# Long trip and USPS



## EZ-ED (May 10, 2012)

This is the first time we will be gone for more than 3 weeks (a little over 3 months all in the USA). While most of our bills are on autopay there may be others that arrive infrequently. 

No relatives within a 1000 miles and we would prefer not to impose on neighbors for this long a period of time.

I have considered forwarding to a mailbox at UPS and then forwarding to a UPS store where ever we happen to be for a week.

How do you handle mail with extended travel?

TIA


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## markbernstein (May 10, 2012)

You can handle it here: https://www.usps.com/forward-mail/welcome.htm


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## ronparise (May 10, 2012)

I just have the post office hold my mail until I return home.   I dont get much other than junk mail anyway...I pay most everything on line or with a phone call so paying bills isnt an issue. If there is the odd something that is expected in the mail while Im away I can deal with it in advance or if  its not expected it can wait until I get home. 

Of course if you know where you will be while you are away, You could arrange for your mail to be forwarded to you


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## MULTIZ321 (May 10, 2012)

markbernstein said:


> You can handle it here: https://www.usps.com/forward-mail/welcome.htm



Wow!  Didn't realize this option would be so expensive.



Richard


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## Passepartout (May 10, 2012)

Ed, We've used the USPS forwarding and it works well. Not really cheap- especially for the pile of junk mail and local ads that are irrelevant when away. Would that there was a way to forward just first class mail and dump the rest, but afaik, there isn't- without a neighbor/friend/family doing the sorting. The post office can't/won't sort it. $15/wk amounts to about $180 for your 3 month trip. I guess that's just a price for traveling. 

Jim


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## MichaelColey (May 10, 2012)

ronparise said:


> I just have the post office hold my mail until I return home.


They'll only hold your mail up to 30 days.

The one trip we've taken that was longer than 30 days, my wife happened to need to fly back for business in the middle, so she picked up the mail while she was here and we restarted the hold when she left.

If this is a regular occurrence or if you travel fairly continually, you might look at a service like EarthClassMail.com.  You get a mailing address with them and use it, and they'll scan the envelopes that you receive.  You view them online, let them know which ones to discard (or shred), which ones to open and scan, which ones to forward to you, etc.  If there are checks, you can have them deposit them for you.


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## ricoba (May 10, 2012)

ronparise said:


> I just have the post office hold my mail until I return home.   I dont get much other than junk mail anyway...I pay most everything on line or with a phone call so paying bills isnt an issue. If there is the odd something that is expected in the mail while Im away I can deal with it in advance or if  its not expected it can wait until I get home.
> 
> Of course if you know where you will be while you are away, You could arrange for your mail to be forwarded to you



+1 Ditto.  Have mail held and I too pay bills online, so I can set up auto-pay.

I always just have it held (use USPS.com vacation hold) set the date to start and restart the mail to be redelivered (you can also choose picking it up at the post office, but I prefer just to use a delivery date after our return.)

Ooops....are you gone 3 weeks or 3 months?  That may mean you should use the forwarding option.


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## laurac260 (May 10, 2012)

EZ-ED said:


> This is the first time we will be gone for more than 3 weeks (a little over 3 months all in the USA). While most of our bills are on autopay there may be others that arrive infrequently.
> 
> No relatives within a 1000 miles and we would prefer not to impose on neighbors for this long a period of time.
> 
> ...



Someone mentioned a cost for holding mail?  I've never been charged, but then never travelled for longer than 2 weeks.  I would assume that that is a typo above and you meant you are gone 3 months and not 3 weeks?  If there is a charge, how about holding it for 2 weeks at a pop?  Hold for 2 weeks, have it delivered to your house, have your neighbor grab it, then hold for another two weeks, have it delivered to your house, etc.   You can't have more than one hold at a time in the system from my experience.  Call in advance to see if the system can be worked that way.


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## judyjht (May 10, 2012)

No he said it will be the 1st time he will be gone longer than 3 weeks.  He will be gone 3 months


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## Rose Pink (May 10, 2012)

My paranoia is surfacing.  Doesn't requesting the post office to hold your mail tip off the less-than-honest ones that your house is ready to be plundered?  I realize most people are honest but all it takes is one.

I have a trusted neighbor bring in the mail and he checks my house while he's at it.  I can call him or he can call me if there are any questions or concerns.  I do pay him although he says it isnt necessary.  I just feel better about it.

I've never been gone for 3 months, though.


