Surface mail


Surface mail, also known as sea mail, is mail that is transported by land and sea, rather than by air, as in airmail. Surface mail is significantly less expensive but slower than airmail, and thus is preferred for large or heavy, non-urgent items and is primarily used for sending packages, not letters.

History

The term "surface mail" arose as a retronym, following the development of airmail – a term was needed to describe traditional mail, for which purpose "surface mail" was coined. A more recent example of the same process is the term snail mail, following the development of email.

By country

Israel

The Israel Postal Company offers international surface mail.

United States

In 2007, the US Postal Service discontinued its outbound international surface mail service, mainly because of increased costs. Returned undeliverable surface parcels had become an expensive problem for the USPS, since it was often required to take such parcels back.
Domestic surface mail remains available.
Alternatives to international surface mail include:
Senders can access the International Surface Air Lift and ePacket services through postal wholesalers. Some examples of such wholesalers include:
If a sender sends an ISAL mailing directly through the USPS, the minimum weight is 50 pounds per mailing.
ePacket mailings can never be sent directly through the USPS; senders must always use a wholesaler.