Learn how to get mail while on the road.
How do you obtain mail while travelling in an RV is one of the first issues most RVers have once they start going beyond weekend and holiday excursions. Thankfully, there are numerous options. Let’s investigate a few.
Key points
Services for Postal Service Hold and Forwarding
The US Postal Service is very helpful because it provides a few options for RVers taking lengthy trips to obtain their mail. Ask your carrier or visit a post office to pick up a yellow card if your trip will be 30 days or less. Once completed and returned, the card instructs the post office to bundle and keep all of your mail until your return. They will then deliver all of that accumulated mail to your stick-and-brick mailbox on the day you designate.
Make sure you don’t go over those 30 days if you decide to use this service. They are quite strict in that regard. The postal service provides an additional programme that will be helpful if you will be gone for a longer period of time. It is only a passing forwarding. For up to a year, this will forward your mail piece by piece to the address you designate. You can request an extension for an additional 12 months.
You don’t have to pay postage for First-Class mail or periodicals (newsletters and magazines), but you will have to do so for Media Mail and USS Retail Ground mail sent from your post office to the temporary address you have specified.
Additionally, you can use a service called Premium Forwarding Service (PFS), which has your mail picked up and packed at your neighbourhood post office and forwarded once a week by Priority Mail. But the price is high. PFS has an enrollment charge of $21.95 for online enrollment and $23.90 for in-person enrollment at the post office, and regardless of how you enrolled, you must pay $23.90 for each week of service.
RVers who know they will be staying at a specific park or campground for a season or predetermined amount of time would benefit from these post office services. If you work full-time or move around a lot, they’re not the best.
Services for Mail Forwarding
The ideal solution is to use a mail forwarding company’s services if you travel in an RV frequently or for extended periods of time. There are numerous options available.
Here are five things to look at:
- Good Sam Mail Service
- America’s Mailbox
- Dakota Post
- Traveling Mailbox
- Escapees Club Mail Forwarding
All of these services, along with a long number of other companies that operate similarly, operate basically in the same manner.
You submit a change of address form to your local post office, giving the address of the mail forwarding service as your own. Your mail is then immediately sent to the new address as soon as it arrives at your post office after the change takes two weeks to make its way through the postal system.
When your mail arrives at the forwarder, they scan the envelopes and upload photographs of them to a secure website that you may access. This website is often referred to as your digital mailbox. The forwarder posts digital copies of your letter in the mailbox and then waits for your instructions.
The majority of businesses let you choose whether you want them to shred the mail (trash it) or forward it. And if there is something you want to check out right away, most will let you tell them to open the contents, scan them, and email you a pdf image.
Costs of Mail Forwarding
You must first choose a plan, typically paid for with an annual charge. Total prices might vary from about $100 to $135 each year, depending on the type of service you want. Typically, a forwarding service will ask you for a down payment big enough to pay for the shipping and postage expenses incurred when sending your letter. Usually, a $50 deposit is made, and it is automatically replaced as needed.
On top of the shipping and mailing costs, they often charge between $7 and $12 every month. Additional charges could apply if you want extra options like shredding, handling only particular letters, opening mail, and accepting and sent UPS and FedEx deliveries. Every mail forwarding service is essentially the same. but distinct in the finer points.
Why RVers Should Use Mail Forwarding Services
- You may access your mailbox at any moment from your laptop or smartphone because they give you a digital or virtual one. Everyone is aware of how much spam we receive. Simply request that they throw it away.
- Most services will open any mail you are unsure of for you so you can decide whether it requires action.
- The mail and packages you wish to physically receive can be forwarded to wherever you happen to be—a campground, a friend’s house, or any other location you may choose. All campgrounds are accustomed to receiving packages of this nature and treat them with care.
Although they are not full-timers, some RVers I know frequently utilise a mail forwarding service because it is so useful. They ask the forwarding company to send it there once they get home. They have it delivered to the campground while they are travelling.
Reduce the amount of mail you get as a final piece of advice.
Reducing the amount of mail you receive is the actual key to managing it easily while RVing. To handle everything online, you must take all necessary measures. Whenever possible, choose electronic billing and payments with any business you do business with. Encourage businesses to stop sending paper bills and statements, including utilities, banks, credit card companies, financial managers, and healthcare and veterinary professionals. Enroll in direct deposits. Move online.
Enjoy the RV lifestyle after that!
