What is General Delivery address？
General Delivery address is a kind of address for people who do not have a permanent address. The service is provided by the USPS. If you use General Delivery address as the mailing address, the mail will be delivered to the local post office, and the recipient can go to the post office to pick up the mail with identification.
When you use General Delivery address to receive the package, you should write it in the following format as receiving address.
RECIPIENT'S NAME
GENERAL DELIVERY
CITY STATE ZIP CODE-9999
What kind of people will use GENERAL DELIVERY service?
- People without permanent residence. For those homeless or living in the van/RV, they may travel to and from different cities or regions, and this service ensures that they can receive mail properly.
- Truck drivers. This service allows truckers to receive deliveries while they are on the road, especially when purchasing online, they can use general delivery address as a mailing address.
- Travelers. When you are traveling or on business, you can also use the general delivery address in case someone wants to mail something to you.
How to use General Delivery Service?
- Determine the location of your incoming mail. For short stays or people who are constantly on the move, it is very important to plan what time and then which place to receive mail. For example, if you are a RVers, when you want to receive packages from online shopping, you must determine how long it will take to receive the mail.
- Find the receiving post office that provides this service. As we all know, although the general delivery service is provided by USPS, not all post offices provide this service. If there is more than one post office in one place, you may need to find out which post office provided general delivery service in advance, so as not to make a trip to the wrong post office for nothing.
How to find a post office that provides this service?
Go to usps.com, use Find USPS Locations, enter the destination city and state or zip code, and you'll get a list of results. Click to find the detailed information about this location and get to "service at this location". If the service is offered here, it will be marked with the words "general delivery". You can choose this location as the address for general delivery.
- Fill in the appropriate mailing address. Please make sure to write the correct address, you'd better use general delivery instead of street address. Please make sure the zip code add-on is-9999.
- Pickup your mail. Usually, you can track the mail on usps.com by tracking number. When the mail arrives at the post office, there is a 30-day holding time. You can choose the right time to pick up the mail, please remember to pick up the mail within the working time.
Tips:
- It is advisable to contact the local post office in advance to confirm whether the service is available and the conditions for using the service. For example, some post offices may only require identification information at the time of pickup, while others may require a form to be filled out, or some post offices provide the service with some restrictions, etc.
- when you need to use the service, please make sure the carrier is USPS. shipping through other third-party carriers may be roughly undeliverable, or you may be charged a certain shipping or storage fee, usually double the postage. While USPS is free of charge.
- If your mail quantity is large or the size of the parcel is too big, please ask the post office in advance if they can receive it.
Experience Sharing by Netizen.
- If you want to send your credit card through general delivery, please check with your credit card bank/agent if you can use general delivery address as the receiving address. And whether they deliver through USPS or other carriers.
- If you are shopping at amazon and want to use general delivery service, please make sure not to use your street address but write as general delivery, city, state, zip code-9999, if it is delivered through UPS, it will be transferred to SurePost and amazon will pay an additional fee to USPS. Usually, this will cost you one less fee.
Any comments or experience sharing, you can leave it below. 💬💬💬
Comment
No where on the internet does it list the hours of general delivery. That really sucks because nobody answers any local post office phones either. Completely useless, general delivery has it's own separate hours, come on people, list the hours please
Reply to Rebecca Shockley
First, choose the post office that provides general delivery service. After the mail is delivered, get your mail within the pickup hour time of the post office. Please note that pickup hours may vary for each post office.
Inquiry regarding "General Delivery" information provided herein
Hello, I have a question regarding the section above titled "How to use General Delivery Service?" The last line reads "Pickup your mail. Usually, you can track the mail on usps.com by tracking number." I have to begin using the general delivery service but I am confused by the reference to tracking numbers and would like to know how it would be possible to utilize them? For example, if a third party responds to a letter I have sent, I don't see how there could be a tracking number ; at least that i would be made aware of, associated with the article. Thank you.
Reply to Leo-Ray: Nowakowski
General Delivery Service only provides you with a temporary receiving address that can be used to receive mail. As for the tracking of mail, you need to check it based on the tracking number. If there is no tracking number, you cannot check the status of the mail. Generally speaking, when you receive letters or items, most services will provide a tracking number. If your sender does not provide you with a tracking number, you can only wait for the mail delivery reminder.
Add new comment