Post Office to Deliver Amazon Packages on Sundays

Just in time for the holiday gift-giving season, online retailer Amazon.com Inc. has struck a deal with the U.S. Postal Service for delivering packages on Sundays.

Starting this week, the postal service will bring Amazon packages on Sundays to shoppers' doors in the Los Angeles and New York metropolitan areas at no extra charge, reports the Los Angeles Times. Next year, it plans to roll out year-round Sunday delivery to Dallas, New Orleans, Phoenix and other cities.

Getting packages on Sundays normally is expensive for customers. United Parcel Service Inc. doesn't deliver on Sundays, according to a spokeswoman. And FedEx Corp. said Sunday "is not a regular delivery day," though limited options are available, the newspaper reports.

The deal could bring much-needed revenue to the postal service, which has been pushing to limit general letter mail delivery to five days a week as its income drops.

Spokeswoman Sue Brennan told the newspaper that letter mail volume is declining "so extremely," yet package volume is "increasing in double-digit percentages."

Walmart Stores Inc. is testing same-day delivery service in northern Virginia, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Denver and the San Francisco and San Jose region. Last month, EBay Inc. agreed to acquire Shutl, a London start-up that uses a network of same-day couriers to deliver goods ordered online in hours, even minutes.

Would you like to see Amazon Sunday delivery via the U.S. Postal Service expanded to the Maryland market? Tell us in comments.