Community Forums

8.1chassis · 10-13-2015, 09:44 AM

Hi all,
We are new to RVing and have discovered that a lot of RV parks don't allow mail to be forwarded to them. The United States Postal Service website is so confusing I gave up trying to figure out mail forwarding from them.
What are some of the mail forwarding services you all are using, cost, reliability, etc.?
Many thanks,

JFNM · 10-15-2015, 10:32 AM

Hi 8.1chassis,

Are you asking about the companies that handle your mail for you? If so, there are several, everyone thinks the one they use is the best - there are many threads about this - do a little digging in the full-timers forum. Selection largely depends on the state that you want to be your "domicile" (assuming you are a full-timer) and basically boils down to FL, TX, & SD. I use Americas Mailbox in SD.

If you are asking about an address to which your mail is forwarded from your mail handling company: I have been lucky to have someone that I know in the area to send it. However; I know many folks use USPS general delivery - I haven't tried that yet.

paz · 10-16-2015, 05:37 AM

Even if you have a mail forwarding service to receive your mail, they have to forward it someplace where you can receive it. If the campground won't accept mail, your best choice is to have the mail sent to you at General Delivery at a location near where you are staying.

Before having mail sent to General Delivery, it is wise to call to make sure they accept General Delivery Mail. We had mail sent to a small town once. They didn't know what General Delivery was. Since they didn't recognize our name, they sent it back the next day.

Also, don't have mail sent to General Delivery in a big city. Big city post offices have numerous branches, but there is usually only one branch to which they deliver General Delivery mail. It's sometimes hard to find out what branch that is, and once you find it, it may be miles away from where you are staying.

And another word of caution - you can't have UPS or FedEX packages sent to General Delivery. You will have to make other arrangements for packages. Some campgrounds that don't accept USPS mail do allow UPS and FedEX packages to be delivered because the driver will deliver the package right to your site and the campground office doesn't have to be involved.

Steve Ownby · 10-16-2015, 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paz

Even if you have a mail forwarding service to receive your mail, they have to forward it someplace where you can receive it. If the campground won't accept mail, your best choice is to have the mail sent to you at General Delivery at a location near where you are staying.

Before having mail sent to General Delivery, it is wise to call to make sure they accept General Delivery Mail. We had mail sent to a small town once. They didn't know what General Delivery was. Since they didn't recognize our name, they sent it back the next day.

Also, don't have mail sent to General Delivery in a big city. Big city post offices have numerous branches, but there is usually only one branch to which they deliver General Delivery mail. It's sometimes hard to find out what branch that is, and once you find it, it may be miles away from where you are staying.

And another word of caution - you can't have UPS or FedEX packages sent to General Delivery. You will have to make other arrangements for packages. Some campgrounds that don't accept USPS mail do allow UPS and FedEX packages to be delivered because the driver will deliver the package right to your site and the campground office doesn't have to be involved.

At most campgrounds who won't accept mail, you can have UPS or FedEx deliver a package of mail from your forwarding service. The truck will usually come directly to your site. Even most TT locations will accept these deliveries.

Steve Ownby
Full time since '07

8.1chassis · 10-16-2015, 08:41 AM

Thanks all,
We will check the full timers forum but the suggestions in your answers are extremely helpful!

spritz · 10-17-2015, 09:05 AM

Me too, thanks,
This will be our first season as snowbird's and have been wondering the same thing.
Tim

vod · 10-17-2015, 09:20 AM

We use a mailbox at a UPS Store as our main address. I just call them and they will ship my mail to another UPS Store near where we are staying and they hold it until we pick up. Super easy and I have a tracking number and I get an email when it arrives.

gbburgess · 10-17-2015, 10:26 AM

Hi All, We travel about 6 months out of the year. We do not have a specific location or time we travel to - we just go places. So, we had the same problem. Like the previous poster we chose a local UPS box for $10.00 per month. The UPS Store holds the mail until we call or until we get home. If we need they will ship to a location or another UPS store for us. It works for us at this point.

MrCosio · 10-17-2015, 10:54 AM

As an alternative take a look at paytrust.com they are a bill paying service. You simply update your billing address to a PO box in SD they assign to you and then they scan all your incoming mail. You then login to read mail and pay bills. They don't forward actual mail so this is only good for stuff your ok with just a scanned image. They charge 50c per mail which includes paying the bills. They are owned by the same company as quickbooks. They wont scan junk mail!

CampDaven · 10-17-2015, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vod

We use a mailbox at a UPS Store as our main address. I just call them and they will ship my mail to another UPS Store near where we are staying and they hold it until we pick up. Super easy and I have a tracking number and I get an email when it arrives.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gbburgess

Hi All, We travel about 6 months out of the year. We do not have a specific location or time we travel to - we just go places. So, we had the same problem. Like the previous poster we chose a local UPS box for $10.00 per month. The UPS Store holds the mail until we call or until we get home. If we need they will ship to a location or another UPS store for us. It works for us at this point.

2 thumbs up for UPS Store.
3 years fulltime and flawless!

8.1chassis · 10-18-2015, 09:02 AM

It looks like most folks are using the UPS mail service. We ran into someone in our park who uses UPS and swears by it. We will visit UPS this week to set things up.
Thanks everyone for all your helpful responses!!!
Safe travels