Registered Mail Sent At Priority Speed?

RichR

I must have missed something, but I always assumed that Registered Mail, due to all the security checks and balances, tended to be the slowest of the slow snail mail.

However, yesterday the clerk asked me if I wanted to send my box Registered Mail as overnight priority...for a few dollars more. So I did...and sure enough (according to the tracking) it got from NY to Florida in a day.

This was news to me.

commoncents05

Sounds like you sent it Express, not Registered. What was the tracking number? It usually says Express vs. Registered on the website tracking.

-Paul

blu62vette

If your tracking is showing already it may not have gone registered as registered tracking does not work until well after the item is delivered. I received a registered overnight once, but it only went about 80 miles, and we share the same regional distribution center.

BAJJERFAN

Registered mail usually starts with the tracking number RE. I have had tracking info post in a myriad of ways. Usually it scans in right away as being accepted. It might also get scanned in at the next major forwarding place and then goes out of sight until delivery. You just don't really know.

There are as many opinions about RM as there are people who use it, some true, some not so much.

LindeDad

Sounds like Express and yes the costs are not that different but the speed is. Works great up to $5000.00 as that is the insurance limit.

RichR

Nope...my tracking number does start with RE...and it shows as having been accepted early yesterday and out for delivery today. And the tracking also shows both Registered and Priority in the additional information fields.

The clerk logged it into her notebook and then took it over to the cage. And it was insured for $8000.

From the USPS website:
•What mail classes and services can be sent as Registered Mail?
Registered Mail is available only for First-Class Mail®, First-Class Package Service, or Priority Mail® (excluding Critical Mail) service items that are mailable

So definitely something to check into.

mrpotatoheadd

From the USPS website:

Registered Mail (Domestic)

General Information
•What mail classes and services can be sent as Registered Mail?
Registered Mail is available only for First-Class Mail®, First-Class Package Service, or Priority Mail® (excluding Critical Mail) service items that are mailable

•What is the estimated delivery time for Registered Mail?
Due to the higher level of security placed on this class, it is possible that the Registered Mail process could slow the speed at which a mailpiece travels.

edited to add... Sometimes, registered mail is fast, sometimes not. There is nothing you can do (paying for Priority Mail service, for example) about it.

blu62vette

Priority registered has to do with weight not speed.

BAJJERFAN

<< <i>Nope...my tracking number does start with RE...and it shows as having been accepted early yesterday and out for delivery today. And the tracking also shows both Registered and Priority in the additional information fields.

The clerk logged it into her notebook and then took it over to the cage. And it was insured for $8000.

From the USPS website:
•What mail classes and services can be sent as Registered Mail?
Registered Mail is available only for First-Class Mail®, First-Class Package Service, or Priority Mail® (excluding Critical Mail) service items that are mailable

So definitely something to check into. >>



Possible that they are offering a new service level. I'll ask at my PO here shortly.

The only registered that I ever had delivered the next day, went from Ames to Des Moines which was around 45 miles.

FWIW a few years back, a friend shipped by mail 1,000 bullets [not loaded ammo, just the bullets] from Ames to Scotland [the country] and they were delivered in 2 days.

Bochiman

How much did you pay? You mention a "few dollars more", but what was the normal RE rate vs the "few dollars more"?
Would be interesting if this is something they are offering or if it is limited ... or if it was a mistake.

RichR

I paid about $38 to ship a padded box containing 6 slabs + 18 raw Morgans, insured for $8,000.

And the fact that it wasn't going to take a week to arrive seemed unusual. So I kept repeating...as long as it's Registered with proper insurance.

The clerk said that it was too heavy for first class...therefore I could bump it up to priority...in which case it would be delivered in 2 days (max). And it ultimately ended up being delivered the next day...from Manhattan to Florida.

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>The clerk said that it was too heavy for first class...therefore I could bump it up to priority... >>

If it's too heavy for first class, it has to go priority. There isn't any other option for registered mail.

<< <i>...in which case it would be delivered in 2 days (max). >>

"Would"? I am guessing your clerk is misinformed.

notwilight

Express gets the same insurance rate as registered. I used express often. --Jerry

messydesk

Somehow you got lucky. Priority mail is just a meaningless designation for first-class mail that weighs more than 13 ounces, and any delivery speed guidance is out the window when you send registered. If, somehow, the package ended up being delivered in a day, it may have been missorted as express mail and delivered that way anyway, since it was probably too much hassle to return it to the registered pipeline.

