Low-cost service sometimes uses U.S. mail

Friday, Nov. 7, 2003 | 9:46 a.m.

ATLANTA -- United Parcel Service Inc. plans to test a bare-bones service aimed at direct marketers and other select customers that will occasionally use the U.S. Postal Service to deliver packages to rural locations.

The world's largest shipping carrier said today that UPS Basic is its attempt to draw in new customers -- people who generally don't use its services to deliver 1- to 5-pound packages and are interested simply in a low price. UPS Basic will not include any of the extra services that the company generally offers, like tracking and a guaranteed delivery day.

The initiative, which will be tested later this month, will take advantage of a U.S. Postal Service program called Parcel Select that offers sharp discounts to people or companies that sort and deliver items to the post office nearest to the item's final destination. A U.S. Postal Service mail carrier delivers it the rest of the way.

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