USPS New Regulation? New packaging only?
I was told about the following sign posted at my local USPS today May 4 2026. Has anyone else seen this? This sounds ridiculous. What new postal regulations? Can't find anything about this online.
32 comments
I was told about the following sign posted at my local USPS today May 4 2026. Has anyone else seen this? This sounds ridiculous. What new postal regulations? Can't find anything about this online.
kalyoth
·4 months agoUPDATE to my earlier post: To clarify this. I have now spoken with 4 additional area postmasters. They have concluded that this sign was local branch made & likely refers to the regulations in place regarding Hazardous Waste labels & symbols upon reused boxes. They must be blackened out or removed prior to reusing containers. They 100% refused reused containers with those symbols upon them.
christworks
·4 months ago@i*m_spartacus @tobaccocardyahoo @gator08041971 @quicksilverdiecast @grand-and-glorious-purpose @
I just tagged a bunch of you who posted in this thread in case you are interested in the following.
I spoke with my USPS contact today about this.
USPS did upgrade their systems and clerks/carriers are now required to inspect all sides of the package for any old Hazmat labels that have not been removed. It actually comes up on their computer system now. Any package that has hazmat labels and the item is not hazmat will be rejected. Packages that are declared hazmat but do not have a hazmat shipping label will be rejected. If you ship these items without giving them to the clerk or carrier, but simply drop off, if any of those issues arise, the package will be returned to you and you will not be refunded the cost of the shipping label.
The focus is on used packaging because this is where there have been problems, but you can still use used packaging. Clerks can still refuse it if they feel it is insufficent, but that's not a new rule.
tobaccocardyahoo
·4 months ago@christworks
thanks for clarifying. Hopefully it will help us in helping others.
christworks
·4 months agoAnytime. Of coruse, it goes without saying there are plenty of rouge clerks and Postmasters out there, like the one @i*m_spartacus ran into.
tobaccocardyahoo
·5 months agoAsk your postmaster for a reference in the DMM.
That's where all the rules are.
Someone has misinterpreted a rule, happens from time to time when Postal employees have not read the DMM.
gator08041971
·5 months ago@i*m_spartacus
Here, send them this link:
https://about.usps.com/posters/pos81.pdf
They can then print their own poster and stick that one on the door! lol
i*m_spartacus
OP5 months agoI stopped by after hours today and the sign was removed from the local post office. It seems like somebody beat me to the complaint department as USPS had just set up the first email inquiry for my case.
quicksilverdiecast
·5 months agoSo much for recycling....
babyers88
·5 months agoI have been shipping things worldwide with the usps for 40+ years
this just boils down to using common sense, and has been as longstanding policy since forever.
you know, like don't try and ship stuff in boxes that are clearly labeled or marked as hazardous or dangerous
or alcohol boxes, firearms boxes, ammunition boxes, chemical boxes, battery boxes, etc, etc
if you do use such things and do not cover up such markings, don't expect favorable results....
They can also refuse to accept any package they decide is not satisfactory
they also have the right to open and inspect anything you hand over to them and they do so as desired.
i*m_spartacus
OP5 months agoI have filed a case through 1-800-ASK-USPS.
kalyoth
·5 months agoSo - my postmaster in town stated the USPS is cracking down heavily now as people are not following the regulations blocking out old shipment marks. Be ready to start running into it as the sign was up in mu PO.
i*m_spartacus
OP5 months agoFolks, thanks for the responses.
I realize the message has hazmat mentioned in it, but the requirement goes far beyond hazmat shipments. It states quite clearly that all mail must be in new packaging. It seems the author was confused about the regulations.
I also noted no regulation number was cited. I was trying to see if this was local only and apparently it is.
I will be contacting the postmaster(s) to correct the false statements and requirements.
gator08041971
·5 months ago@i*m_spartacus
I wanted to add this, which is an official documentation posted in my local USPS office:
eoma689485
·5 months agoYears ago I went into my local Post Office with about 10 packages - once at the counter, the postal employee, after doing 5 of the packages, told me that there was a new regulation and that she could only do 5 packages per person and that I would have to go to the end of the line with the rest. I asked for the Manager, when she came out, I inquired about this new rule, and asked her to go get the rules and regulation book and show me where it states that, she turned to the clerk that was helping me and told her to do my other packages, and then she walked away. The "New Regulation" vanished that day, and was never mentioned again.
