The Postal Service is consolidating services—USPS Retail Ground, Parcel Select Ground, and First-Class Package Service will be rolled into one service called USPS Ground Advantage.
Effective July 9, 2023
Domestic shipments only, not international
Transit time: 2-5 days
Weight Range: 1 oz - 70 lbs.
What do I Need to Change?
Shippers who are affected by this change will need to remap their orders.
DCL customers using the affected USPS services—this includes USPS Retail Ground, Parcel Select Ground, and First-Class Package Service—will need to remap their orders to the new service.
The naming convention for remapping is as follows:
Carrier: USPS Service: USPS Ground Advantage PB
Carrier: USPS Service: USPS Ground Advantage RS PB
Carrier: USPS Service: USPS Ground Advantage SR PB
Returntrak will need to be updated with new service as well.
DCL Integration of new service including (test orders by location, invoicing validation, customer communication, etc).
DCL Plugins – if you have any integration using a DCL Plugin (e.g. Shopify, Amazon, Skubana, etc.), DCL will make the change. No action is needed from the customer.
REST API – if you have integrations using DCL’s REST API, the changes need to be made by the customer. See naming convention for remapping above.
Non-DCL plugins - If have an integration that uses a Non-DCL plugin, this needs to be evaluated on an individual basis. Please contact your account manager immediately to make a plan for remapping your orders
If this change affects your shipping mix, please adjust the logic so that you do not have any disruption in service.
Are Returns Affected? Yes!
DCL’s ReturnTrak uses the affected services, so any DCL customer using ReturnTrak will be affected by this switch.
Please note after July 9, 2023 DCL customers using ReturnTrak will have Ground Advantage as a return option when selecting a carrier.
Will the Shipping Rates Change?
Ground Advantage pricing will be tiered—under a pound, at 4 oz. increment levels (4 oz., 8 oz., 12 oz., and 15.999 oz.), and over a pound, at 1 lb. increment levels, up to 70 lbs.
The new service will see a drop in published prices, 1.4% lower than the current prices of both Parcel Select Ground and First-Class Package Service.
USPS Ground Advantage retail rates will decrease 3.2% percent, and commercial rates will decrease 0.7%.
eFactory will be updated with the new rates by 7/1/2023.
Please reach out to your account manager for specific rates before this date.
What Does Ground Advantage Offer?
There are some clear benefits to the new Ground Advantage service. They include:
More flexibility. First Class mail was categorized as an AIR service, which meant no Dangerous Goods could be shipped via First Class. Now that USPS Ground Advantage is a Ground service, customers will have more flexibility, including the ability to ship Dangerous Goods with this new service.
Same free returns. Returns (both undeliverable and refused) will still be able to come back free of charge.
Insurance coverage. USPS is considering adding free $100 insurance coverage for the new Ground Advantage service. This is still to be determined.
If you have questions about how this service affects your shipping mix, please reach out to your account manager.