On Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 12:42:09AM -0600, Robert Bonomi wrote:
From: Leo Bicknell <bicknell@ufp.org>
So if it's illegal for you to put a letter inside a FedEx box,
Bzzt! It's -not- illegal to put a letter inside a FedEx box. It just has to have the appropriate (USPS) postage on it, _as_well_ as paying the FedEx service/delivery fee.
Bzzt!. It is, in general, as a practical matter, completely legal to send letters overnight via FedEx, without paying any US postage. Under the "Extremely Urgent" exception, any shipment for which the shipper pays more than the greater of $3 and twice what the USPS would charge to send it first class, is deemed extremely urgent (whether or not it reallt is) and is excemt from the requirement to use the USPS or pay USPS postage. Except in some pretty rare cases, any shipment of letters sent via FedEx is going to cost more than $3 and more than double what the USPS would have charged to sent it first class.
This is true if it is just the letter you're sending, or if it is a sealed letter -inside- a box/package being shipped..
Actually, if the sealed letter relates to the cargo in the box/package, it's legal to include it, under an exception separate from the "Extremely Urgent" exception listed above. -- Brett