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## geekette (May 10, 2012)

our hold mail is automated.  presumably humans can access it but I don't concern myself with it.

I have snowbird neighbors that stay away just long enuf to claim residency in their "winter state" so have a half-year forwarding order every year.  so far nobody has come to rob their place but raccoons.

----

my folks used to travel for months at a time and they had one of those Pak Mail type places receive current mail and forward first class only to whatever temp address tehy would have for whatever period of time (they moved around, rarely in same place more than a week, would call with "Ok, now we are at this address ..."  ). 

They no longer used their street address, everything went to this place.  Worked well for them, they used it for over a decade with no issues (no missing mail, no robberies)


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## bogey21 (May 10, 2012)

The only time I was gone for an extended time I had a neighbor collect the mail daily; trash the obvious junk; and mail me the rest once a month in a USPS "One Rate" Priority Mail box.  If I recall correctly, I left $35 or $40 with my neighbor to cover the mailing costs.

George


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## EZ-ED (May 11, 2012)

That 3 months I spoke of will be timeshares stays in different areas of Florida starting early Jan and ending mid March. Throw in a weeks drive to get there, a cruise out of New Orleans and a week to drive home and you can see 3 months on the move.

All are Saturday to Saturday so paying  the post office to gather/send weekly may be a problem since we would be continually changing addresses.

Relying on neighbors is OK for a couple of weeks but we have decided that this is to much to ask, even of neighbors we have had for 25 years plus this will not be a one time occurrence. We just closed on a winter home in a sunny/warm location so 3 or 4 months at a time will become a regular occurrence in the future. 

I'll check into that pakmail suggestion at our local United Parcel store or maybe just a permanent change of address to a relative.

Thanks for the responses.


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## JPD (May 11, 2012)

EZ-ED, first thing is to talk to your letter carrier. They can tell you what the best course of action will be for your situation. If you are going to one location, you could forward your mail for lets say two and a half months, and have it held for two weeks prior to your return so it's not caught in transit during your return. 30 days is the norm for holding mail, again, with permission, you can have it held longer. I had a couple go on a 3 month med cruise, let my suervisor know, held it with no problem.

For Pink Rose, it does just take one. But I don't want to break into your house. I have been on my route for 8 years, I have seen families come and go, I have seen kids as newborns, who are up to 8 years old now. I have been treated like family by some of the residents I service on a daily basis. I even helped the police locate a child that was taken by a parent in a custody battle, we are the eyes and ears of our neighborhoods. So just go and introduce yourself to your letter carrier, they won't bite.


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## PStreet1 (May 11, 2012)

For this trip, I paid lots of bills in advance--just sent quite a lot of money as the last payment when I was around and figured they'd just have to deal with the credit.  I think it worked just fine.

I also put everything I could on email for bills and have taken care of it using email.


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## zinger1457 (May 11, 2012)

JPD said:


> For Pink Rose, it does just take one. But I don't want to break into your house. I have been on my route for 8 years, I have seen families come and go, I have seen kids as newborns, who are up to 8 years old now. I have been treated like family by some of the residents I service on a daily basis. I even helped the police locate a child that was taken by a parent in a custody battle, we are the eyes and ears of our neighborhoods. So just go and introduce yourself to your letter carrier, they won't bite.



I'm starting to wonder if the 'front door' home mail delivery is coming to an end.  To save postal service cost all of the new developments that have gone up in my community in the last 20 years use centralized neighborhood mail boxes so we never see the mailman unless they are dropping off a package.  They are also starting to put in centralized mail boxes in the older neighborhoods.

Although the USPS does have an advertised 30 day hold limit I have gone 45 days without any problems, 3 months may be stretching it though.  I would suggest checking out some of the RV forums, I'm sure they have some good ideas with holding/forwarding mail.


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## markbernstein (May 11, 2012)

MULTIZ321 said:


> Wow!  Didn't realize this option would be so expensive.
> 
> 
> 
> Richard



Scroll down the page.  What's at the top is the premium service.  The regular service is only $1.


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## pittle (May 11, 2012)

EZ-ED said:


> We just closed on a winter home in a sunny/warm location so 3 or 4 months at a time will become a regular occurrence in the future.
> 
> Thanks for the responses.



This will be easier because you can have your mail forwarded to an address on a temporary basis (less than 6 months).  We have lots of "snowbirds" out here and they use this feature quite a bit.


