Patent ID: 6929181

Claim:
A package delivery process for use by a carrier, said package delivery process comprising the steps of: utilizing a carrier specified delivery date subsystem for delivering packages to recipients wherein the carrier provides at least one predetermined carrier specified delivery schedule in which a package will be delivered to a recipient according to that schedule upon receipt of the package from a sender, said carrier specified delivery date subsystem including the steps of: (1a) receiving a plurality of packages from a plurality of senders; and (1b) delivering each of the package to a respective one of the recipients according to the carrier specified delivery schedule; and utilizing a sender specified delivery date subsystem for delivering an additional package to an additional recipient on a sender specified delivery date, said sender specified delivery date subsystem including the steps of: (2a) receiving the additional package from an additional sender, wherein the additional package is to be delivered in a different time frame than said at least one carrier specified delivery schedule; (2b) having the additional sender specify the sender specified delivery date on which the additional package is to be delivered to the additional recipient, wherein said sender specified delivery date falls outside of the time frame of said at least one carrier specified delivery schedule; (2c) after step (2b), storing the additional package until the sender specified delivery date falls within the time frame of said at least one carrier specified delivery schedule, and including the step of alerting a party responsible for storing the additional package of the presence of the additional package and the sender specified delivery date; and (2d) after step (2c), incorporating the additional package into the carrier specified delivery date subsystem such that the additional package is delivered to the additional recipient on the sender specified delivery date, and including the step of sorting the additional package and the plurality of packages according to delivery address.