Pitney Bowes Expedited¶

Overview¶

Pitney Bowes provides expedited shipping through PB Expedited (USPS) services.

PB Expedited offers domestic and international shipping and offers accelerated delivery. On qualifying shipments, PB Expedited offers PB Delivery Guarantee. By default, all developer and merchant accounts have access to ship with PB Expedited.

PB Standard offers domestic shipping at lower costs. PB labels are always postpaid labels. When printing PB Delivery labels, shippers must containerize parcels. To ship with PB Standard, a merchant must first onboard.

When writing your code for Pitney Bowes delivery labels, you can write one Create Shipment request that integrates to both PB Standard and PB Expedited. For an example, see Write One Request for PB Expedited.

API Operations¶

PB Expedited API Operations¶

PB Expedited uses the following operations. For an operational sequence, see the Shipping Workflow.

Operation	Method	Resource Path
Get Carrier Rules	GET	/v1/information/rules/rating-services?carrier=USPS&originCountryCode={XX}&destinationCountryCode={YY}
Get Carrier Countries	GET	/v1/countries?carrier=USPS&originCountryCode={two-character-ISO-code}
Find Carrier Facilities	POST	/v1/carrier-facility
Validate an Address	POST	/v1/addresses/verify
Suggest Addresses	POST	/v1/addresses/verify-suggest
Rate a Service	POST	/v1/rates
Create a PB Expedited Delivery Label	POST	/v1/shipments
Create a PB Expedited Returns Label	POST	/v1/shipments
Reprint a Label	GET	/v1/shipments/{shipmentId}
Retry a Label	GET	/v1/shipments?originalTransactionId={transaction_id}
Void a Label	DELETE	/v1/shipments/{shipmentId}?cancelInitiator=SHIPPER
Create a USPS SCAN Form	POST	/v1/manifests
Get Tracking Information	GET	/v1/tracking/{trackingNumber}?packageIdentifierType=TrackingNumber
Get Transaction Reports	GET	/v4/ledger/developers/{developerId}/transactions/reports
Get Archived Reports	GET	/v4/ledger/developers/{developerId}/transactions/archived
Merchant Accounts APIs	——	See API Operations for Merchant Accounts.

Services¶

Note

As of July 9, 2023: USPS will introduce the new parcel Ground Advantage service and new parcel Ground Advantage Return service to replace existing parcel First-Class and ground services. For details, see this item in the Release Notes.

Delivery Services¶

The following table shows services and supported parcel types. The table does not show compatible special services. To determine compatible special services, use the Rules API or Domestic Mail Manual. Some domestic services require a customs form, as described in this FAQ.

Service	ID	PB Expedited (USPS)	Parcel Types
Bound Printed Matter	BPM		PKG
First-Class Mail	FCM	✓	FLAT, IRRPKG, LETTER, NMLETTER
Library Mail	LIB	✓	LGENV, PKG
Media Mail	MEDIA	✓	LGENV, PKG
Parcel Select	PRCLSEL	✓	PKG
Priority Mail	PM	✓	FRB, FRE, LGENV, LFRB, LGLFRENV, MLFRB, PKG, PFRENV, SOFTPACK, SFRB
Priority Mail Express	EM	✓	FRE, LGENV, LGLFRENV, PKG, PFRENV
Ground Advantage	UGA	✓	PKG, SOFTPACK

Returns Services¶

The following table shows services and supported parcel types. The table does not show compatible special services. To determine compatible special services, use the Rules API or Domestic Mail Manual.

Service

ID

PB Expedited
(USPS)

Parcel Types

UGA Return Service _

UGA

✓

PKG

Parcel Select Return Service

PRCLSEL

PKG

Priority Mail Return Service

PM

✓

PKG, FRE, LGLFRENV, PFRENV

International Services (PB Expedited Only)¶

When you use an international service, the returned label includes the customs form. The following table shows supported services and parcel types but does not show compatible special services. To check compatibility, use the Rules API or Domestic Mail Manual.

