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Will the Postal Service add fruits and veggies to its daily deliveries?

Written by Tom Ryan

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is making fresh food deliveries for Amazon in San Francisco as part of a two-month test.

The deliveries, which started in the first week of August, are being made between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. when most postal trucks are not in use. Amazon's insulated delivery bags assure that USPS won't have to run refrigerated trucks for perishable food.

For USPS, the test comes as the cash-strapped federal agency recently won approval to slash prices to better compete for package delivery with UPS and Federal Express. USPS, according to Internet Retailer, said in an e-mailed statement that the test will "determine if delivering groceries to residential and business addresses would be feasible from an operations standpoint and could be financially beneficial."

For Amazon, a successful test could lead to a quicker national rollout of Amazon's grocery drop-off service than rolling out its own trucks across regions. AmazonFresh currently delivers in Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Amazon is said to be using the Postal Service for more of its regular deliveries. It also has an exclusive contract with USPS for Sunday delivery in about two-dozen U.S. cities so far.

"We work with Amazon. They're an excellent, excellent customer and an excellent partner. We'd like to deliver their groceries," Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe told The Wall Street Journal. "As the Postal Service, we visit every house, every day. Why not?"

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