OPA

<< <i>I paid about $38 to ship a padded box containing 6 slabs + 18 raw Morgans, insured for $8,000.

And the fact that it wasn't going to take a week to arrive seemed unusual. So I kept repeating...as long as it's Registered with proper insurance.

The clerk said that it was too heavy for first class...therefore I could bump it up to priority...in which case it would be delivered in 2 days (max). And it ultimately ended up being delivered the next day...from Manhattan to Florida. >>



Not a new service...you got lucky. Anything over 13 oz will be charged the Priority Rate, but it's still Registered Snail Mail.

airplanenut

<< <i>The clerk said that it was too heavy for first class...therefore I could bump it up to priority...in which case it would be delivered in 2 days (max). And it ultimately ended up being delivered the next day...from Manhattan to Florida. >>

Not so much "could" bump it, but rather "Priority" is just the name for First Class when the package weight is high enough. Registered comes with no speed guarantees, ever, and if the class of service you pay for has a boilerplate estimate, it doesn't mean anything. As everyone else said, it looks like you got lucky.

MsMorrisine

derryb

If a registered package from NY was delivered in one day to an address in FL, then it was luck. All of the truck and airline schedules met in a perfect storm. You also got that rare event where everyone who handled it treated it like a hot potato and couldn't wait to have the next USPS employee sign for it and become responsible for it. There is no extra fast class of registered mail, only postal employees doing their jobs to the best of their abilities. As stated by others Priority class is required for registered over 13 oz. but does not change the speed. for under 13 oz. choosing priority registered is a waste of the extra fees. the only advantage to priority registered is the free boxes and flat fees for the extra weight - you still also pay for insurance and registered fee along with any other service such as sig conf.

I just got a registered medium flat rate from KY to FL that was mailed on a Friday and delivered the following Monday. USPS must be hiring the FEDEX/UPS guys who have been getting laid off.

I would like to see them come out with a registered express two day service. With the special attention already given to express mail, the added touch of security would be a piece of cake.

Did the package get delivered the next day or did it only get a flight from a NY post office to a FL post office the next day?

MsMorrisine

while investigating this, I found something else:

Registered Mail can be sent to military locations. However, delivery information is not available for items destined to an APO / FPO.

MsMorrisine

Delivery information will provide delivery status or attempted delivery status when the item reaches its destination, it will not provide tracking of the item as it is enroute to its destination.
Customers can obtain a record of delivery by purchasing Return Receipt Service.

coindeuce

<< <i>Nope...my tracking number does start with RE...and it shows as having been accepted early yesterday and out for delivery today. And the tracking also shows both Registered and Priority in the additional information fields.

The clerk logged it into her notebook and then took it over to the cage. And it was insured for $8000.

From the USPS website:
•What mail classes and services can be sent as Registered Mail?
Registered Mail is available only for First-Class Mail®, First-Class Package Service, or Priority Mail® (excluding Critical Mail) service items that are mailable

So definitely something to check into. >>



Most locations in New York State are near enough to an airport that has direct non-stop airline service to Central Florida(Orlando), which is where the main distribution center is for all of Florida. This is one of the few exceptions for accelerated delivery times for Registered Service in the Continental U.S.

TomB

Your Registered package sounds like it had to go with Priority Mail rates added since these automatically kick in if the package is over 13 ounces. However, the additional Priority Mail rates do not make the package get to the destination any faster. In this case, you simply made all connections for your package quickly and it got there mighty fast.

BAJJERFAN

My PO people said that you got a rare miraculous gift from the USPS. It probably got thrown in with the express mail.

coindeuce

I've had ORM-D regulated material (Blue Ribbon) end up on a flight, despite having been clearly marked and submitted for ground transport only. Thit happens.

jdimmick

Most likely your package went priority express,

1st insurance would have only been good for 5k, second Registered mail travels in the same locked bag as any other registered package whether priority due to weight, 1st class, etc. There is no such service as priority registered (where priority has to do with delivery time) if fast, just pure coincedence, or it caught the fast train. (what I mean by that is: some routes will get their faster due to the way the package travels. For example: The people I send my scrap gold jewlery too are in a large metropolitan area that is main airport hub for this area, so it most always gets thier in 1-2 days, however, if I sent a package just 150 miles over to another town off the route, it may take several days.

third,

If your package was registered, they should never allowed you to send in a padded mailer, (strictly prohibited)

jdimmick

To clairify max insurance

express value to 5k
registerd value to 25k