# Why does the post office care where you mail a letter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 17, 2001, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782 "2001-07-17T09:21:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/1 "2001-07-17T09:21:28Z")
This is actually about a business situation. I “am familiar with” a company who had wanted to mail a large in another state, and was going to get a mailing permit so that they didn’t have to “real postage,” and didn’t have to show an out-of-state postmark. Someone jokingly mentioned, “Well, why don’t we just print it in (this border town), and carry it across the river to mail it?” To which, one person responded, “It’s against postal regulations to transport mail (even mail that has not been “stamped”) across state lines to mail it.” We’re one big happy country, so why is it a deal? ---
**Author:** ![Mersavets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aca169/32.png) [@Mersavets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mersavets)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/2 "2001-07-17T10:57:23Z")
God you have some stupid laws in America. In Australia, we’d take the people that made those stupid laws and we’d boot 'em. Yep! Boot 'em real good! :DD ---
**Author:** ![Xerxes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d2c977/32.png) [@Xerxes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xerxes)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/3 "2001-07-17T11:40:02Z")
Forgive me if I’ve mis-understood the following: > [@](#): > > It’s against postal regulations to transport mail (even mail that has not been “stamped”) across state lines to mail it Is this mail which **you** (or in this case ‘the company you are familiar with’) wrote/originated? This seems - if I’ve understood this - a bit nonsensical. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/4 "2001-07-17T11:51:29Z")
Eh? Have I missed something here? So you write a letter in one location and decide to mail it in another location, which happens to be across an internal border and that’s illegal? strrrrrrange! how would that be enforceable anyway? ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/5 "2001-07-17T11:57:52Z")
> [@](#): > > “It’s against postal regulations to transport mail (even mail that has not been “stamped”) across state lines to mail it.” Cite, please. I’ve never heard of that before, and, all due respect to your colleague, I ain’t buyin’ it. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/6 "2001-07-17T12:16:26Z")
This is illegal? Sometimes I may have took mail w/ me when I when on vacation out of state and might have mailed it when I got there. I might have done this because the mail I might be talking about might have been bills which the money for those bills is better sitting in my account then the bill collectors. I frequently bring the mail with me on the train to work but that doesn’t cross state lines. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/7 "2001-07-17T12:31:23Z")
I seriously doubt there’s any such law. Not only is silly, but it’s unenforeceable. There aren’t any check stations when you cross a state border, and I’ve never had the post office check my home address. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/8 "2001-07-17T12:37:10Z")
So I compose a letter in DC, drive 20 minutes to mom’s house in MD and mail it - that’s a violation of some sort of postal regulation? What do I have to do in order to comply with regulations? What if I don’t address the envelope until after I cross the MD border? Or do I just have to wait and apply the stamp only when I’m in the state that the letters will be mailed from? How about if I write 50% of the letter in DC and the other half in MD? Maybe if I write the letter without intent to mail it, then find myself in another state & decide to mail it after all? How about if I carry the letter, envelope & stamp in different containers, and don’t assemble them into a proper piece of mail until I’m in the next state? ---
**Author:** ![Kaje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f04885/32.png) [@Kaje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaje)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/9 "2001-07-17T12:42:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Attrayant \* > \*\*How about if I carry the letter, envelope & stamp in different containers, and don’t assemble them into a proper piece of mail until I’m in the next state? \*\* Not a chance, the letter sniffing dogs can smell an out of state letter a mile away The only thing that works in my experience, is you take the letter, wad it up and stick in a balloon, swallow the balloon and pass it once you reach the desired state… however this can be risky as the balloon can rupture inside your stomach en-route causing severe internal paper cuts ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/10 "2001-07-17T12:55:12Z")
Well, you might as well come arrest me now. All the letters and yes, even packages, I’ve assembled in New Jersey, and then blindly taken on the bus to mail them when I reach my destination so people can get the cool New York City post mark. How could I have been so stupid? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/11 "2001-07-17T12:58:44Z")
