Can you send a letter via UPS?

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cans-of-swine@reddit

You'd do it the same way you mail a package.

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Legally speaking, theres reasons ups can't send letters or general mail but, that depends on urgency. Like if you needed a legal document overnighted they can, but no birthday cards or wedding invitations unless they are included in a package.

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spitfire451@reddit

If you don't care about the price, you can just put a birthday card into a UPS express envelope and send it off.

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NoOnesSaint@reddit

I mean that is still technically illegal but I'm not going to come after you for it. There was a big scandal decades ago where a company got busted doing that. Didn't know the post office had investigative authority, but apparently they do.

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sgtm7@reddit

There is no USPS while in a foreign country. I have always used FedEx or DHL.

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skateboreder@reddit

No, but there is the IPU and we have bilateral agreements with most countries.

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Brendalalala@reddit

I would like for you to cite these laws

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NoOnesSaint@reddit

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_Express_Statutes

10 seconds on google, arrogance is not a good look.

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Kgb_Officer@reddit

Reading that wiki page, one of the exceptions to the PES in 39 U.S. Code § 601 is "(b)A letter may also be carried out of the mails when—(1)the amount paid for the private carriage of the letter is at least the amount equal to 6 times the rate then currently charged for the 1st ounce of a single-piece first class letter"

So as long as you're paying more than 6 times the rate currently charged for the 1st ounce of a USPS First Class letter you should be good, and probably why both FedEx and UPS advertise the ability to use their services to mail letters even though it is typically restricted to the USPS.

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Brendalalala@reddit

Yeah I was wondering if I was reading it wrong because they seemed so confident lol.

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rbroccoli@reddit

wow, TIL.

interesting that you’re still required to have postage stamps, even if it’s entirely 3rd party

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battleofflowers@reddit

You're not. There are two ways listed to do this, and one of the ways does not require stamps.

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rbroccoli@reddit

Ah, I see. So (a) and (b) are more or less separate, non-mutually exclusive options? It seemed like the list under section (b) was also an “or” list, so it reads off a little confusingly.

Nonetheless, it’s an interesting law that I was unaware of. When I really think about it, it kind of makes sense in the big picture, but it’s also hard to figure out where exactly the line is drawn.

I’m imagining an independent bike courier delivering a batch of less-than 12 oz letters from one office building to another across town at a rate of $4.50 per letter, unstamped ($0.18 less than 6x the rate to send 1 oz first class domestic). Somehow, the postal service caught wind of it and decided to pursue it. It seems that would actually break the law if those letters were served individually. But if all of those letters were dropped in one box making the weight over 12oz and the entire box was checked in by a receptionist and distributed after delivery, it might not be?

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battleofflowers@reddit

You may not have been aware of the law, but surely you've noticed you can send out a Fedex or UPS envelope and not put stamps on it, right?

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rbroccoli@reddit

Frankly, I’ve never needed to send out standalone letters via a 3rd party service. But before it was pointed out that sections a and b were separate options, I thought it was maybe a similar system to postage paid envelopes like we used to do at a non-profit that I worked for in the past. As though the logistics were handled by the larger company and the fee was simply passed on to the consumer by baking it into the cost. Now I see that it isn’t the case since shipping would definitely be more than $4.68 (6x the cost of $0.78 for the first ounce of first class mail).

The reason I mentioned “unstamped” in the bike courier scenario was because it meets none of the other exceptions outlined in section (b) due to the charge for service and weight of the letters and an individual/independent courier likely wouldn’t be using a postage pre-paid or post-billing service.

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PuzzleheadedPea6980@reddit

10 seconds to Google, but I guess the 40 seconds to read was too long?

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battleofflowers@reddit

Dood, the exception is right there in the page you cited to lol.

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Evening-Opposite7587@reddit

USPS’s monopoly is specifically on non-urgent letters. The non-urgent part was added in the 70s. And letters really mean any flat mail up to a certain size (17x25 I think).

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bloopidupe@reddit

You just need an envelope. It gets weighed, stickered and processed

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Sowf_Paw@reddit

A letter is basically a very thin package so yes.