Service	ID	Parcel Types
First-Class Mail International	FCMI	LGENV, LTR, NMLTR
First-Class Package International Service (supports E-DELCON)	FCPIS	PKG
Priority Mail Express International	EMI	FRE, LGENV, LGLFRENV, PFRENV, PKG
Priority Mail International	PMI	DVDBOX, FRB, FRE, LFRB, LGENV, LGLFRENV, PFRENV, PKG, SFRB, VIDEOBOX

Special Services¶

PB Expedited Special Services¶

PB Expedited supports the following special services. Before using a special service, use the Rules API to determine:

If the special service is compatible with the combination of service and parcel type.
If the service and parcel type require a trackable special service. If so, DelCon is trackable and has no charge.
If the special service is compatible with other special services.
The input parameters.

Important

The table does not show compatible parcel types.
The table does not show compatibility with other special services.
Use of a special service might be subject to other restrictions.
Do not include a special service unless you intend to apply it.

Note: If you use the FCM mail class, no special service is required.

Special Service	ID	Services
Adult Signature Required	ADSIG	EM, FCM, PM, UGA
Adult Signature with Restricted Delivery	ADSIGRD	EM, FCM, PM, UGA
Certified Mail	Cert	FCM, PM
Certified Mail with Adult Signature	CERTAD	FCM, PM
Certified Mail with Adult Signature and Restricted Delivery	CERTADRD	FCM, PM
Certified Mail with Restricted Delivery	CertRD	FCM, PM
Collect On Delivery (COD)	COD	EM, FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, UGA
Collect On Delivery with Restricted Delivery	CODRD	EM, FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, UGA
Delivery Confirmation	DelCon	FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, UGA
Electronic Return Receipt	ERR	FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, UGA
Hazardous Materials	hazmat	EM, FCM, PM, UGA
Hazardous Materials Restricted Electronic Device (Applies to lithium batteries packaged with used, damaged, or defective electronic devices)	hazmat-electronics	UGA
Holiday Delivery	holiday	EM
Insured Mail	Ins	EM, EMI, FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, PMI, UGA,
Insured Mail with Restricted Delivery	InsRD	EM, FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, UGA,
Live Animal	liveanimal	EM, FCM, PM, UGA,
Live Animal - Day Old Poultry	liveanimal-poultry	EM, FCM, PM, UGA,
Registered Mail	Reg	FCM, PM
Registered Mail with COD	RegCOD	FCM, PM
Registered Mail with Insurance	RegIns	FCM, PM
Registered Mail with Insurance and Restricted Delivery	RegInsRD	FCM, PM
Registered Mail with Restricted Delivery	RegRD	FCM, PM
Return Receipt	RR	EM, FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, UGA,
Signature Confirmation	Sig	EM, FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, UGA,
Signature with Restricted Delivery	SigRD	FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, UGA,
Sunday Delivery	sunday	EM
Sunday holiday Delivery	sunday-holiday	EM

The following special services are returned in the response if fees for non-standard sizes apply.

Non-Standard Dimension 1

NonStandardDim1

Applies if length is greater than 22 inches and less than or equal to 30 inches.

Non-Standard Dimension 2

NonStandardDim2

Applies if the length is greater than 30 inches.

Non-Standard Volume

NonStandardVol

Applies if volume is greater than 2 cubic feet.

The following special services are supported by USPS, effective July 13, 2025.

Nonstandard Tube or Roll	NONSTD_TUBE_ROLL	Cylindrical tubes or rolls
Nonstandard Can, Wood, or Metal Box	NONSTD_CAN_WOOD_METAL_BX	A can, or wood or metal box
Nonstandard Liquid Container	NONSTD_LIQUID	Parcel contains >24 oz liquid in glass containers, or ≥1 gal in metal/plastic containers (see DMM 601.3.4)
Nonstandard Package Preparation	NONSTD_PKG_PREP	Insecurely wrapped/packaged parcels as per DMM 601.3.0 and DMM 601.4.0

HAZMAT_TYPE Input Parameter¶

Note

As of July 9, 2023: The HAZMAT_TYPE input parameter will specify the type of hazardous material.

