ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 8, 1996 TAG: 9606090052
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
NOTE: Below
Overtaken by Express Mail and other speedy delivery services, Special Delivery is on its way out.
The Postal Service proposed to eliminate the 111-year-old service Friday in a package of rate and service changes sent to the independent Postal Rate Commission.
John Ward, vice president of marketing services at the post office, said just 300,000 items were sent by special delivery last year - down from 85.3 million in 1972.
One big reason for the decline: Express Mail and private services such as FedEx and UPS overnight delivery programs have taken over the market once handled by special delivery, which promised immediate delivery once mail arrived at a post office.
Special Delivery costs $9.95 to $12.10, in addition to the postage on the item. Express Mail to an individual address starts at $10.75 and Priority Mail two-day service begins at $3, with both increasing by weight.
The proposal to scrap Special Delivery is included in plans to increase fees for post office boxes, boost the amount of insurance mailers can obtain, and create a new surcharge for postal cards.
The rate commission will hold hearings on the proposals and issue a recommendation in several months.
``The post office box fees are antiquated - especially in places where they are much lower than the cost of the spaces the boxes occupy,'' Ward said.
The $2 annual charge for post office boxes in communities that do not have home delivery would be eliminated, but fees in other areas would increase, varying by the size and cost of living in the community and the size of the box.
For example, a small postal box in Manhattan that now costs $48 a year would increase to $60 for residents and $96 for nonresidents. In Boston, Chicago and similar communities, the rate would rise from $44 to $56 for residents and $92 for nonresidents.
The $40 rate in smaller cities would jump to $50 for residents and $86 for nonresidents. In small towns and villages, the $8 annual fee would go to $16 for residents, $62 for nonresidents.
Nonresidents are often businesses that have a post office box in one community and their office elsewhere; some seek boxes in communities that are considered ``prestige'' addresses.
Other changes being proposed:
* Postal cards - that is, cards that include postage - would increase from 20 cents to 22 cents, adding a 2-cent charge for the cost of printing the card. The actual mail rate for post cards remains at 20 cents.
* All registered mail valued at more than $100 would be insured. There currently are two registered mail rate schedules, for insured and uninsured mail; this would combine them into one.
* The limit for mail insurance would increase to $5,000 from the current $600 ceiling, reflecting the higher value of items such as computers being sent by mail.
* The fee for certified mail would increase from $1.10 to $1.50.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Special Delivery may soon be as much a relic as thisby CNB10-cent stamp from 1927. color.