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## Ubil (May 11, 2012)

*Regular forwarding service takes 7-10 days.*



markbernstein said:


> Scroll down the page.  What's at the top is the premium service.  The regular service is only $1.



Use the premium service, not the regular service.

From personal experience, the regular service can take 7-10 days.

I got a PO Box at our post office and forwarded the mail from our street address to the PO Box.  Remember that this is the same post office.  You would think that would be pretty simple and would only add a day at most.  When it took 10 days I asked about it.  All of the regular forwarded mail is sent to a central location (in my case my post office in Maryland sent the forwarded mail to North Carolina) and forwarded from there.


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## JudyH (May 11, 2012)

Wow, I live near Mt. Airy.  I will be needing this service soon myself.  Off to the RV forums.

http://www.rv.net/forum/


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## JPD (May 11, 2012)

10 days for forwarded mail is not unheard of. All forwarded mail still goes to your old post office, once identified by your former letter carrier that it is a forward, it is put into a tray that is sent to the plant for forwarding. Sometimes it takes a day or two to be sent to the plant. Once there, a clerk inputs in part of your last name and part of your street address. Once verified, a sticker with the new address is put on your letter and remailed to your new address.


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## Ann-Marie (May 12, 2012)

When we leave for 2 months, I forward the mail but it takes 2 weeks for the first one to start.  Not a good choice if you are going to be moving around.  I would leave prepaid boxes with a neighbor that they can stuff and send to you where you will be next.  What I do upon arrival home is buy a $100 gift card for my friend who has taken care of my house and mail.  It is well worth it.  This past year we had an oil burner issue and my friend sat in the house for 3 hours one evening with the oil burner mechanic and was having surgery the next day.  I gave $100 gift card and we also took her and her husband out for dinner.  My motto..if you want to play, you have to pay.


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## PigsDad (May 12, 2012)

JPD said:


> *10 days for forwarded mail is not unheard of*. All forwarded mail still goes to your old post office, once identified by your former letter carrier that it is a forward, it is put into a tray that is sent to the plant for forwarding. Sometimes it takes a day or two to be sent to the plant. Once there, a clerk inputs in part of your last name and part of your street address. Once verified, a sticker with the new address is put on your letter and remailed to your new address.


And we wonder why the USPS is in such financial trouble!  Service like that would simply not be tolerated from other private companies.  

Just looking at this small example, I see several inefficiencies.  Why does the forwarded mail get sent to your old post office first?  The USPS certainly uses automatic sorters at their sorting centers, so why can't a letter with an address that is marked in the system automatically be forwarded to the correct location at the time it is scanned?  Seems like a simple software issue.  Why is manual labor involved w/ putting a new address sticker on the mail?  Certainly if there is the technology to automatically scan and sort mail, there is also the ability to put on a new label.

With automated systems, there should be *absolutely no reason *any piece of mail should take "a day or two" to be moved onto the next processing step.

The hard, cold truth is that the USPS needs to modernize and automate or it is going down.  With that comes probably a large reduction in staff (no more need for clerks to manually input "part of your last name and part of your street address" and other such nonsense).  Every other industry has gone through this process of modernization and automation, and is continually doing so in order to remain competitive; not sure why the USPS management thought they would be exempt.

Kurt


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## Ann-Marie (May 12, 2012)

We are friends with the people that work at our Post Office.  We were told that our mail goes from Oyster Bay, NY, Long Island all the way upstate so that the upstate P.O. can put the forwarding sticker on it so then it goes to S.C.  Makes no sense.


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## PigsDad (May 12, 2012)

Ann-Marie said:


> We are friends with the people that work at our Post Office.  We were told that our mail goes from Oyster Bay, NY, Long Island all the way upstate so that the upstate P.O. can put the forwarding sticker on it so then it goes to S.C.  *Makes no sense*.


I agree.  And to make matters worse, if someone mailed a letter in Sun City, SC to your home address in NY, it would first travel to Oyster Bay, NY, then go upstate NY so someone could put a forwarding sticker on it, and then back down to Sun City, SC to be delivered (10+ days later, probably).  

An awful long trip to mail a letter across town, don't you think?  

Kurt


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## bogey21 (May 12, 2012)

Ann-Marie said:


> I would leave prepaid boxes with a neighbor that they can stuff and send to you where you will be next.  What I do upon arrival home is buy a $100 gift card for my friend who has taken care of my house and mail.



