The Postal Service has thousands of highway contracts to transport mail between its network of hundreds of processing plants, bulk mail centers and surface transfer centers. While the Postal Service continues to optimize its transportation network in order to improve utilization and reduce cost, excess capacity will remain due to the natural imbalances of mail volume between cities and the need to meet service standards.
On April 1, the Postal Service gave notice to the Postal Regulatory Commission of its intent to initiate a two-year market test of an experimental “Collaborative Logistics” competitive product to make this excess capacity available to shippers. The market test began May 7 and is being managed by Network Operations at Postal Service Headquarters in Washington, DC.
Here are the basics of this new Collaborative Logistics product:
• Space available on existing highway transportation
• Less-than-truckload and full truckload (where available)
• Palletized loads — single- or double-stacked
• USPS or customer drop-off and pickup
• No HAZMAT
• No materials that may impact mail security/service
• Traditional freight and drop-ship freight
• Attractive, individually negotiated rates
• Excellent service
• Delivery standards: generally one to four days
“Using space available on our highway trips to transport freight helps defray costs for other mail products and is also environmentally friendly,” says Jim Cunningham, Manager, Business Opportunity Development for the Postal Service. n
For more information, contact the Shared Transportation Control Center (STCC) at 866-877-7666, or send an email to stcc@usps.gov.
Here are the basics of this new Collaborative Logistics product:
• Space available on existing highway transportation
• Less-than-truckload and full truckload (where available)
• Palletized loads — single- or double-stacked
• USPS or customer drop-off and pickup
• No HAZMAT
• No materials that may impact mail security/service
• Traditional freight and drop-ship freight
• Attractive, individually negotiated rates
• Excellent service
• Delivery standards: generally one to four days
“Using space available on our highway trips to transport freight helps defray costs for other mail products and is also environmentally friendly,” says Jim Cunningham, Manager, Business Opportunity Development for the Postal Service. n
For more information, contact the Shared Transportation Control Center (STCC) at 866-877-7666, or send an email to stcc@usps.gov.
