The familiar UPS driver who stops at the business every afternoon picks up this package along with the other UPS packages. However, because UPS consolidates mail from a number of customers and then tenders it to a presort company, which sorts the mail and delivers it to the U.S. Postal Service, UPS customers now can take advantage of reduced postal rates. The presort service is part of a comprehensive package of mail solutions announced by UPS in April. The service is offered through a new UPS business unit with a portfolio that also includes services for flats and hybrid mail. Flats is a postal term that describes mail that is larger than a letter, but typically smaller than a parcel, such as annual reports and prospectuses.
Hybrid mail is a blend of both electronic and physical mail.
Through the UPS hybrid mail service, large-volume mailers electronically send letters which are sorted and then electronically distributed to one of five regional printing facilities. From there the letters are printed and inserted into the U.S. Postal System nearest the final destination, expediting the delivery of those letters. Currently, the UPS mail services are for first-class and standard mail generated in the United States and do not include final mail delivery, which is a monopoly service provided exclusively by the U.S. Postal Service. All of the new services are based on the U.S. Postal Service's well-established workshare program, which was created to encourage cost efficiencies by having the private sector handle portions of the preparation and sortation of mail. UPS is the world's largest express carrier and largest package delivery company and a leading global provider of specialized transportation and logistics services, serving more than 200 countries and territories.