there are several ways to send mail across the us. uu. postal service system (usps), either stop at your local post office or drop it in your mailbox with the flag raised. but many of us only rely on the agency’s iconic blue collection boxes to drop off mail. If that’s your m.o., you might be distressed to learn that they could soon be a thing of the past. According to Linn’s Stamp News, the number of these mailboxes has been declining, with USPS spokeswoman Kimberly A. frum told the magazine there were only 147,000 blue collection boxes left as of May 2021.
For now though, you can still use those mailboxes with ease, but that doesn’t mean you can put anything in there. in fact, many people don’t realize what’s restricted from collection boxes and could end up paying the price. Read on to find out what the USPS is warning you not to drop in their blue boxes.
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The dwindling number of blue collection boxes is not the only problem the USPS is facing with its mailboxes. Last month, four U.S. senators sent a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, slamming the Postal Service for concerns over rising instances of mail theft occurring with these mailboxes.
“reports that thieves are accessing usps blue collection boxes to steal and then sort mail to identify checks which they then use for personal gain are deeply concerning,” the senators wrote in their letter. “Americans use the postal service to send checks to pay their taxes and bills; they shouldn’t have to worry about those checks being stolen.”
but aside from theft, there are drawbacks to these mailboxes that people should be aware of.
According to the USPS, there are actually restrictions on what can be deposited in its collection boxes when it comes to size. The Postal Service says that any mail that weighs over 10 ounces or is more than a half-inch in thickness is “not allowed” in the blue collection boxes, unless it has postage from a postage meter strip.
Depending on the agency, postal meters print the postage directly on the mail or on the tape measure and are rented by authorized vendors for use in your home or office. “To use a postage meter, you must obtain a permit to do so from the Post Office City,” explains the USPS.
The average person who sends mail will need to be aware of the restriction: domestic or international mail that is only marked with postage stamps must weigh 10 ounces or less or be less than a half-inch thick in order to be sent. using a collection box.
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The USPS says that “all mailpieces that are not acceptable for deposit in a collection box” must be taken to the post office for processing. But don’t try tossing these into a self-service dropbox in the lobby of the post office either. If you have mail that weighs more than 10 ounces or measures more than a half-inch in thickness with only postage stamps, it “must be brought to an employee at a retail counter in a Post Office,” the Postal Service says. And for those who ignore this restriction, “mail deposited incorrectly will be ‘Returned to Sender’ for proper deposit,” the agency notes.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb
In general, if you’re not sure if your mail can go in a collection box, or if you’re having trouble putting your shipment in one, you can take it to the post office just in case. . “Customers should never try to force their packages into a pickup box,” frum recently told ecommercebytes.com. “rather they should take the packages to their local post office to mail them.”
Sending your mail off the right way is obviously a major factor in making sure it gets where it’s supposed to, but there are lots of other reasons it could end up sent back to you. According to the USPS, any mail without enough postage or mail that doesn’t include a full or accurate delivery address is likely to be returned to the sender. You won’t even know this has happened until it arrives back at your home, as the agency says it “cannot provide a notification if a mailpiece you sent is returned to sender.”
And even if you fix the problem, you might get your mail bounced if you don’t use a new envelope. According to the postal service, a “return to sender” mark is usually “very prominent and designed to attract attention.” Since postal workers and postal equipment usually only have a few seconds to look at an email before sending it, they can end up processing it incorrectly if that mark is still there.
“For this reason, we request that any returned mail, when re-mailed, be enclosed in a separate (new) postage-paid envelope to ensure prompt processing. This also helps prevent mail from being returned to the sender a second time. time,” warns the USPS.