Does Amazon Deliver Through USPS? (Something You Might Be Interested In)

Find out whether Amazon uses the United States Postal Service (USPS) for deliveries with our comprehensive guide. Learn about the benefits and limitations of using USPS for Amazon deliveries and get answers to all your questions about Amazon deliveries with USPS.

Amazon is a household name; many people depend on the website to purchase items. This can be anything from books and movies to mops, vitamins, and office supplies. Customers expect fast shipping when they buy something from Amazon, but knowing if you can ship with Amazon is a different question. You can ship with Amazon, but you will need to know what carriers they use and how fast you will receive your packages. Read on to find out if Amazon delivers through USPS.

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Does Amazon Deliver Through USPS?

Amazon has been using the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) in some capacity since 2013 when it began shipping books for Amazon Publishing through the USPS. In addition, Amazon uses USPS to deliver packages in New York City, Los Angeles, and other major cities around the country.

Amazon is now looking at expanding its relationship with USPS to include more delivery services. The company reportedly wants to use "over 100 post offices" as distribution centers for its products to cut down on costs associated with third-party providers.

Why Does Amazon Use USPS for Delivery?

Choosing USPS as a partner was a good business decision for Amazon. Despite Amazon's large logistics and fulfillment operations around the country, USPS can often provide cheaper last-mile delivery. Besides being cheaper, USPS has many locations throughout the country that are conveniently near Amazon warehouses and distribution centers. Sending packages through USPS is a cost-effective way for Amazon to meet its customers' demands for fast shipping.

While other parcel services charge by weight, the USPS charges by distance, which makes it easy for Amazon to predict how much it will pay in delivery fees. In addition, the USPS offers the convenience of last-mile delivery. Rural areas are especially susceptible to this problem. Amazon relies on USPS's extensive delivery network to reach far-flung addresses in these areas and has yet to expand its delivery capabilities.

How Does Amazon Deliver Through USPS?

Among Amazon's delivery networks are fulfillment centers, which handle stock, sort, package, and label it for shipment. A sortation center lies beneath the fulfillment center. It is a massive warehouse where packages from all over the country are sorted by zip code and sent to local post offices for delivery. These regional hubs receive deliveries from fulfillment centers, sorted by ZIP code, and shipped to a delivery partner such as USPS.

USPS employees handle the last-mile delivery of packages once the packages arrive at local post offices. Once your package arrives at your local post office, the carrier will sort it before being delivered to your address. Every carrier has a route they take daily — some have multiple routes — so the infamous.

Carriers may make multiple stops on their assigned route before reaching your house or apartment building. They may also stop at other places along their route (such as picking up mail from a mailbox), but these stops aren't counted as part of their delivery route time because they're not delivering anything during these stops.

Are There Specific Kinds of Packages Amazon Delivers Through USPS?

Yes. Amazon mostly delivers packages with a high cost of delivery through USPS. Specifically, this pertains to items delivered to remote or rural areas. This is because USPS delivers to customers at any location and doorstep as a postal service provider. Amazon uses several carriers to deliver its packages, and most of these carriers are not only efficient but also fast.

However, Amazon sometimes needs to use USPS because they have many sorting facilities across the country and can provide quick delivery services than any other carrier. It can deliver your package anywhere in the US within 2-9 days, depending on where you live and where you're shipping it. The USPS is often assigned to deliver Amazon packages that fall within the size and weight restrictions that the USPS can conveniently deliver. Amazon rarely delivers heavy packages weighing over 20 pounds, so USPS usually delivers heavy packages.

Is Amazon Going to Stop Using USPS?

For years, Amazon has been using USPS to deliver its packages. While Amazon relies heavily on USPS for its delivery needs, it is rapidly moving to autonomous delivery (i.e., shipping without outside help). A higher percentage of Amazon's packages are being delivered directly to customers as of 2020 than in 2019.

Amazon has built out its delivery network, including over 100 sorting centers. The company also uses contract drivers and trucks to deliver packages from warehouses to customers' homes in some areas.

Amazon is likely to continue shipping packages itself by 2023, with some industry insiders projecting that the company itself will ship 85% of Amazon's packages. Having last-mile delivery centers throughout North America allows Amazon to rely less on other carriers.

Before a package is delivered, these are the last places it must stop before reaching its final destination. The Amazon network can provide more traceability and reduce delivery costs, especially in urban areas, by keeping last-mile deliveries within the Amazon network.

What If I Don't Want to Use USPS?

You contact Amazon's customer service department and explain why USPS shipping is not an option for your package. The Amazon career will usually hand the box to the USPS for delivery if it is of a size and weight that the USPS can conveniently handle.

Can Amazon Deliver Without USPS?

Amazon can deliver packages without USPS. Besides relying on carriers like USPS and UPS for delivery, it is also its own delivery company. Amazon Flex allows drivers to deliver packages in their cars, trucks, and vans. This strategy has many benefits, including:

Reduced costs - Using your fleet can help you cut costs because you don't have to pay outside companies for delivery services anymore. This makes the final prices of your goods more affordable for customers since you aren't paying extra charges for these services anymore.
Improved efficiency - When you use your fleet, you no longer have to worry about other companies' schedules or limitations in promptly getting their goods from point A to point B.
Increased flexibility -Amazon can adapt quickly to changes in demand by adding more drivers or trucks as needed. When the volume of packages increases during the holiday season, Amazon has more flexibility in hiring more drivers than it would if it depended on the USPS.
More control over customer experience -Amazon owns every part of this new delivery system, from its warehouse facilities to its truck fleet — allowing it to optimize every aspect of the process for maximum efficiency and convenience.

Bottom Line

Since 2013, Amazon has been delivering packages via USPS. Despite the company's efforts to expand its delivery network, rural and remote areas appear to be served by USPS. The reason for this is that it is cost-effective. USPS benefits financially from the contract with Amazon because it offers lower-cost delivery to remote areas.