The U.S. Postal Service began rolling out USPS Connect Local in select locations on February 22, 2022, offering businesses local parcel delivery without a minimum shipment volume. Next-day service is offered wherever Connect Local is available, while same-day delivery, Sunday delivery and pickup options depend on the location. These are expected delivery times, not guarantees. A small shop can use the service without assembling a bulk mailing, but the handoff must fit the local postal operation. [S1][S2]
The mailing rules, published in the January 13 Postal Bulletin, require agreement to the program's terms and a conversation with a USPS representative. Connect Local postage must be paid through Click-N-Ship, which supplies the shipping label as well as payment. The rules impose no sorting requirement. Those provisions remove volume and presorting hurdles, but they do not make Connect Local an ordinary walk-up purchase at any Post Office. [S2]
The destination determines the handoff. The rules say Connect Local parcels must be mailed at the local Post Office designated by the destination's five-digit ZIP Code. For same-day delivery, they must reach that office by its designated critical entry time and be addressed within its service area. The label also needs the local mailing office's ZIP Code marking. A merchant therefore needs to match customer addresses to the participating office and its deadline before offering same-day delivery at checkout. [S1][S2]
The launch announcement offers two ways to hand over a package: at the designated facility's receiving dock, or through free en-route pickup when the carrier delivers the business's mail, where pickup is available. Paid Pickup on Demand is a separate option. The January rules allow a collection on a specified date within a two-hour timeframe, scheduled through Click-N-Ship up to three days ahead for Connect Local. A request for pickup that same day must be made before 5 a.m. local time. That is a pickup-request deadline, not the local office's same-day delivery cutoff. [S1][S2]
For a shop comparing costs, the useful calculation is the pickup fee against the staff time needed for a dock trip. Free collection during the carrier's visit offers another option, if that timing works for the shop. None of those choices requires bulk volume; each leaves a different handoff to arrange. [S1][S2]
Sunday delivery, where available, carries an extra fee. The rules provide an automatic refund of that Sunday fee through Click-N-Ship when the item is not delivered on Sunday or a Sunday delivery attempt is not made. The specified refund concerns the Sunday premium; the service's delivery times remain expectations rather than guarantees. [S1][S2]
Source documents
- Postal Service Expands Next-Day Delivery Options for Businesses With Rollout of USPS Connecthttps://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2022/0222-postal-service-expands-next-day-delivery-options-for-businesses.pdf
- DMM Revision: Domestic Competitive Products Pricing and Mailing Standards Changes — Postal Bulletin 22589https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2022/pb22589/html/updt_001.htm