Earlier this week, in conjunction with a rate hike by the US Postal Service, a number of important changes were made by the USPS to the way they handle parcels. To begin with, they have eliminated the Parcel Post and First Class domestic rates and combined them into a new level of service called USPS Standard. Essentially, this service is still cheaper than Priority Mail shipping and on a par with UPS ground service. Furthermore, they have done away with the green delivery confirmation labels that were affixed to the outside of the box. Now, a second white mailing strip is being affixed by the USPS to the box that contains an automatically generated tracking number. This means we cannot enter the tracking information for a shippable order until our return from the Post Office.