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Amazon and US Postal Service team up for Sunday deliveries

In what could be a rare win-win-win for everyone involved, Amazon and the struggling U.S. Postal Service are combining forces to deliver packages to some consumers on Sunday, the online retailer announced on Monday.Amazon customers will be able to receive their packages on Sunday in New York and Los Angeles. The company plans to roll the service out to a large portion of the U.S. in 2014 includi
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In what could be a rare win-win-win for everyone involved, Amazon and the struggling U.S. Postal Service are combining forces to deliver packages to some consumers on Sunday, the online retailer announced on Monday.

Amazon customers will be able to receive their packages on Sunday in New York and Los Angeles. The company plans to roll the service out to a large portion of the U.S. in 2014 including Dallas, Houston, New Orleans and Phoenix.

The deal could prove to be a blessing for the USPS which has suffered 7 consecutive quarters of net losses as it has struggled against parcel delivery companies FedEx, DHL and UPS.

The semi-independent government agency has suffered in recent years with the introduction of email and the drop in sales from stamps as well as a 2006 congressional mandate to prefund up to 75 years of its future retirees' health care.

Earlier this year, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe made pleas to lawmakers to allow the financially troubled Postal Service to switch to a five-day delivery schedule for first-class mail in an effort to reduce costs to return the organization to financial stability.

Package deliveries - which were never part of this plea - continue to grow and Donahoe said in the press release on Monday that the Postal Service is very happy to offer shippers like Amazon the option of Sunday deliveries. Research on the websites of rivals FedEx and UPS suggest that the two companies do not currently offer a Sunday delivery service. Both were not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

"With this new service, the Postal Service is now delivering packages seven days a week in select cities. Customers can expect the same reliable and valued service that the Postal Service currently provides," said Dave Clark, Amazon's vice president of worldwide operations and customer service in a press release on Monday.

UPDATED to reflect a clarification from Amazon.

By CNBC.com's Matt Clinch. Follow him on Twitter@mattclinch81

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