Post Office box
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A Post Office box is a uniquely-addressable lockable box located on the premises of a Post Office station. Generally, Post Office boxes are rented from the post office either by individuals or by businesses on a basis ranging from monthly to annual, and the cost of rent varies depending on the box size. CBD PO boxes are usually more expensive than a rural PO Box. In the United States, the rental rate used to be uniform across the country. Now, however, a postal facility can be in any of seven fee groups by location; in addition, certain postal patrons qualify for free box rental.
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Number of Boxes
The quantity of Post Office boxes in a station varies widely. Stations of small rural communities are often equipped with fewer than one hundred boxes, while stations in a metropolitan area may offer a combined quantity of over 100,000 Post Office boxes.
Numbering of boxes
Sometimes the numbering schemes of several Post Offices in the same suburb are combined so that, say, 1-999 belongs to the Main Office, 1001-1999 to the North Office and so on. In many U.S. cities, the first two digits of the box number are tied to the last two digits of the ZIP code, leaving either three or four least significant digits to identify the P.O. box itself. For example, in Chicago, Illinois, P.O. boxes in the 11000 range are in ZIP code 60611, while those in the 12000 range are in ZIP code 60612, and so on.
On other occasions, a letter or letters is used to separate post offices sharing the same postcode, such as
- PO Box K349 Haymarket, Sydney, 1238
- PO Box R1234 Royal Exchange, Sydney, 2001
- PO Box 349AA ? , Melbourne, 3001
- PO Box 1234RR ? , Melbourne, 3001
Handedness
PO Boxes are usually numbered left to right, top to bottom, from the point of view of the postal worker on the inside, so that the boxes are numbered right to left from the point of view of the box-holder.
Other countries use numbering systems different from that just described. For example, in the United States, it is typical to number PO boxes from left to right from the point of view of the box-holder. In newer facilities, the boxes are numbered from top to bottom and then from left to right from the point of view of the box-holder; the least significant digit indicates the position of the box in a column.
Earliest numbering
Like manual telephone exchanges, the earliest PO boxes were probably given names rather than numbers. However names are much harder to learn or to find, particularly as the number of boxes increased, and eventually numbers were introduced to ease the burden. Numbers are also shorter than names.
Mounting of boxes
Post Office boxes are usually mounted in a wall of the Post Offices, either an external wall or a wall in a lobby, so that staff on the inside may deposit mail in a box, while a key holder on the outside of the building may open their box to empty the mail. In many post offices in the U.S., the P.O. box lobby is separate from the window-service lobby, so that the former may be kept open around the clock while the latter is locked after business hours.
Reasons for using post boxes
- PO Boxes permit a semi-anonymous address.
- PO Boxes allow mail to be picked up when sorted, rather than when the post man delivers, which will be some hours later.
- In some rural areas, mail is not delivered, or is delivered as rarely as three days per week. In a situation like that, the rentals are often discounted.
- A mail user who regularly receives large parcels or items that must be signed for may find it convenient to pick up the rest of the mail at the same time.
- A postal patron who moves frequently can keep a mailing address.
- A postal patron may desire a more famous or prestigious address. For example, in Washington, D.C., many large P.O. box facilities are located near or even outside city limits.
Addressing of PO Box mail
The standard method of addressing mail to a Post Office box in the United States is as follows:
John Smith P.O. Box 6789 Anytown, ST 12345-6789
In the ZIP+4 code, the last four digits (the "add-on" code) are typically either the last four digits of the P.O. box number or 0 followed by the last three digits. However, since there is no uniformly applied rule, the ZIP+4 code for each box should be looked up individually.
It is common practice in the U.S. to assign a ZIP code just for P.O. boxes at a postal facility, distinct from the ZIP code for deliveries from the same facility. Such a ZIP code is officially known as a "PO box only" ZIP code.
In the handful of U.S. cities (typically in the Northeast) that still number P.O. Boxes from 1 at each station of the post office, the name of the postal station should be set forth after the P.O. box number.
Packages
If a parcel does not fit in a PO Box, then the postmaster will leave a note advising that customer to pick up that parcel from the counter. Notes will also be left in respect of COD and Registered mail that has to be signed for.
Locked bags and caller service
Users receiving very large quantities of mail can use "locked bags", which are numbered like PO Boxes. In the United States, this service is called caller service, and the assigned number is called a caller number, although mail is typically addressed to "P.O. Box (caller number)."
History
PO Boxes probably started as "pigeon holes" on a wall inside the Post Office. It is not known when this happened. The external locked PO box came later.
Sizes
In Australia, wall-mounted PO Boxes come in three sizes, which are cleverly designed so that different sizes can be mixed almost at random on the wall. There are five sizes in the U.S., using that same design principle, although the boxes are normally arranged from the smallest boxes at the top to the largest at the bottom. The two largest sizes are configured as drawers.
External links
Information from the U.S. Postal Service on box rental (http://www.usps.com/receive/businesssolutions/poboxrentals.htm?from=0001home&page=poboxrentals)de:Postfach