3 Tips To Get In and Out of the Post Office Fast

In the past, we've covered how you can avoid trips to the post office by printing your own internet postage labels at home and even using a postage scale on occasions when you need to ship packages. However, sometimes you have to go to the post office. I have, for example, been making weekly trips to the post office to ship out care packages to my husband on deployment. However, having done it for a while I’ve gotten the post office stop down to a science, and, as long as the lines are short, I can be in and out in minutes. Use these three tips to speed up your next trip to the post office.

1. Ship in a flat rate box. Unless you’re shipping something really light, try to ship using flat rate boxes and envelopes whenever possible. You can order them online for free and keep them at home, available whenever you need them. Shipping using flat rate materials will prevent any unexpected shipping charges at the post office.

2. Fill out labels in advance. If you ship priority regularly, ask the clerk at the post office for extra priority shipping labels (or customs forms if you’re shipping abroad). You can fill out the labels while standing in line waiting; however, doing so will slow you down. If you can have all labels and additional paperwork filled out and applied to the box in advance it will save you time at the post office (and ensure you don’t lose your place in line if you’ve stopped to fill out your shipping labels).

3. Go during non-peak hours. I can’t say how many times I’ve reached the post office minutes before everyone else who is getting off work around the time I do. I may be the third person in line when I walk in but within minutes there are 10-15 people behind me. Avoid the risk of being caught in line lines by going to the post office during off-peak hours during the morning or mid to late afternoon.