Amazon to deliver on Sundays using Postal Service fleet

The Washington Post reports:

The Internet has been blamed for the death of the mail, but now it’s offering hope to the beleaguered U.S. Postal Service.

Amazon announced Monday that it will begin Sunday deliveries using the government agency’s fleet of foot soldiers, office workers and truck drivers to bring packages to homes seven days a week.

To accommodate the online retailing giant, the Postal Service said it will for the first time deliver packages at regular rates on Sundays. Previously, a shipper had to use its pricey Express Mail service and pay an extra fee for Sunday delivery.

The initiative will begin immediately in Los Angeles and New York and spread to the Washington area and much of the rest of the nation next year, Postal Service officials said. The partnership should help the turnaround effort underway at the financially strapped Postal Service, they said.

The USPS has seen its volume of letters drop by half in the past decade as Americans increasingly pay bills online and use Web chat, texting and social media to stay in touch. The Postal Service is asking Congress for the authority to let it drop Saturday delivery of letters but keep weekend shipment of packages so it can continue to exploit the growth of online commerce.

One interesting article.