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Deep-Hovercraft6716@reddit

You can put anything you want inside a box if you want to pay a whole lot of money for it.

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Diplokats2024@reddit

Yes, they do it all the time. The letter goes inside one of their big, flat envelopes.

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cheekmo_52@reddit

UPS is a delivery service, much like other delivery services you can send documents using their services.

If your company has a UPS account, get their account number so you can charge them directly. Then it works the same way as any third party delivery service. Either log on to their website to select the service you require provide the delivery address and the account number to charge, then print a label, with a UPS barcode, and affix it yourself an envelope. You can either arrange to have it picked up, or you can drop it off at any UPS store. Or in the alternative, you can just ho to the closest UPS store either your documents and have them prepare the label and put your documents in a UPS branded envelope.

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JimBones31@reddit

Walk into the UPS store and say "hi, can you help me mail a letter?".

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FreedomBread@reddit

You mean talk to someone? What?

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Vern1138@reddit

And then they'll just give you a really confused look because you're the first person to walk in there in the last two years who hasn't said "I have an Amazon return".

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Yankee_chef_nen@reddit

That’s so crazy it just might work.

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I_am_photo@reddit

Whoa whoa, are you sure?

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beyondplutola@reddit

Wouldn't do it. My uncle tried this in '84 back in UPS' Mail Boxes Etc. retail era. We never heard from him again.

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Old_Promise2077@reddit

You don't even need to talk if you don't want to. Just hand them the letter with the address, they know what to do

Though you might come off as a little rude

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JimBones31@reddit

They know what to do.

Yeah, I guess you're right. Context clues go a long way.

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Complex_Solutions_20@reddit

You can, but its usually not cost-effective.

The only time I've seen that done is for things like a rush-replacement for a credit card, the bank will often put the "regular" mail envelope inside a UPS or FedEx overnight-express bubble/cardboard mailer.

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ProgrammerPuzzled185@reddit

Write letter

Put letter in cardboard box

Give box to person behind desk at UPS and say I need to ship this please

Give the person behind the desk the relevant information and pay

Person behind the desk takes care of the rest

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sgtm7@reddit

The only issue might be if the address is a PO Box. They generally require a physical street address.

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Duque_de_Osuna@reddit

Sure.

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WhatABeautifulMess@reddit

If you’re making a skipping label on their site there’s an option for package type and you’d select envelope. Usually you’ll want a large envelope as the label is bigger than a standard card or letter envelope.

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cdb03b@reddit

Legally? No.

Technically putting a letter in a box or padded envelope and mailing said letter? yes. It is treated as a documents package and charged accordingly at a much higher rate than US mail. It also cannot go to mail boxes.

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RecipeResponsible460@reddit

They have rigid envelopes that work for this.

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Olderbutnotdead619@reddit

Usps tacks mail too.

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EggieRowe@reddit

You have to select an expedited method. They cannot send a letter via “ground” because of some regulation to protect the USPS.

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JRNels0n@reddit

You can send letters express or ground. UPS and FedEx just don't have separate letter rates for ground. A letter sent ground would be billed as a 1 lb package instead of as a letter.

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EggieRowe@reddit

Cannot be flat either. At least what they told me a couple years ago.

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captainstormy@reddit

Unless you just put it in a box and didn't tell them that is.

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splatgoestheblobfish@reddit (OP)

Thank you! This is SO dumb. I had a complete "Duh" moment, and didn't think about putting it in a large mailer envelope. I could only picture a regular letter sized envelope getting all squished and crumpled and lost amongst all the large packages, which would just create more problems than it solved.

(I'm sorry, but this is SO stupid. Apparently there have been issues, so the "powers that be" at my work have decided we can no longer mail certain items via USPS, even though it's much cheaper, easier, and also has tracking. We are now required to send the items via UPS with tracking. But they didn't give us any specific instructions on how to do it. And it seems that I get to be one of first lucky people to try this out, because no one else had a clue. Yay me. At least they reimburse me for the cost. I half jokingly considered sending it in a huge box.)

