[pct-l] Regional Rate Boxes

[Donna "L-Rod" Saufley]

Yogi, 

I'm glad this is being discussed.  When sending ANY boxes Click-N-Ship via USPS this season (and dang, we sent a lot of them!) we ran into the issue with the USPS automatically directing numerous smaller trail post office c/o General Delivery addresses to some larger post office, often miles away from the trail post office the hikers need to get to.  We found the way to circumvent this issue was as follows:

1.  In the Company field for the package recipient, put c/o General Delivery.
2.  In the Address field below, type the actual street address of the post office where the package needs to be sent.  

This of course required looking up the street address of the intended post office, which you can also do at the usps.com site.  I especially wanted to tell you this, so that the actual street addresses (not just city and zip) could be included in your book.

BTW, you were so spot on about the savings on the regional rate boxes.  In many cases the cost was a third of the already cheap flat rate.  I did notice the regional rate boxes get more expensive the further you send them, so the greatest savings are realized on the shorter delivery routes. But it was big time savings for hikers -- thanks for letting us know about it.

L-Rod


-----Original Message-----
>From: Jackie McDonnell <yogihikes at gmail.com>
>Sent: Jul 20, 2011 10:52 AM
>To: Brian and Linda Morris <bl_morris at comcast.net>
>Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net
>Subject: Re: [pct-l] Regional Rate Boxes
>
>Oooh, I forgot to mention - I just tried entering General Delivery addresses
>for Old Station and Chester into the Click-n-Ship system, and those address
>*are* accepted.  They are valid Click-n-Ship addresses, and I did get the
>option to use Regional Rate boxes when I entered Chester and/or Old Station
>General Delivery.
>
>yogi
>www.pcthandbook.com
>
>On Wed, Jul 20, 2011 at 12:49 PM, Jackie McDonnell <yogihikes at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Regional Rate Boxes will work to any address which is accepted by USPS
>> Click-n0Ship.  The problem is that USPS Click-n-Ship does not recognize some
>> Post Offices - usually the really small POs.  So it doesn't matter if you're
>> using the Regional Boxes, normal Priority Boxes, or your own packaging.  If
>> you're using USPS Click-n-Ship, then that's where the problem is.  *And*
>> Regional Boxes require you to use Click-n-Ship.
>>
>> For example, when I enter a Belden CA address into Click-n-Ship, the system
>> defaults to Oroville CA.
>>
>> Echo Lake CA defaults to Twin Bridges CA, even though I type "Echo Lake".
>>
>> The Click-n-Ship system will also not accept the mailing addresses for the
>> Crater Lake Mazama Camp Store or for the WY'East Store at Timberline Lodge.
>>
>> What does this mean for PCT hikers?  You *can* still mail packages via USPS
>> to these four addresses.  However, you cannot use Click-n-Ship, which means
>> you cannot use the Regional Rate boxes for these addresses.  Instead, you'll
>> need to use other packaging (normal Priority packaging or your own
>> packaging), take the package to your local Post Office and mail the package
>> in person.  This will cost more than Regional Rate boxes, but it *will*
>> work.  The packages *will* reach the proper destination.
>>
>> Hope this helps.  If you have any more questions, please let me know.  I do
>> a lot of business with the USPS, and I've encountered many stumbling blocks
>> along the way.
>>
>> Yogi
>> www.pcthandbook.com
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jul 20, 2011 at 12:34 PM, Brian and Linda Morris <
>> bl_morris at comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Has anyone else had a problem using Regional Rate Boxes to mail supplies
>>> c/o General Delivery?  Apparently, Belden, Old Station and Chester are
>>> not in their system and I can't use Regioinal Rate boxes to mail to
>>> those post offices.  If anyone knows a way around this please let me know.
>>>
>>> Thanks, Linda
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>>
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