Does anyone have experience sending a USPS package to Dallas via General Delivery? (Post: vs)

[Downtown Dave]

I lived in Dallas for about 20 years but I don't live there anymore.

I plan on stopping in Dallas at the end of a long road trip.

I want to send a package there to pickup in person when I get to Dallas but I don't have a proper mailing address. There is no one I know who I can send it to.

There is a USPS service named General Delivery which is supposed to handle this. As long as a Post Office handles General Delivery mail you are supposed to address it to:

NAME
GENERAL DELIVERY
CITY STATE ZIP

And they will hold it for you.

However, I am reading online that the information on the USPS website is not reliable, local post offices do not answer the phone, and in big cities your package might be sent to some central facility or who knows where.

If anyone can shed some light on this please reply.

[tmtex]

They would probably lose it. A mail store like a UPS store might do that.

[elnina]

Post office has a service called Hold For Pickup. You sent it there to yourself and pickup showing your ID. You just go there and say that you have a package to pick up at their facility.
USPS Hold Mail® service will hold ALL mail (including letters and packages) for ALL individuals at the specified address. There is no charge to request USPS Hold Mail® service.
They will hold it for you up to 30 days, but make sure and ask if nothing has changed. I did it several years ago.
Be sure to notate confirmation number for future reference in case changes are necessary.

https://faq.usps.com/s/article/USPS-...ail-The-Basics

[lpepping]

I would avoid the USPS. Too many bad experiences to list but I would use UPS or FedEx if they have a comparable service.

[elnina]

OP, if you want FedEx doing it for you - here is how:
https://blog.eniture.com/fedex-hold-at-location

Or UPS:
https://www.ups.com/us/en/shipping/s...or-pickup.page

USPS VS UPS VS FedEx: Which Shipping Carrier Is The Best?
https://www.merchantmaverick.com/usp...rrier-is-best/

[Watchful]

We live near the Appalachian Trail and through hikers do this a lot - send packages to themselves up the trail so that they don't have to haul it all on their backs! These are little post offices. That might be even a better idea - pick a little small town with only one post office (near Dallas) and send it there. You could even send a postcard to the postmaster alerting them of what is happening. Good luck! The private mail services would be another option as noted!

[Downtown Dave]

Originally Posted by elnina

Post office has a service called Hold For Pickup. You sent it there to yourself and pickup showing your ID. You just go there and say that you have a package to pick up at their facility.
USPS Hold Mail® service will hold ALL mail (including letters and packages) for ALL individuals at the specified address. There is no charge to request USPS Hold Mail® service.
They will hold it for you up to 30 days, but make sure and ask if nothing has changed. I did it several years ago.
Be sure to notate confirmation number for future reference in case changes are necessary.

https://faq.usps.com/s/article/USPS-...ail-The-Basics

Unfortunately, I don't have an actual address to send it to.

Originally Posted by Watchful

We live near the Appalachian Trail and through hikers do this a lot - send packages to themselves up the trail so that they don't have to haul it all on their backs! These are little post offices. That might be even a better idea - pick a little small town with only one post office (near Dallas) and send it there. You could even send a postcard to the postmaster alerting them of what is happening. Good luck! The private mail services would be another option as noted!

Sending it to a small town Post Office outside of Dallas is a smart idea. The odds of it getting lost would be lessened, I assume. Thank You.

I have watched enough hiking videos on YouTube to know that thru-hikers send resupply boxes to post offices ahead of themselves on the trail, but they never give the specifics of how it is done.