Another Post Office looked at my package and handed it back to me stating that according to the Post Office regulations I needed to redo the name and address of the recipient, as the lettering and numbers were required to be 1/2 inches to 3/4 inches tall - I again asked for the manager, and the requirement suddenly disappeared without the manager coming to the counter.
Some Post Office Managers believe that they can create new rules and regulations, flexing their muscle, so ask to see the Manager and the book.
toysaver
·5 months agoUSPS uses professional graphic designers with professional software for their posters. Looks like something printed from word on a laptop.
bonanza125
·5 months agoAs others have said it more has to do with the hazmat label packaging. The USPS has the right to reject packaging which has that label on. I personally have stopped using boxes which has that label on it all together. I think your post office posted that notice because they been having issues with people dropping off packages with that label on and the package gets returned. Basically management is getting tired of arguing with people about return packaging when nothing is posted even though USPS has rules set in policy which these individuals don't read. Now if it has to do with any reusable packaging then I would just take the package to a different post office.
1786davycrockett
·5 months agoWhile it uses the phrase "PER NEW POSTAL REGULATION" (with doubly-large capital letters plus underscoring, no less), this notification fails to provide the number of that "new" regulation.
So this appears to be one of those localized "regulations," which can be appealed to the District Postal Supervisor.
The next time you visit this post office, take another photo, and mail it to the email address on your local post office receipt.
Odds are, this "official" notice will magically disappear. . ..
fm2000
·5 months agoThe USPS usually puts up officially printed posters regarding policy charges (or policy reminders) with other official data (when to put the poster up, when to take it down, list of penalties and such.) If there was such a sweeping policy change, the USPS would have posters ready and/or the change would be plastered all over all post offices. My local post office has official posters about hazmat you can't mail ("some things were never meant to be mailed"), reusing boxes by blotting out hazmat labels, etc. That "sign" on green printer paper is "sus" as the young people say.
The only issue is using reused packaging is if it has hazmat stickers/labels (or labels for items you can't mail like alcohol), or shipping hazmat without labels. There has been no change to "no used packaging" in the DMM that I could find.
I'd talk to the postmaster about it. If he doesn't clarify the policy with official, citeable USPS rules, complain to his postmaster. Rogue employees need to stop being allowed to make up their own rules.
simba6
·5 months agoNothing new. About fifteen wears ago I purchased a Lion King plush. The seller labeled the box Danger lions inside and even punched air holes around the box. The post office was not happy about it at all. The box arrived with a letter saying not to do that again.
christworks
·5 months ago@i*m_spartacus
I used to audit the postal service in my other life. There are a couple of things that may be going on here.
1. Your post office has had an issue of old HazMat stickers or other DOT labels not being removed from reused packaging. HazMat handling is a critical area USPS is audited on, and the clerks there may have been accepting packages with those labels although the sender answered "No" to the HazMat question. This then causes confusion during the shipping process and packages with labels must be treated as HazMat even if the sender answered "No" to the question. This can result in delays for not only that mail, but other mail as well. Rather than actually addressing the issue with the clerks, the postmaster is using an unoffical but strongly worded memo to discourge use of reused boxes. The reality is as long as the reused box is complient and any old labels have been removed, the clerks must accept the package and they cannot be returned to the sender because the packaging isn't new. If this is what prompted the notice, there isn’t really anything to report until you’ve had a reused package refused or returned to you that is compliant with the actual regulations.
2. The other possibility - and I think this is the likely problem - is that they had a leak of some sort from a package that was reused to ship HazMat materials. If the notice stems from this issue, the postmater poorly worded their notice. What they likely meant to say is if you are shipping something HazMat, it must be in new packaging. It is true that reuseing packaging to ship HazMat items is a greater risk, and that packaging is held to a higher standard. Truthfully clerks do not do this and generally will accept it however you have it, though they are not supposed to. Like anything that is even remotely tied to the government, it is a complete cluster and if you ask the clerks, they will just point you to the sign. Less work for them. Still, there is nothing for you to complain about until it is an issue. I might attempt to mail a non HazMat item in a used box without any HazMat labels. If they refuse to accept it, you then have a valid complaint. You should ask to speak to the postmaster, and if it does not get resolved, go above them.
