Okay, we need some definitions here. According to the USPS’s website, First Class Mail (a trademark, I was surprised to learn!) is defined as follows:
First-Class Mail (FCM) - A class of mail that includes all matter wholly or partly in writing or typewriting, all actual and personal correspondence, all bills and statements of account, and all matter sealed or otherwise closed against inspection. First-Class Mail comprises three subclasses: postcards, letters and sealed parcels, and Priority Mail. Any mailable matter may be sent as First-Class Mail. First-Class Mail is a USPS trademark.
The USPS’s exclusive right to carry FCM are is protected by the “Private Express Statutes.” One USPS publication ( http://pe.usps.gov/cpim/ftp/manuals/qsg/q011.pdf ) defines the PES as follows:
The Private Express Statutes are a group of laws under which the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has the exclusive right, with certain limited exceptions and suspensions, to carry letters for compensation. The Statutes are based on the provision in the U.S. Constitution that empowers Congress “to establish Post Offices.”
The publication goes on to cover the exceptions as follows:
The law allows for the private carriage of letters under certain circumstances, including letters:
Sent with and relating in all substantial respects to the cargo that they accompany.
Carried by the senders or recipients or their regular, salaried employees.
Carried by private hands without compensation.
Carried by special messenger on an infrequent, irregular basis for the sender or addressee.
Carried to or from a postal facility prior or subsequent to mailing.
For example, an individual may transport without restriction his or her own letters, or a company its own letters (but not those of a parent or subsidiary) if it uses its regular salaried employees as couriers. Contract couriers would not qualify under this exception to the Statutes.
More information regarding exceptions and suspensions to the Private Express Statutes is available in 39 CFR 310.3 and 320. In addition, the USPS has suspended the Private Express Statutes for extremely urgent letters (see below).
Certain extremely urgent letters may be carried by means other than the USPS and without the payment of postage. To ensure that this provision is not open-ended, two tests of urgency are prescribed. If either of these tests is met, the suspension applies:
(1) The letter’s value or usefulness will be lost or greatly diminished if not delivered within specific urgent time limits, and the private carrier meets that time limit. Specifically, the time limit for this test for letters dispatched before 12 noon and within 50 miles of the intended destination is delivery within 6 hours or by the close of the addressee’s normal business day. Delivery of letters dispatched within the same distance after 12 noon and before 12 midnight must be completed by 10 a.m. on the addressee’s next business day. For letters sent more than 50 miles, delivery must be completed within 12 hours or by noon of the addressee’s next business day.
– or –
(2) It is “conclusively presumed” that a letter is extremely urgent if the amount paid for the private carriage of the letter is at least $3.00 or twice the applicable First-Class rate (including Priority Mail), whichever is greater.
