All Things “PO,” USPS & PO

As an Army brat, I’m intimately familiar with the government’s appreciation of acronyms. At one time, I tried to memorize them all; eventually, I came to accept that there is a better use of that brain space and decided to remember a few of the important ones: USA, FBI, CIA, NSA, MIA… and with this article’s focus on Fulfillment let’s not forget USPS, PO, or MPO.

USPS is the most familiar of the three; it stands for United States Postal Service.

USPS is the government agency authorized by Article I of the United States Constitution to provide postal service within the USA, its territories, and associated states.

PO stands for Post Office.

A PO is a public facility where mail is received, sorted, and dispatched for delivery or transit. According to USPS, in 2022, there were more than 34,000 locations.

POs may also have onsite mailboxes that individuals or companies can lease as private mailing addresses. These mailboxes are called PO Boxes. The box number will serve as the First Street Address Line when addressing mail to a PO Box. Example: PO Box [#], [City], [State] [Zip Code]

PO Boxes are not limited to the USA. Many countries offer either public or private PO Boxes; when shipping to PO Boxes managed by a foreign entity, you will want to confirm what shipping providers can service PO Boxes in that specific country.

When shipping to a USA PO Box, you’ll want to use USPS as your shipping provider for certainty of service. However, domestic PO Boxes are serviceable by private shipping providers (i.e., FedEx, UPS, etc.) by modifying the address in this way: In the First Street Address Line, you will want to place the physical street address for the location of the PO Box, including the Suite Number if applicable; you can find this information by searching for the complete PO Box Address on USPS.com or through a web browser; on the Second Street Address Line you will want to place the Box Number, omitting the acronym “PO”; you will complete the address with the associated City, State, and Zip Codes. If your shipping provider rejects this format, try replacing the word “Box” on the second line with the pound symbol “#.” Example: [Street Address], Box [#], [City], [State] [Zip Code]

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