The U.S. Postal Service has formed partnerships with courier services in Canada, Mexico and South Korea, which will make it easier for those companies to transport shipments from their country of origin to the United States by using the U.S. postal system.
The three courier services are Overseas Courier Service Canada; Servicio Postal Norteamericano, based in Mexico; and Hanjin Express, based in South Korea. They will accept shipments in their countries, then ship them to the United States, clear them through commercial customs, and enter the pieces into the USPS' mail stream by using the USPS' domestic products and services, such as Priority Mail.
“Our strength is in residential delivery in the U.S.,” said James P. Wade, vice president for international business at the USPS. “But, [the] Global Business Development Group is working with in-country courier services to gain the benefit of their familiarity with the local market, culture and rules. They know how to get packages into the U.S., and we know how to get packages to the more than 130 million addresses here.”
OCS was started in 1957 in Tokyo, originally as a newspaper and publication distribution company. OCS Canada began service in 1963 and today offers courier, cargo and global mail service to a variety of customers. SPN is a new venture for Producciones Infovison SA DE CV, which has been in business since 1985 and is Mexico's second-largest television direct marketer. Hanjin Express is the international express service of Hanjin Transportation Co. Ltd., one of the largest transportation and logistics companies in South Korea. It was founded in 1945 as the parent company of the Hanjin Group, which includes Korea Air.
Wade said, “We are optimistic [that] by integrating the strengths of a network of private providers we can enhance our customer service and grow our inbound package revenues.”
