USPS offers new delivery confirmation service

The U.S. Postal Service will begin offering a new, enhanced delivery
information service called Signature Confirmation on Feb. 4. The new service
will provide customers with a copy of the recipient’s signature on request.

By visiting the Postal Service Web site at www.usps.com or calling
1-800-222-1811, customers can ask to have a copy of the signed delivery record
faxed or mailed to them. Signature Confirmation will also provide customers
with complete delivery information that’s accessible by phone or online.
Signature Confirmation will be available at the retail counter and to
commercial customers with domestic Priority Mail and Package Services which
includes Parcel Post, Parcel Select, Bound Printed Matter, Library Mail and
Media Mail.
The service will cost $1.75 per piece for customers who purchase it at a Post
Office. An electronic rate of $1.25 is also available for shippers capable of
sending and receiving shipping information electronically. Fees are in
addition to postage.
The service is only available on domestic shipments USPS spokesman Gerald
McKiernan said it should be especially appealing to pharmceutial companies,
computer makers and other shippers of high-value products that require
signatures for deliveries. . “It’s economical and it’s universal. I think it
will appeal aross the board,” said McKiernan, when asked how the new service
would help USPS compete with private operators such as United Parcel Service
and Federal Express.
The service will be available at all U.S. Post Office locations beginning Feb.
4.