat-Rate Boxes are shipped to an APO/FPO destination. The two existing flat-rate boxes (11 x 3 x 13 inches and 11 x 8 X 5 inches), which currently retail for $8.95 for U.S. addresses, are not available for the military discount, postal officials said. However, all flat-rate boxes still can be used for international shipping.