A mailing of about 10,000 statements per day, first class mail. Someone in our meeting said that it was illegal to transport them across state lines to mail, but did not offer a cite. If there is such a regulation/law, I doubt that intended targets are individuals, but who knows. . . ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/12 "2001-07-17T13:07:39Z")
actually, you can even mail something to a postmaster for them to **resend** it with that postmark (there’s a city named “Christmas” that does a bang up business every December for that, and IIRC, Hell MI will also do that). So I doubt that there’s any law about that at all. (although, perhaps what might be going on is if there was a bulk mailing rate applied, there may be some special handling requirement) ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/13 "2001-07-17T13:21:16Z")
I’m a postal worker. OK, I’m an _Australian_ postal worker, but I can give a rather bizarre angle on the US situation. At the mail facility where I work, we get a lot of business mail from US companies (with US return addresses) which has been posted in bulk _IN THE NETHERLANDS_!!! So mailing across state lines ain’t nuffin’. As well as the US/Netherlands thing, the posting of bulk mail in other countries comes in many other combinations. As other posters have pointed out, the law described in the OP is stupid and unenforceable. Ignore it. ---
**Author:** ![Friday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dec6dc/32.png) [@Friday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Friday)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/14 "2001-07-17T13:38:34Z")
What is probably illegal is to put a return address on your package that is out of the area. If a package that has insufficient postage is sent back to the return address, then you can get free mailing by putting the actual address as the return address. Just my $.02. (still not enough to mail a postcard). ---
**Author:** ![NotMrKnowItAll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6bbea6/32.png) [@NotMrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotMrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/15 "2001-07-17T13:51:00Z")
Forgive me, I did not pick my username at random. But, it is conceivable that some sort of regulation exists to prevent competition in interstate mail transport. Did not some regulation get relaxed to allow the existence of Federal Express, DHL, and UPS? I vaguely remember that. A scenario supporting the supposed regulation that comes to mind is imagine 40 years ago, you own an airline, and make daily flights from L.A. to N.Y. You offer, for a fee, to transport letters to and from, with the letters dropped off at the main post office at the destination. This would cut out and airmail revenues the P.O. could realize in this situation. But even here, the spirit of the regulation would be to eliminate competition, not to prevent the creation and the posting of mail to occur in differing states(think about printing companies and possible contracts with out-of-state clients). Just a guess, I was completely unable to download regulations containing the word /interstate/ from [http://www.usps.gov](http://www.usps.gov) ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/16 "2001-07-17T13:58:45Z")
Nice to see you picked a good accurate user name. 😃 No, AFAIK there’s no law against taking _stamped_ mail across state lines to mail it, that is, mail with actual stamps on it. However, postage meter mail and bulk rate mail are different. **Mjollnir** , if the mailing you are talking about was metered mail, then yeah, you’re not supposed to take it anywhere other than local. I’m assuming you’re talking about a mass mailing, which would be standard/bulk rate? You can’t just “carry it [a bulk rate mailing] across the river and mail it.” It has to do with how postage meters and mailing permits work. [http://new.usps.com/cgi-bin/uspsbv/scripts/content.jsp?B=mailing101&D=17519](http://new.usps.com/cgi-bin/uspsbv/scripts/content.jsp?B=mailing101&D=17519) > [@](#): > > Classes of Mail: Standard Mail > > Minimum Weight: None > > Maximum Weight: 15.9999 ounces (less than 1 pound) > > Minimum Quantity: 200 pieces or 50 pounds of mail > > Standard Mail is mail matter not required to be mailed as First-Class Mail or Periodicals. Lower nonprofit rates are available for Standard Mail but require specific authorization. > > Mailers use Standard Mail to send: > > Printed matter, flyers, circulars, advertising. > Newsletters, bulletins, and catalogs. > Small parcels. > > All Standard Mail rates are bulk rates, and each mailing must meet a minimum quantity of 200 pieces or 50 pounds of mail. There are no single-piece Standard Mail rates. In Standard Mail, there are rates for letters and flats/nonletters. Unlike First-Class Mail, there is no separate Standard Mail card rate (cards are mailed as letters or flats/nonletters). Standard Mail parcels (for instance, a small merchandise sample) are charged a residual shape surcharge. [http://new.usps.com/cgi-bin/uspsbv/scripts/content.jsp?B=mailing101&D=17441](http://new.usps.com/cgi-bin/uspsbv/scripts/content.jsp?B=mailing101&D=17441) > [@](#): > > What are Bulk Rates? > > The Postal Service offers