Note

You cannot use the hazmat or hazmat-electronics special services when shipping to or from international or APO/FPO/DPO destinations. In addition, for Standard transactions you cannot ship hazmat to or from Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

As of July 9, 2023, the hazmat special service will require the HAZMAT_TYPE input parameter to specify the type of hazardous material. The HAZMAT_TYPE input parameter will take one of the values in the table below. Enter the value in the inputParameters.value field, as shown here:

{
    "specialServiceId": "hazmat",
    "inputParameters": [ {
        "name" : "HAZMAT_TYPE",
        "value" : "Class 9 Lithium Battery with New Device"
    } ]
}

Value	Description
Air Eligible Ethanol	Air Eligible Ethanol Package – authorized fragrance and hand sanitizer shipments
Class 1 Toy Propellant or Safety Fuse	Ground shipments only. Class 1 – Toy Propellant/Safety Fuse Package.
Class 3	Ground shipments only. Class 3 - Hazardous Materials Package - Hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, ethanol base products, flammable liquids, etc.
Class 7 Radioactive Materials	Ground shipments only. Class 7 – Radioactive Materials Package (e.g., smoke detectors, minerals, gun sights, etc.)
Class 8 Air Eligible Corrosive Materials	Class 8 – Corrosive Materials Package - Air Eligible Corrosive Materials (certain cleaning or tree/weed killing compounds, etc.)
Class 8 Sealed Lead Acid Battery	Class 8 – Nonspillable Wet Battery Package - Sealed lead acid batteries
Class 9 Dry Ice	Class 9 – Dry Ice Package (limited to 5 lbs. if shipped via Air)
Class 9 Lithium Battery Marked Ground Only	Ground shipments only. Class 9 - Lithium Battery Marked – Ground Only Package - New Individual or spare lithium batteries (marked UN3480 or UN3090)
Class 9 Lithium Battery Unmarked	Class 9 – Lithium batteries, unmarked package – New electronic devices installed or packaged with lithium batteries (no marking)
Class 9 Lithium Battery with New Device	Class 9 - Lithium batteries, marked package - New electronic devices packaged with lithium batteries (UN3481 or UN3091)
Class 9 Magnetized Materials	Class 9 – Magnetized Materials Package
Consumer Commodity	ID8000 Consumer Commodity Package - Air Eligible ID8000 Consumer Commodity (non-flammable aerosols, flammable combustible liquids, toxic substance, miscellaneous hazardous materials)
Div 4.1 Mailable Flammable Solids	Ground shipments only. Division 4.1 – Mailable flammable solids and Safety Matches Package – Safety/strike on box matches, book matches, mailable flammable solids
Div 5.1 Hydrogen Peroxide 8 to 20 Percent	Division 5.1 – Oxidizers Package - Hydrogen peroxide (8 to 20% concentration)
Div 5.2 Organic Peroxides	Division 5.2 – Organic Peroxides Package
Div 6.1 Toxic Materials	Division 6.1 – Toxic Materials Package (with an LD50 of 50 mg/kg or less) - (pesticides, herbicides, etc.)
Div 6.2 Biological Materials	Division 6.2 Hazardous Materials - Biological Materials (e.g., lab test kits, authorized COVID test kit returns)
Excepted Quantity Provision	Excepted Quantity Provision Package (e.g., small volumes of flammable liquids, corrosive, toxic or environmentally hazardous materials – marking required)
Ground Only Hazardous Materials	Ground shipments only. Ground Only Hazardous Materials (for items that are not listed, but are restricted to surface only)
Lighters	Ground shipments only. Lighters Package - Authorized Lighters
Limited Quantity Ground Only	Ground shipments only. LTD QTY Ground Package – Aerosols, spray disinfectants, spray paint, hair spray, propane, butane, cleaning products, etc. – fragrances, nail polish, nail polish remover, solvents, hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, ethanol base products, etc. – other limited quantity surface materials, (cosmetics, cleaning products, paints, etc.)
Small Quantity Provision	Ground shipments only. Small Quantity Provision Package (markings required)

Parcel Types¶

PB Expedited Letters and Flats¶

The following table shows parcel types and compatible services. The table does not show compatible special services. For compatible special services, use the Rules API or Domestic Mail Manual.

