How To Best Handle the Rise of Package Deliveries with Your Centralized Mail System

Ever since the start of the world wide pandemic, e-commerce sales have been increasing at a rapid rate. Global e-commerce sales are expected to hit $5.9 trillion in 2023 with 20.2 percent of total retail sales coming from online purchases. All this online shopping has led to a huge rise in package deliveries.

While it is quick and convenient for consumers to order what they need with a few clicks of the mouse, this rise in package deliveries can be difficult for property owners and mail carriers to deal with. Where are they supposed to put all these packages without getting in their tenants’ way, and what should they do about package theft?

Fortunately, there is a way to get rid of a lot of the headaches induced by this increase in online purchases. Here’s how to best handle the rise of package deliveries with your centralized mail system.

Why Parcel Lockers Are Important

Parcel lockers are crucial to keeping packages safe and secure. They are lockable units where mail carriers can leave larger packages that won’t fit in standard mailboxes. When a mail carrier delivers a package that won’t fit in your mailbox, they will put the package in a parcel locker while leaving a parcel locker key in your mailbox. Then, at your convenience, you can unlock the locker with the parcel locker key and it will lock into place so the mail carrier can remove it later.

Instead of having to be at home to receive a package or trek across town to the post office to pick it up, you can retrieve it from the parcel locker whenever you want. Parcel lockers are also very simple to use. They are spacious as well, so you can rest easy knowing your packages won’t be damaged.

One of the biggest reasons parcel lockers are important is that they keep tenants’ packages safe. With the rise of package deliveries, so-called “porch pirates” have become an even bigger concern. With parcel lockers, instead of leaving packages outside or in a lobby where anyone could take them, they are inside secure, lockable lockers.

These lockers are better for mail carriers as well. They save mail carriers delivery costs by allowing them to deliver packages to one centralized location. They also result in greener neighborhoods since mail carriers don’t have to waste gas driving from house to house.

                 

Provide More Parcel Lockers for USPS Delivery

The exponential growth of online shopping has made parcel lockers more necessary than ever. Many property owners will likely want to increase the number of them available to their tenants. Fortunately, you can buy standalone parcel lockers to make more space for your tenants’ packages. Salsbury Industries carries several outdoor parcel lockers that will make an attractive addition to your neighborhood.

You may want to purchase new mailboxes altogether. With Salsbury Industries, you can use our Mailbox Configurator to figure out the optimal number of mailboxes and parcel lockers needed based on your specific requirements.

How Many Parcel Lockers Do STD-4C Units Need?

Since July 2020, the USPS has had a parcel requirement for Standard-4C units based on a 1:5 parcel locker-to-customer compartment ratio. The USPS doesn’t require a maximum number of parcel lockers to be installed—just the 1:5 parcel locker/mailbox minimum.

For more information, visit our U.S. Postal Service STD-4C Specification Information page.

Providing Parcel Lockers for Private Delivery

Not all packages are delivered by the USPS. There are plenty of other delivery services, and they can’t deliver directly to USPS-approved mailboxes. But having parcel lockers for private delivery can enable an employee of the property to accept non-USPS packages. This employee can then put these packages in lockers and deliver a key or notice to each tenant.

Parcel lockers for private delivery can also work for USPS-delivered packages. Boxes and other packages can be delivered to a central location, and then a property employee would put them in parcel lockers and let the residents know they’ve arrived.

Where to Buy Parcel Lockers for a Centralized Mail System

The rise of package deliveries in recent years has made parcel lockers more important than ever. Whether you’re working to meet USPS STD-4C requirements or just want to give your residents or tenants more space for their packages, Salsbury Industries has got you covered.

Our 4C Horizontal parcel lockers will provide additional space for your residents’ packages so that mail carriers won’t have to crowd multiple packages into too small a compartment. They feature a durable powder-coated finish available in bronze, sandstone, aluminum, and black so they are sure to match the style and décor of your building.

All Salsbury 4C Horizontal mailboxes and Cluster Box Units meet USPS requirements and have the ability to meet the USPS requirement of a 1:5 ratio of parcel lockers to mailbox compartments. Like our parcel lockers, they are available in a variety of colors and styles that will suit your community.

With people stuck at home during the pandemic and unable to go to the store, delivery of packages grew a great deal. Even in safer times, people have realized how convenient it is to order items online rather than go out to shop and so the rise of package deliveries has continued.

Parcel lockers are an important part of keeping tenants’ and residents’ packages safe and secure as they order more and more items. They are simple to use, easier on mail carriers, and—most importantly, provide a sturdy, lockable place for packages that keep porch pirates at bay. Click here to check out our commercial mailboxes page, which includes CBUs, outdoor parcel lockers, 4C horizontal mailboxes, and 4C horizontal parcel lockers.