The U.S. Postal Service is testing a new delivery system with Amazon that could allow more packages to reach customers on the same day they enter the postal network. The pilot adds a second daily Amazon handoff and gives postal workers only a few hours to sort and deliver qualifying parcels.
New Afternoon Drop Opens a Second Same-Day Window
The program expands the existing relationship between Amazon and USPS by introducing an additional scheduled package drop each afternoon.
According to The U.S. Sun, Amazon packages included in the new handoff are expected to arrive at participating USPS facilities between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. That timing is the key part of the pilot.
Packages delivered during that window can be processed by postal clerks and prepared for city carriers, who are then scheduled to take them out for delivery between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on the same day.
The afternoon drop comes on top of Amazon’s existing morning deliveries to USPS facilities. By adding another handoff later in the day, the companies are creating a path for orders that previously would have missed the day’s postal delivery cycle.
Amazon spokesperson Terrence Clark described that change in comments to Supply Chain Dive.
“Orders placed later in the day would now be eligible for same day delivery through this pilot,” said Amazon spokesperson Terrence Clark to Supply Chain Dive.
For customers, the practical effect is straightforward: an Amazon order processed early enough to reach one of the participating postal facilities during the afternoon handoff could move from Amazon’s network to a USPS carrier and arrive at the customer’s address just hours later.
The Pilot Starts With Strict Package Limits
The test began in Morgantown, West Virginia, and Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
Morgantown is roughly 90 minutes south of Pittsburgh, while Lake Havasu City sits about 150 miles southeast of Las Vegas. The two locations are operating under tightly controlled limits designed to keep the new delivery flow manageable while USPS and Amazon evaluate how it works.
Each site can accept up to 200 packages through the afternoon drop, spread across three delivery routes.
That means the pilot is not yet a broad same-day service available to every Amazon shopper in those areas. It is a limited operational test focused on specific routes, package volumes and delivery schedules.
A third location is already scheduled to join the program.
Columbia Expansion Will Raise the Daily Volume
The pilot is set to expand to Columbia, South Carolina, on October 20.
The Columbia operation will run on a larger scale than the first two sites, with a maximum of 500 packages distributed across five routes.
That increase should give the companies a larger operating sample as they test whether postal facilities can receive, sort and dispatch Amazon parcels within the compressed afternoon schedule.
The timing leaves little room for delays. Parcels handed to USPS between noon and 1 p.m. must be processed quickly enough for carriers to begin deliveries from 2 p.m. onward.
The structure also places the experiment within the Postal Service’s existing local delivery network rather than creating a separate fleet solely for the pilot.
According to a National Association of Letter Carriers memo cited in reporting on the program, none of the three pilot locations currently has a scheduled end date.
