FedEx expands tests of U.S. mail deliveries

FedEx has said it is broadening tests of a low-cost parcel service using U.S. mail carriers for home deliveries. The test, announced Jan. 23, comes as the Memphis-based company looks to expand its ground business.

Rival United Parcel Service earlier introduced a lower-cost service for large commercial customers shipping to rural and other thinly populated destinations.

Each service carries the packages in their own delivery systems and then drops them at U.S. Postal Service facilities. U.S. mail carriers then deliver the FedEx and UPS packages to homes and small businesses along their routes.