discounts for bulk mailings because you do some of the work that otherwise would have to be done by the Postal Service (for example, sorting the mail by ZIP Code or transporting the mail to a different postal facility). Everyone benefits from this “worksharing.” Mailers make an investment in time and technology, and the Postal Service’s costs are reduced and you pay less postage. > > In order to mail at bulk rates, you need to: > > Get a mailing permit (permission to mail) and pay an annual mailing fee. > Pay postage using one of several very convenient methods: precanceled stamps, postage meter, or permit imprint. > Make smart choices about the size, shape, and weight of your mailpiece. > Ensure that your addresses are accurate. > Presort the mailpieces (separate or sort your mail by ZIP Codes). > **Take your mail to the post office where you hold your mailing permit.** So, when you’re doing a bulk rate mailing (and I’m including Standard mail in this): YOU–get the mailing permit at the postmark of your choice. YOU–charge up the postage meter. YOU–run the envelopes through the meter. And YOU–take it down to the Post Office where you hold your mailing permit. There’s no such thing as taking _unstamped_ or _unmetered_ bulk rate/standard mail somewhere else to “get a good postmark”. No Post Office will accept unstamped/unmetered bulk rate mail, period. And if you just dump it in a mailbox, you get in big trouble. Now, of course, if you wanna take unstamped pieces of mail across the river to New York, and sit there in the Post Office lobby and _peel and stick stamps_, and then mail it, AFAIK there’s no law against _that_. Be my guest. However, I will run this past the Better Half when he gets home from lunch. But I doubt it. Otherwise, everybody who wrote postcards from their vacation and forgot to mail them until after they got home would be liable to Federal legal action. And P.S. to **Friday** , yeah, not only is what you suggest _“probably”_ illegal, it is also **“definitely”** illegal, it constitutes Mail Fraud, and will get you 5 to 10 in the Federal pokey. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/17 "2001-07-17T14:01:51Z")
P.S. Mjollnir, if it’s 10,000 pieces a day, every day, it probably isn’t “First Class”, it’s probably a bulk rate/standard permit. ---
**Author:** ![Kaje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f04885/32.png) [@Kaje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaje)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/18 "2001-07-17T14:05:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Friday \* > **What is probably illegal is to put a return address on your package that is out of the area. If a package that has insufficient postage is sent back to the return address, then you can get free mailing by putting the actual address as the return address.** that’s a hot idea… i wonder how they would catch you for something like that… i’ll have to try it one of these days ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/19 "2001-07-17T14:05:58Z")
If the US situation is anything like the Australian one, then **NotMrKnowItAll** is on the money. In Australia (and possibly the US), an individual can post a letter to the next suburb or to the other side of the continent for the same rate. Companies, on the other hand, can receive all sorts of discounts on their mail depending on distance (and also whether or not the company has “presorted” the mail by area or postcode -less work for the post office). There is a law here which states that a bulk lodgement of mail must be made at the nearest designated facility to the company doing the mailout. This is to stop, for example, a company in Sydney posting its Sydney mail normally, and sending its Melbourne mail privately by the thousands in a cardboard box to a contact in Melbourne who would mail it there at the local rate. I still think it’s hard to enforce though. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2001, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782/20 "2001-07-17T14:32:06Z")
[screeching halt] > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wring \* > **…(there’s a city named “Christmas” that does a bang up business every December for that…** Yup, Christmas, Florida, just east of Orlando gets more than 25,000 letters annually in Novemeber just for the Christmas postmark, and according to the woman I spoke to at the post office, in December 2000 alone, they received and posted out more than 300,000 letters, not including packages. If any of the Teeming Millions wants to add to their numbers, bundle up your stamped mail in a package addressed to Postmaster Christmas, FL 32709 and they will postmark it and mail it from there. In addition, they have a staff (husband and wife) who answer all the letters sent there written to Santa Claus - in 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union, they received more than 500 Santa letters from children in the former Eastern European bloc. As well, Kissimmee (Kiss-i-mee), Florida (34741) gets innundated before every Valentine’s Day. Just thought I’d share a bit o’trivia for the day. [/screeching halt] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-post-office-care-where-you-mail-a-letter/72782.md?page=2)