parcel post
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parcel post
n.
A postal service or department that handles and delivers packages.
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parcel post
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Parcel Post
Mail that weighs 16 ounces or more, mailed Standard Mail (B) class, usually mailed in a carton. Parcel Post mail may be a single parcel or a large volume of bulk parcels. It is the class of mail used by catalog companies to ship merchandise to customers. There are a variety of rates and discounts based on the parcel weight, distance traveled from entry point to destination, and quantity of parcels, as well as various presort and addressing standards. Smaller parcels may instead be mailed at First-Class or Standard (A) rates. Although at one time alternative delivery companies, such as United Parcel Service, controlled 80% of the parcel delivery market, rate increases and strikes have lured many business mailers back to the USPS for at least some of their parcel shipments. Mailers have grown fearful of depending too heavily on a single supplier.
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parcel post
Class of mail service, also known as fourth class, offered by the U.S. Postal Service for mailing merchandise or printed matter weighing more than 16 ounces. The contents are subject to postal inspection. The weight limit is 70 pounds per package; length plus girth cannot exceed 108 inches. Special rules and rates apply to certain items.
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| Parent Company, Pareto’s Law, Parity |
Columbia Encyclopedia:
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parcel post
parcel post, sending of packages through the mail service. At the congress of the Universal Postal Union in Paris in 1878, an international parcel-post system was established. The British parcel-post bill, passed in 1882, put into effect the following year domestic, colonial, and foreign services. Various other countries established such systems; the United States entered into conventions with other governments to convey parcels sent into the country but delayed instituting a domestic service until the Parcel Post Act of 1912. A water route for parcel post was started in 1917, and a fleet of trucks was put into operation in the East the next year. Parcel-post delivery on rural routes was established in 1919, making it possible for farmers to ship eggs and other produce direct to the consumer. Small animals that do not require food or water while in transit are accepted as parcel post. Extra fees provide for the special handling, insurance, and special delivery of parcels. In 1948 an air parcel-post service was established. Under treaty arrangements the United States is able to exchange parcel post with most countries of the world. Private freight companies (such as Federal Express and United Parcel Service) compete with the U.S. Postal Service for domestic and international delivery.
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categories related to 'parcel post'
- Postal Service - parcel post: postal service and fees for handling packages
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Parcel post
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The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2010) |
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.
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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.[1] The eight Australasian colonies (South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, New Zealand, British New Guinea and Fiji)[2][3] 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.[4] 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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]
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.[6][7][8] 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.[9][10]
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 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.[11]
See also
References
- ^ Jones, Chester Lloyd, The Parcel Post in Foreign Countries, The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 22, No. 6 (June, 1914), pp. 509–525
- ^ "Priority Magazine Issue 32 - 156 years collecting Australian graphic art". Australia Post. February 2008. http://www1.auspost.com.au/priority/index.asp?issue_id=33&area=features&article_id=707. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
- ^ Brecken, Richard (2008-02-28 First published in Philately from Australia (June 2006)). "Origins of the National Philatelic Collection". The Philatelic Database. http://www.philatelicdatabase.com/australia-and-dependencies/origins-of-the-national-philatelic-collection/. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
- ^ a b The New York Times. "The Parcel Post System". April 24, 1887
- ^ "Post Office In Paradise, Mail Rates During the UPU Period". Post Office in Paradise. 2000-07-10. http://www.hawaiianstamps.com/ratesupu.html. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
- ^ a b "Parcel Post: Delivery of Dreams: Introduction". Smithsonian Institution Libraries. 2004. http://www.sil.si.edu/ondisplay/parcelpost/intro.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
- ^ * Middleton, James (June 1914). "Uncle Sam, Expressman: The Parcel Post After Eighteen Months Of Trial". The World's Work: A History of Our Time XLIV (2): 160–174. http://books.google.com/?id=zegeQtMn9JsC&pg=PA160. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
- ^ * Walker, John Brisben (February 6 1904). "Who Will Be Benefited By A Parcels Post". The Cosmopolitan XXXVI (4): 497–500. http://books.google.com/?id=wJLNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA497-IA2. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
- ^ "Precious Packages—America's Parcel Post Service". National Postal Museum. 2012 [last update]. http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibits/2b2f_parcel.html. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
- ^ Servies, Tony (2008-07-11). "The Bank That Was Sent Through the Post Office". stampsofdistinction.com. http://www.stampsofdistinction.com/2008/07/bank-that-was-sent-through-post-office.html. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
- ^ USPS.Com: Parcel Post, retrieved 26 January 2012
External links
- General Post Office, United Kingdom
- United States Postal Service
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American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Dictionary of Marketing Terms. Copyright © 2000 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Dictionary of Business Terms. Copyright © 2007 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.
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Mentioned in
p.p.
(abbreviation)
Parcel Post Insurance
(insurance term)
Frank Harris Hitchcock
(American statesman)
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