Parcel Type	ID	Services
Large Envelope/Flat	Use one of the following IDs, depending on the service: LGENV: Use for services other than First-Class. FLAT: Use only with First-Class Mail. FLAT requires the DOC_6X4 label size. FLAT does not support special services. The generated label has an IMb. See this FAQ on printing an IMb label.	The services are specific to the ID: LGENV supports EM, EMI, FCMI, LIB, MEDIA, PM, and PMI FLAT supports FCM
Flat Rate Envelope	FRE	EM, EMI, PM, PMI
Letter	LETTER Use only with First-Class Mail and a label size of either DOC_6X4 or DOC_9X4. LETTER does not support special services. The generated label has an IMb. See this FAQ on printing an IMb label.	FCM
Legal Flat Rate Envelope	LGLFRENV	EM, EMI, PM, PMI
Letter	LTR Use only with First-Class Mail International (FCMI).	FCMI
Nonmachinable Letter	NMLETTER Use only with First-Class Mail. For steps to ship non-machinable letters, see this FAQ.	FCM
Nonmachinable Letter	NMLTR Use only with First-Class Mail International (FCMI). For steps to ship non-machinable letters, see this FAQ.	FCMI
Padded Flat Rate Envelope	PFRENV	EM, EMI, PM, PMI
Soft Pack Envelope	SOFTPACK See How are rates calculated for USPS soft packs?	PM, UGA

PB Expedited Packages¶

The following table shows parcel types and compatible services. The table does not show compatible special services. For compatible special services, use the Rules API or Domestic Mail Manual.

Parcel Type	ID	Services
DVD Flat Rate Box	DVDBOX	PMI
Medium Flat Rate Box 1, Medium Flat Rate Box 2	FRB	PM, PMI
Irregular Parcel For steps to ship irregular parcels, please see this FAQ.	IRRPKG	UGA
Large Flat Rate Box	LFRB	PM, PMI
Military Large Flat Rate Box	MLFRB	PM
Package	PKG	EM, EMI, UGA, FCPIS, LIB, MEDIA, PM, PMI
Small Flat Rate Box	SFRB	PM, PMI
Large Video Flat Rate Box	VIDEOBOX	PMI

Labels¶

Considerations¶

Please read the following considerations before printing a label:

The value for the label size uses an uppercase X. Do not use a lowercase x.
For ZPL2 labels, if your printer does not support Unicode, see this topic.
Labels retrieved through URLs are available for 24 hours after creation.
Advise shippers on correct label placement.

The following considerations apply only to PB Expedited labels:

For FCM / FLAT shipments, set the label size to DOC_6X4.
For FCM / LETTER shipments, set the label size to DOC_6X4 or DOC_9X4.
For shipments that use the customs object, set the label size to DOC_4X6 or DOC_8X11. The returned label includes the customs form. The form serves as both shipping label and customs declaration. For more information, see these FAQs.
To print Doc Tabs, see this FAQ.

Label Sizes Per Carrier¶

Label size	Expedited Delivery	Expedited Returns
DOC_4X4
DOC_4X5
DOC_4X6	✓	✓
DOC_4X8	✓
DOC_6X4	✓
DOC_8X11	✓	✓
DOC_9X4	✓

Expedited Delivery Labels¶

Note

See the Considerations above.

PB Expedited Delivery labels use the following options.

size

fileFormat

contentType

resolution

DOC_4X6

PDF

PNG

ZPL2

URL

BASE64

not applicable

DPI_203, DPI_300 (default)

DPI_203 (default), DPI_300 (domestic labels only)

DOC_4X8

PDF

PNG

ZPL2

URL

BASE64

not applicable

DOC_6X4

PDF

PNG

ZPL2

URL

BASE64

not applicable

DPI_203

DOC_8X11

PDF

PNG

URL

BASE64

not applicable

DPI_300

DOC_9X4

PDF

PNG

URL

BASE64

not applicable

DPI_203

Expedited Returns Labels¶

Note

See the Considerations above.

PB Expedited Returns labels use the following options.

size

fileFormat

contentType

DOC_4X6

PDF

PNG

ZPL2

URL

BASE64

DOC_8X11

PDF

PNG

URL

BASE64

PB Expedited Surcharges¶

For PB Expedited, the following USPS surcharges can apply. If a surcharge applies, it is returned in the rates.surcharges array.

Surcharge

Definition

irregular

The parcel is an Irregular Parcel.

nonmachinable

The parcel is a Nonmachinable Letter.

Oversize

The parcel is subject to oversize pricing.

Note: If the rates.surcharges array returns an Oversize fee of 0.0, the oversize fee is already included in the base charge.

Additional Reference Information

Workflow