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attlerexLSPDFR@reddit

When the Congress created the USPS they didn't want to fund them, so they gave them a legal monopoly to fund themselves. Generally, it's illegal to send a letter using any service other than the USPS. The loophole is that you can use a private service like UPS if it's something time critical, the decider of what is critical being you. So technically you're not allowed to privately send letters but companies do it all the time. Of course the USPS might find out if a large enough company is doing it, but they don't care unless it's taking away a large amount of business. Individual people probably aren't enough for them to care.

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ratherbclever@reddit

Just had a document shipped "overnight" in an envelope from them. $91 to go 440 miles

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johndoenumber2@reddit

It has to be the UPS mailer size, not a standard paper business letter size. But you can put a piece of paper in that full-size cardboard envelope and ship it UPS.

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StatusTics@reddit

UPS has envelopes, if that's what you're asking?

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tiger0204@reddit

UPS has express envelopes. Go to the UPS store, puts the docs in one, get the tracking info and ship it.

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ursulawinchester@reddit

Or use whatever envelope you want and buy the cheaper ups ground shipping. It’ll take a day or two longer tho.

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bryku@reddit

The only group who can legally send letters is the USPS, with 2 exceptions.

Some locations allow you to physically drop off letters, which is just dropped off at USPS.
Urgent shipping, which had additional requirements and cost.

That being said, you can send documents through "Hard Envelope" or "Flat Envelope" using FedEx or UPS. Which is delivered like any other package and tracked.

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tracygee@reddit

Yep. Just ask for a UPS Express Envelope.

I’m a little worried that you don’t even know your employee, though, and hope you aren’t in a scam of some kind.

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_badwithcomputer@reddit

Technically speaking, the USPS has a legal monopoly on mail delivery (which is defined by a certain sized envelope and access to mail boxes). Therefore for UPS you'll have to use the larger and heavier cardboard envelope and put it in there in order to get around that. Other than that it's like shipping any other UPS package.

https://fee.org/articles/an-expert-explains-the-postal-monopoly/

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Frito_Goodgulf@reddit

It's UPS Document Shipping. You could also use FedEx or DHL, all would offer similar services for shipping documents internationally to the US. It'll go in a flat paperwork envelope a bit larger than the document, assuming it's normal paper size.

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YoshiandAims@reddit

Yep. Same way you maul a package, just go to the desk, you'll hand it to them, they'll do their thing, ring you up, and there you go.

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nomoregroundhogs@reddit

I know this is a typo but I just wanted to add that if you truly want to maul a package, FedEx is definitely your best bet

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YoshiandAims@reddit

They definately are. They regularly maul my packages!

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Curmudgy@reddit

My understanding is that UPS and FedEx and similar services are prohibited from competing directly with first class mail, but they’re allowed to compete with Express Mail and I think with Priority Mail. Those are typically cardboard envelopes with tracking and often faster delivery.

The question I have is whether your employer compared Priority or Express Mail costs, with tracking (if extra) to the UPS or FedEx pricing?

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Allisonfasho@reddit

Can you not just go to the post office and mail it and pay for tracking?

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MrsBenSolo1977@reddit

Yes, they have flat envelopes just like USPS and FedEx

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MuchDevelopment7084@reddit

Both they and Fedex have document envelopes. Ask for one.

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nowordsleft@reddit

People send documents via FedEx and UPS all the time. They have sturdy envelopes for it.

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Loud-Bee-4894@reddit

Yes you can. Go to a UPS service center and they will talk you through it.

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Novel_Willingness721@reddit

My company sends “letters” by ups overnight all the time. They have checks in them, but they are still in standard #10 security envelopes.

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ITrCool@reddit

You send via document envelope. You'd walk into an UPS store and ask for a secure document envelope, then they can help you get it all packaged up and shipped out and give you a tracking number.

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NorwegianSteam@reddit

Letters are legally handled by USPS. You can mail a letter via UPS, but it's treated like a package and priced accordingly.

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Lean_Lion1298@reddit

And can't be delivered to a mailbox.

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eyetracker@reddit

I'm a big fan of USPS, but they have a monopoly on letters thanks to the Private Express Statutes, so private companies like UPS and FedEx can't officially send letters, which is bullshit. They can send them under an exception for "extremely urgent" reasons which means you can do this in any circumstance but it's very expensive.

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