subject: Can Courier Companies Ship To A Po Box? [print this page] A P.O. Box, or a post office box, is a lockable box with its own unique address. They are located on site at a post office. In many countries, this is the only way to get your mail, as they do not have door to door mail service in countries like Namibia. The country of Jordan has only recently introduced door to door mail delivery. In the United States, either individuals or businesses rent P.O. boxes. Because a post office box has no street address, Chicago courier companies will not deliver to them.
There are a couple of reasons why courier services do not deliver to post office boxes. First, delivery companies keep constant track of where their packages are until they reach their ultimate destination. This tracking process requires a street address as the delivery point; otherwise the package will become lost to the delivery service. Courier companies also require a customer signature at the destination before releasing a package. With a post office box, there is no one to sign for the package.
The only way to have a package delivered to a post office box is by the United States Postal Service. Large national delivery services like United Parcel Service and Fed Ex will occasionally hand off a package to the Postal Service if it must be delivered to a post office box.
While courier services will not deliver to post office boxes, some are in the business of picking up from them. Because many businesses use P.O. boxes as well as a street address, delivery companies are beginning to fill a need for these businesses by getting their mail from the box and delivering it to their street address. They will also sign for certified and registered mail for a business.
One option you have is to get a box that is located at a branch of a delivery company. Some Chicago courier services are now offering rental of boxes at their locations. This helps to resolve the problem of delivery services avoiding P.O. boxes by providing a street address instead of a post office as the package's destination. The employees at the branch office can also sign for the delivery of the package, allowing for its release. This is quite probably the best alternative for someone who absolutely needs to have his or her packages delivered to a P.O. box rather than to a street address.
