USPS General Delivery | Its Use and Restrictions

As per the procedure, the letter carrier delivers the mail piece and packages to the addressee’s home. This is how most of the Postal Service work; there is nothing special about this process. But, General Delivery service is a unique service where your mail item will be delivered to the post office instead of your home. Read through this article to know more about General Delivery that what it is, its restrictions, how it works and other facts.

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USPS General Delivery:

General Delivery is a service that delivers the packages to a particular post office. The recipient can collect the package from that post office himself. Any person who does not have a permanent mailing address can avail this service, is a great boon for those people.

How to Use USPS General Delivery Service?

usps general delivery service

To use this service, you should first locate a post office in your locality that offers this kind of service. While choosing, make sure that post office is easily accessible for you so that there won’t be any trouble in collecting your mail. To avail this service you need to know the ZIP code of your locality, you no need to mention the street name. You can start receiving the mail at the post office by only mentioning the ZIP Code.

Availing the service of General Delivery is very simple. All you need to mention is the ZIP Code. You should always remember the ZIP Code of the local post office that collects your packages. This ZIP Code helps the letter carrier to understand the delivery location of the package. Also, you need to convey the below format to all your mail senders. Make it clear to them that the mailing address should be written as per the following format.

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Your Name

General Delivery

City, State, and ZIP Code

Initially, to verify if the service is working properly, you can send the mail item to yourself and collect it after a few days. By doing this, you can make sure that your General Delivery mailing address is correct.

Restrictions on the Use of General Delivery:

The USPS General Delivery service has certain restrictions. Read the following points to know about them.

1. The mail item will be given to you by the Postmaster only if you show valid ID Proof. Hence, you are expected to carry a valid ID proof to collect your packages. The ID proof can be a Driving License, Passport or Voter Id Card.

2. They don’t work on Sundays and Holidays.

3. The post office does not have any time limitations to keep your mail, but the postmaster has rights to terminate your mail due to some reason. Below are some reasons:

  • If you receive too many mails and don’t collect them on time
  • If you have a habit of not collecting mail for more than 30 days

Who Can avail this Service?

This service is dedicated for those who don’t have a permanent address, often used as a temporary address to receive mail. General Delivery service is intended to be used for:

• Post Office facilities without city letter carrier delivery.

• Non-city delivery post offices for those who wish not to avail PO Box service

• For people who travel frequently and those people without a permanent address.

• Anyone who wants PO Box service, but PO Boxes are unavailable.

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Additional Facts:

  1. No need to fill any application for General Delivery, just contact the postmaster.
  2. There are limitations on the duration of using this service.
  3. Each mail of General Delivery will be held for 30 days not more than that.
  4. The sender or Addressee should request to keep it for a longer period.
  5. Mail piece without a particular address from the sender is held for:
    • Ten days at an office with letter carrier service.
    • Fifteen days office without letter carrier service.

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