I will talk to my contacts in USPS in the next day or two to see if there are changes coming down the pike. It's possible something is going to change with regards to how they handle HazMat packages and someone got ahead before anything became offical.
gator08041971
·5 months ago@i*m_spartacus
This has to do with people reusing packaging that has any kind of hazmat labeling on it not properly removed/blacked out, and in some cases people that are shipping items that are hazmat without the proper labeling or with incorrect labeling.
Though the way this is worded, it sounds like that local office has more specific issues, or is misunderstanding the actual regulation they are "interpreting". I think that local office is doing their own rules, perhaps as a response to something that occurred in relation to the notice.
However, from the USPS website:
https://www.usps.com/ship/packages.htm
https://www.usps.com/ship/shipping-restrictions.htm
redmodelt
·5 months agoIt says ALL mail must be in NEW PACKAGING.
gator08041971
·5 months ago@redmodelt
Yes, I saw that. But since the wording of "hazmat" was included in their very official looking notice, what I was referring to is probably what triggered this to be posted. They just applied a blanket logic to the problem to eliminate it from their office.
This rule they had put up is not official. Its that office acting like judge and jury on what kind of packages can be shipped as a response to a problem or problems they have been getting pinched for. Granted, as a person shipping a package, you are to adhere to the USPS stipulations on how a package is to be shipped (as I had linked above), and yes, all old labels are to be removed or FULLY covered. Writing over them partially with a marker doesn't cut it. There is an example in our local office, I will get a picture of it today to show here.
I handle reused boxes with labels one of a few ways:
Either remove or cover the labels, or use a poly bag to encase the entire box (if its small enough or the poly is big enough). I also don't reuse wimpy "lettuce" boxes. The ones that stand up to maybe one shipping use then start to physically fail. (looking at those Amazon boxes) Those are terrible as a reuse option much of the time. Especially the larger ones.
kibble-net
·5 months agoThe only "hazmat" issue I can think of is that perhaps people were reusing boxes with hazardous markings on them - batteries, alcohol, etc.
There's a sign at every USPS that instructs you to completely cover up or remove said markings before reusing packaging. There is not, however, a sign at any post office except the one pictured, that says anything about not reusing packaging.
sassykzt
·5 months agoI forwarded this to my cousin who is a postmaster in a LARGE metro area. She researched this and said it was just your local PO issue and NOT enforceable. She said to contact USPS cust serv in DC and report this.
@a_c_green
Fiefdom, indeed 😂! The unofficial green paper
stephenmorgan
·5 months agoYou were told about the sign posted at your local Post Office? Have you seen it for yourself? Maybe next time you are at your local Post Office you can ask about the sign and let us know what is going on.
USPS tells you how to reused a box.
https://about.usps.com/posters/pos81.pdf
i*m_spartacus
OP5 months agoYes I did see but only after hours. That is my photo. But it was closed so I couldn't ask and I don't think that will help anyway.
a_c_green
·5 months agoOh, bologna.
I will say, though, anecdotally, that some postmasters run their operations like little fiefdoms, issuing orders of their own creation rather than just enforcing actual USPS policy, and this looks like one of those. The weird, nonstandard green (!) stationery alone, with no official USPS logos, suggests that it's someone's local creation.
i*m_spartacus
OP5 months agoIt is posted at my local post office, so it is real to them.
Unavailable member
·5 months agoIt’s obviously limited to just your local post office.
I have three POs near me none of them have that requirement.
It’s baloney.
grand-and-glorious-purpose
·5 months agoIt is not.
They want it to be for sure and it is more than likely aimed at one gross guy they can't get rid of.
eoma689485
·5 months agoNever believe anything you read, and only believe half of what you see.
Not Real