The U.S. Postal Service said Monday that it received approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) of the Postal Service’s plan to launch its Ground Advantage product on July 9.
The U.S. Postal Service earlier this year proposed to merge three ground delivery products into a new brand known as USPS Ground Advantage, which will offer two-to-five-day transit times with pound-based, ounce-based and cubic pricing options for parcels weighing up to 70 pounds.
The three products being merged are First-Class Package Service, targeted at merchants shipping parcels under 1 pound, Parcel Select Ground, targeted at shipments weighing between 1 and 70 pounds, and a new service called Parcel Select Ground Cubic, which sets prices based on the parcel’s cubic dimensions and handles weights between 1 and 70 pounds.
Goods will be shipped across the Postal Service’s massive ground network.
The product is aimed at shippers willing to sacrifice speed for price. It is also intended for users of the Postal Service’s Priority Mail service, who need two-to-three-day transit times but don’t want to pay Priority Mail’s pound-based prices.
The Postal Service earlier had said it planned to unveil the offering after it was approved by the PRC, the independent agency that must sign off on product rollouts and pricing changes, among other duties.
Pricing for USPS Ground Advantage will reflect a decrease of 1.4% relative to predecessor shipping products offered by the Postal Service.