As of November 15, 2012, the USPS will resume shipping packages that contain lithium batteries to many international destinations, including APO/FPO locations.

Lithium batteries are included in many popular electronic devices such as iPads, Kindles, smartphones, cameras and other electronic devices.

In March 2012, the USPS banned the shipment of lithium batteries in order to comply with standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU). The batteries can explode or catch fire in certain conditions during overseas transport.

The USPS is still prohibiting lithium batteries that are not installed in the equipment they are intended to operate.  Get more info on the International Acceptance of Lithium Batteries from the USPS website.

Battery Image: Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Rest assured, if you’re mailing and shipping with the U.S. Postal Service, you’re doing business with the best. And not just the best in the country, but also the best in the world. Oxford Strategic Consulting (OSC) recently ranked the USPS number one in the world for postal service. The ranking comes from an OSC report that lists the world’s best postal service providers based on competitive criteria.

What was the judging criteria?
Looking around the globe, OSC examined postal service providers over three years against three key metrics:

• Access to vital services
• Resource Efficiency
• Performance and Public Trust

What it takes to be number one…
What details from the report should you know? That the USPS won over all other providers because of its high operating efficiency and public faith in its performance. In fact, the report shows that the USPS handles over five times more letters per full-time delivery employee than Germany’s privatized provider, Deutsche Post. So if you’ve been placing your mailpieces in the hands of the USPS, keep it up. If you haven’t, you should be. They’re number one — and now they’ve got the ranking to prove it!

Click Here to see the entire Oxford Strategic Consulting report on global postal services here

USPS Mail Recovery Center in Atlanta, GA

Where does undeliverable mail go? It’s probably crossed your mind once or twice. Letters to Santa… misaddressed  packages with no return info…  mail with unreadable addresses? Much like your missing socks, it all has to go somewhere and can’t just disappear.

The USPS addresses unaddressed mail
The good news is the always-reliable USPS® has it all mapped out. They have a very efficient system in place to ensure that mail is delivered to the rightful owners, customer privacy is protected, and lost items are reused. How do they do it? There are a series of important steps or, as I like to call them, “destinations.”

Destination #1: The Post Office™
It all starts at your local Post Office. The USPS attempts to deliver all mail, and undeliverable mail pieces are sent to the USPS Mail Recovery Center. Within the U.S., there are two Mail Recovery Centers located in Atlanta, Georgia and St. Paul, Minnesota. Believe it or not, the USPS started the first Mail Recovery Center in 1825. In 2006, exactly 181 years after its creation, 90 million items were sent to the centers.

Destination #2: Mail Recovery Centers
You may be unfamiliar with Mail Recovery Centers, but chances are they have a mail piece belonging to you. Exactly how do they try to return it to you? First, items are scanned by machines to determine if they contain items of value such as checks, credit cards, money orders, etc. Mail that contains valuables is opened in an attempt to identify an address where the piece can be forwarded or returned.

In the instance where an undeliverable letter contains a check, the check is shredded and an explanation letter and image of the check are mailed to the address on the check. If the mail piece cannot be delivered or returned, and is worth less than $25, it’s destroyed to protect customer privacy. If the mail piece is determined to be an item of value, meaning it’s worth more than $25, it will be held anywhere between 3 to 12 months, depending on the type of mail piece. Beyond that, valuable items are auctioned off, which brings us to our third destination.

Destination #3: United States Postal Service Auctions
Going once… going twice… undeliverable items are sold! And on behalf of the USPS, Stamps.com would like to invite you to attend the USPS Auctions that are hosted in Atlanta throughout the year. The Atlanta Mail Recovery Center holds the public auctions on the sale of unclaimed, damaged and claim-paid merchandise. Click here to find the dates, times and location on the USPS website.

Don’t let your packages (or socks) go missing
The USPS makes every effort to ensure that your mail is delivered, and you can easily do the same. Let’s say you want to mail a really good friend some new socks. Your first step should be to include your return address in the top left corner of the package. Next, place your business card, letterhead or a note with your contact info inside your package. In the rare event your package is lost, the Mail Recovery Center will use your info to return your socks to you. Let’s hear it for the USPS!

Times are hard for every business, and that includes the U.S. Postal Service. Like many other companies, USPS has had to make some tough decisions to keep offering its unparalleled services.

USPS Announces Post Office Closures Throughout US
In July 2009, the USPS announced it would need to close up to 677 post office locations throughout the United States.   On November 20, they the list has been scaled back to only 241 branches being considered for closure.  Customers from these closed branches will need to start visiting other locations in the region, which certainly will lead to longer lines and much busier post offices.

See a list of the 241 post office locations being considered for closure at:
http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/stationbranchop.pdf

Avoid Long Lines at the Post Office – Print Postage Online
If you’re looking to avoid long lines and save time from driving to the post office, Stamps.com online postage can help. Using Stamps.com’s software, you can easily print postage stamps or shipping labels for all USPS mail classes.  No time to visit a mailbox? Stamps.com offers you the ability to schedule a time when a USPS carrier can come to your home or office to pick up your package.

Using online postage also can save you money. Stamps.com customers get up to 10 percent off Priority Mail rates and 10 percent off on package insurance.   Stamps.com also offers Delivery Confirmation free for items sent through Priority Mail.

Although your local post office may get more hectic in the coming months, you can always avoid the lines by printing postage and shipping labels using Stamps.com.