USPS, UPS SurePost delivery contract ends. Here’s what it means for packages
FILE - A United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) driver unloads package in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Nov. 30, 2020. Photographer: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images
SurePost, a UPS service primarily used by businesses to send packages, is changing after a contract with the U.S. Postal Service expired.
Here’s what to know about the changes for businesses who send packages, and consumers who receive them:
What is UPS SurePost?
The backstory:
UPS SurePost is an economy service for less urgent packages that's offered to business shippers – such as when clothing is ordered online for home delivery. Regular consumers don’t send something via SurePost, but rather, it’s a contract service UPS has primarily with larger businesses and retailers.
Previously, many SurePost packages were dropped off by UPS to U.S. Postal Service facilities near the final destination, and USPS would ultimately deliver the package.
After the contract ended with USPS, UPS now handles all SurePost packages door-to-door.
Will this change how I get my package?
What we know:
For the majority of recipients, no. UPS SurePost delivers to residential physical addresses in the contiguous 48 U.S. states. The U.S. Postal Service is the only entity that can deliver directly to a P.O. box, including APO/FPO/DPO addresses, so SurePost will no longer be available for those deliveries.
However, other UPS delivery services, such as Ground, Second Day Air and Next Day Air, will continue to be available for people in U.S. territories, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
What's next:
For businesses that use UPS SurePost, UPS is working on updating its systems to remove P.O. boxes as an option when shipping via SurePost.
Consumers can redirect SurePost packages in transit that are expected to be delivered to a P.O. box to a street address by signing up for UPS MyChoice. With the service, consumers can also direct packages to any UPS Store location as well as UPS Access Point partners like CVS, Michaels, and other local businesses.
What they're saying:
"For consumer and business customers alike, all SurePost deliveries are now made directly by their regular UPS driver," a UPS spokesperson told FOX Television Stations. "There is no impact or change to UPS’s primary delivery services, including UPS Ground, UPS Second Day Air and UPS Next Day Air."
For its part, USPS said in a statement that it has been "implementing a new strategic approach with respect to its contracts with package consolidator companies" throughout the past year.
"Prior agreements failed to reflect operational and financial realities, the evolving postal network, or the enhancements to our portfolio of product offerings," USPS told FOX Television Stations in part. "As a result of our new approach, some businesses negotiated new agreements with us, and some have not. We concluded our negotiations in December 2024. Our Parcel Select product still exists, and any business can use it now at our published rates."
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents UPS drivers, noted the "increased volume related to UPS’s SurePost contract" in a recent Facebook post.
"The increase in volume provides more delivery opportunities and access to overtime for rank-and-file UPS Teamsters," the post reads. "Improved guardrails around SurePost, which saw smaller packages routed off UPS package cars to be delivered by the USPS, were a critical gain for UPS Teamsters during record contract negotiations in 2023. Contract enhancements helped ensure UPS Teamsters were delivering more packages."
With "millions of packages" returning to UPS trucks, thousands of new Teamsters jobs will be created, the Teamsters’ Facebook post added.
The Source: This story was reported using information provided by UPS to FOX Television Stations. It also includes statements from the U.S. Postal Service and Teamsters. It was reported from Cincinnati.