A relatively cheap funcitonal way to get the job done.  The prepaid boxes can be One Rate Priority Mail Boxes and your neighbor can trash anything that is definitely junk mail.

George


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## JPD (May 13, 2012)

Now lets not blame the Post Office if your letter takes a few extra days to get to it's destination. It is sent to the address you put on it. The P.O. has the automated equipment and programs to pull the mail and re-direct it to it's new address. The equipment does not work miracles. It must be able to read the address. In our office, we get thousands of letters that have incorrect addresses, and some we just can't read because it looks like a doctor wrote the address. First the clerks must de-cipher the mail pieces, and give it to the carrier they think it belongs to. From there we will make corrections to the piece and either deliver it, forward it, or return it for a better address. Just a word of advice, if you are expecting something important in the mail after a move, please call that sender with your new address.


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## ttt (May 13, 2012)

As a retired USPS Postmaster, I can tell you that this is a difficult situation using traditional methods of temporary forwarding since the OP will be staying at different locations. I have always recommended an "unofficial" method. Here is what I recommend, but it requires a friendly relationship with your letter carrier because you are asking him to do something not really allowed by the rules:
Prepare a Priority Mail envelope or box and address it to where you will be staying. Prepay the postage(Flat Rate, regardless of weight) and put a date on the package that you want it mailed. I suggest Monday's so it is sure to arrive midweek at the resort.


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## bogey21 (May 20, 2012)

ttt said:


> As a retired USPS Postmaster, I can tell you that this is a difficult situation using traditional methods of temporary forwarding since the OP will be staying at different locations. I have always recommended an "unofficial" method. Here is what I recommend, but it requires a friendly relationship with your letter carrier because you are asking him to do something not really allowed by the rules:
> Prepare a Priority Mail envelope or box and address it to where you will be staying. Prepay the postage(Flat Rate, regardless of weight) and put a date on the package that you want it mailed. I suggest Monday's so it is sure to arrive midweek at the resort.



You can also have a neighbor do the same thing for you.  Monday mailing is a good idea.

George


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## sfwilshire (May 26, 2012)

PigsDad said:


> And we wonder why the USPS is in such financial trouble!  Service like that would simply not be tolerated from other private companies.
> 
> Just looking at this small example, I see several inefficiencies.  Why does the forwarded mail get sent to your old post office first?  The USPS certainly uses automatic sorters at their sorting centers, so why can't a letter with an address that is marked in the system automatically be forwarded to the correct location at the time it is scanned?  Seems like a simple software issue.  Why is manual labor involved w/ putting a new address sticker on the mail?  Certainly if there is the technology to automatically scan and sort mail, there is also the ability to put on a new label.
> 
> ...



Kurt, 

There has been a lot of misinformation in this thread. USPS does intercept 70 - 80% of undeliverable as addressed mail at the point of origin when it is to be forwarded. The remainder is either handwritten or has things in the name and/or address that make it less than a perfect match to the change of address order on record. Those pieces go to the carrier for handling. 

The majority of the original entry of the change of address orders is also automated. Typically only the difficult to read orders or those that are written incorrectly go to a human for entry. USPS suggests that all customers who have Internet access enter change of address instructions on-line. This is to allow some immediate error checking to catch mistakes the customer makes in their old or new address or other elements.

As for mail addressed to Maryland going to North Carolina, that doesn't happen either. It may go to Northern Virginia, depending on where exactly in Maryland the customer lives.

The USPS is, I belive, the only postal service in the World that forwards mail at no cost. Simple forwards aren't too bad, but there are a lot of special situations that make these a real mess. People who move back and forth between two addresses using different variations of their names and different types of forwards (family/individual or temporary/permanent) are some of the worst.

Sheila


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## jenniferB (Sep 24, 2012)

There is an old saying that warns not to go to the bathroom where one eats. Some people alternately say “live.” A similar saying is not to forget where how one “butters their bread.” In essence, the meaning is not to jeopardize one’s main source of income.

For those that haven’t been informed, the United States Postal Service is struggling, as mounting debts and obligations to its retired workers health care fund have fiscally crippled the agency. Loans from the government haven’t managed to do much more than stall the inevitable.

In order to free up revenue, the USPS has resorted to several tactics, including closing some of its facilities and now is going to augment its largest source of revenue. What many people don’t know is that where the mail service makes most of its money is not letters and packages, but rather “direct marketing,” otherwise known as “junk mail.”


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