Postal Service
Keys + Set-up
The United States Postal Service (USPS) manages the mail delivery and mail cluster boxes (and parcel lockers) located around the co-op. CTC provides you with a mailbox assignment and keys upon move-in (or as requested).
USPS requires a small sheet of paper including your address and all household names in your mailbox to deliver mail. Place the card with your household’s information in the slot located inside your mailbox.
The card depicted on the right is provided upon move-in, and you can request another from the office at any time. However, any piece of paper with your information works adequately. >
Receiving Mail and Packages
New Residents, Transfers, or Move-outs:
Submit a permanent change-of-address request so your USPS mail is properly rerouted to your new address.
Pick-up your Mail Frequently
Check and remove contents at least once a week. If you do not pick up your mail, the mail carrier will claim your household to be 'vacant' upon seeing the mail build-up and will stop delivering daily and all package deliveries. Your mail will be held at the post office until you go to the post office to sort out the misunderstanding.
Hold Mail during Vacations/Absences
Remember to hold mail at the post office or give a friend your mailbox key to check and remove contents at least once a week. If you hold your mail at the post office, you have the option of having the accumulated mail delivered to you when you return or to pick it up at the post office.
Receiving Packages
- The cluster box's parcel locker (the large mailbox doors at the bottom of the cluster box, labeled 1P or 2P) is used for items that are too large to fit in an individual box (compartment) within the Cluster Box. A key will be left in the mailbox to be used as a parcel locker key. This key has a tag that indicates the parcel locker that contains the item. Insert the key into the correct parcel locker , and the mail piece can be retrieved. The key will remain in the locker once it is inserted.
- USPS letter carriers deliver accountable mailpieces - any too large to fit in the parcel locker - to the point of address on the mail piece (e.g. your home's front door).
- USPS is the only package delivery service that uses the mail cluster boxes. All other delivery services - FedEx, UPS, Amazon, etc. - will deliver packages to the point of address on the mail piece (e.g. your home's front door).
Note for One-bedrooms:
Most packages deliveries will be placed outside of building entrances (including USPS if the package cannot fit in parcel box). If a package is brought inside a one-bedroom building, it must be placed in a common area that does not block stairwells or hallways for fire exit. Packages can be left below the front entrance window if small enough not to block stairwell or exit.
One-bedroom building stairwells and hallways must consistently remain clear of all items, including packages, per CTC’s ‘Clutter and Debris (Yard + 1 Bdrm Hallway)’ policy.
Informed Delivery by USPS
'Informed Delivery' is a free and optional service from USPS that shows you preview images of incoming mail, as well as status updates about your incoming and outbound packages. You can see those notifications in a morning Daily Digest email, or at any time via the dashboard from your phone, computer, or the USPS Mobile app.
- Get Daily Digest emails that preview your mail and packages scheduled to arrive soon
- See images of your incoming letter-sized mail (grayscale, address side only)
- See your package details and tracking history
- Leave USPS Delivery Instructions for your carrier
- Schedule a Redelivery for another day
Sign up for Informed Delivery (free)!
Mailboxes Frozen Shut
Fairly common during Minnesota winters, the extreme drops in temperature can cause mailboxes to freeze in the closed position. If your mailbox is frozen shut, you could try using de-icer to melt the obstructing ice - otherwise, most residents find success by simply coming back on a warmer day.
If you are expecting an important and/or time-sensitive piece of mail during the colder months, consider temporarily holding mail at the post office or purchasing a PO Box to pick-up when you want, as both are inside the building and avoid the possibility of a frozen mailbox or any snow/weather-related deliver delays. Visit our local Como Post Office (~1 mile away) to set-up services online or in-person.
Returning / Finding Misdelivered Mail
Returning Someone Else's Mail or Package
If you receive any misdelivered mail or packages - such as for your neighbor or the previous resident - please do the following to aid in the return to its rightful owner:
Mail (such as letters):
- If the mailpiece is delivered to the wrong location:
- Don't erase or mark over the information, or write any type of endorsement on the mailpiece.
- Place the item back in the mailbox or give to your mailperson. Or, if belonging to a CTC neighbor, you could drop the item off at their front door (view map) or post in our CTC Shop & Swap Facebook group.
- If the mail is delivered to the correct location but the recipient on the mailpiece does not reside at the address:
- Write "Not at this address" on mailpiece.
- Don't erase or mark over the address.
- Drop the mailpiece in outgoing mailbox at clusterbox (or any USPS Collection Box), or give to your mailperson.
Packages:
- If the package is delivered to the wrong location:
- Don't erase or mark over the information, or write any type of endorsement on the package.
- Contact the office and we will help redirect it to the rightful recipient. Or, if belonging to a CTC neighbor, you could drop the item off at their front door (view map) or post in our CTC Shop & Swap Facebook group.
- If the package is delivered to the correct location but the recipient on the mailpiece does not reside at the address:
- Don't erase or mark over the address.
- Contact the office and we will help redirect it to the rightful recipient.
Finding My Missing or Misdelivered Package:
If you are having difficulty locating or accessing a package of yours – try the following to troubleshoot the issue:
USPS:
USPS is the only package delivery service that uses the mail clusterboxes, in which the mail carrier should place the package inside the parcel box and provide the respective key to open it in your mailbox. The parcel boxes are the large mailbox doors located at the bottom of the box. If the labeled key doesn’t open the respective parcel box, try the key on all parcel boxes at your mailbox cluster site. If still no success, you could try leave a note in your mailbox, with the parcel key, explaining you are not able to open any parcel box with the provided key, along with your name, address, and phone number. You can also contact a USPS post office directly.
Other Delivery Services:
The protocol for all other delivery services - FedEx, UPS, Amazon, etc. – is to deliver packages to your front door. Mail carriers oftentimes get CTC addresses mixed up, correctly identifying the house number but on a different street. Thus, if the delivery service provided a picture of the package confirming the delivery location, the picture would help see if it was delivered to the right location - otherwise, you could pass by/leave a note to similar addresses in CTC to see if your package was misdelivered there. You could also try posting a message to the community in our Facebook group “CTC Shop & Swap” or the RentCafe Bulletin Board to help locate the package.
Contact Provider:
While we hope our troubleshooting ideas will benefit you, locating missing or misdelivered packages will ultimately need to be resolved between you and the delivery service (or the company you ordered the package through), as CTC is not responsible for package deliveries. However, please let us know if there is anything CTC’s office can do to further assist you, as well as any advice/insight you receive in the process that our co-op could share with residents in future similar situations.
Visit USPS.com for more information
Support
If you experience any mail related issues or questions, please email CTC's Office and we'll work to resolve it and prevent similar issues. You can also contact our postal station directly, which is located at 2000 County Road B2, Roseville, MN 55113. Visit usps.com for other delivery queries and services.