The U.S. Postal Service selected FedEx Express as the delivery agent for Global Express Guaranteed, its date-certain international delivery service to 190 countries and territories, beginning July 1.
The alliance provides new service to Japan and Brazil and offers new GXG shipping labels featuring both USPS and FedEx logos. About 7,400 post offices will offer the co-branded service, which replaces an agreement with DHL Worldwide Express. Financial terms were not disclosed. FedEx Express is a subsidiary of FedEx Corp., Memphis, TN.
“We evaluated a number of international delivery providers, and the review showed that FedEx offers the best combination of price, service, brand recognition and cost/network facilities,” said Anita Bizzotto, USPS chief marketing officer.
FedEx currently provides domestic air transportation for Priority Mail, Express Mail and First-Class mail and has nearly 5,000 drop boxes in USPS retail locations nationwide.
Also this month, the USPS signed a licensing agreement with Estafeta USA Inc., Houston, a private courier company based in Mexico. The deal is the first the postal service has made in Mexico and the only of its kind still active.
Estafeta USA, an affiliate of Estafeta, will have limited use of USPS trademarks and logos on advertising collateral, promotional materials and signage to indicate that it is an authorized USPS agent in connection with inbound Priority Mail. As such, Estafeta USA will use Priority Mail as the final leg of “USA Economico,” one of the international products it offers at 500 retail outlets across Mexico.
Estafeta USA links to the USPS domestic delivery network by clearing inbound packages originating in Mexico through U.S. Customs, transporting them into the United States and tendering them at the McAllen, TX, post office as domestic Priority Mail.
The service will provide an alternative to Mexico's mail delivery service. The Estafeta service will take about three days and cost $12.
The USPS has entered into similar deals with private companies to distribute mail in countries lacking a sophisticated network, but those deals have all expired. Estafeta USA's access to the USPS delivery network is expected to expand as a result of the agreement.
