A little guidance on the US postal system would be useful (I am from the UK) - if using a bounce box on say the CT what sort of options are available for posting it along the trail?
USPS and UPS seem to be the thing to go with; do they have a ‘standard’ box one might use for a flat rate or doesn’t it work like that?
I would imagine weight to be 2-3kgs.
edh
I used the US Postal Service large flat rate boxes (12x12x5 1/2"). They are about $15 to send. There is no weight limit and they arrive in a few days. Most other boxes I saw people use were the same thing.
KarlG
“Flat rate” boxes are great for heavy, dense items. They fill up quickly with fluffy stuff. There are three sizes of flat rate boxes, all on the smallish side. I went to the PO one time to ship a Priority Mail and the postal worker took my box, stuffed it in a flat rate box and had me put a new address label on the outside. Nice guy saved me a dollar.
bowlegs
I am not familiar with the CT but here is some info about the delivery system. There can be problems when going between the United States Post Office (USPS) and United Parcel Service (UPS) here in the states. UPS will not deliver to USPS Post Offices, they will however deliver to hostels, motels, and private residences. The USPS will accept boxes addressed to General Delivery Hold for hiker (your name), they also deliver to the hostels, hotels, etc., the postal code ZIP Code is very important as this is their location identifier. Mail between towns can take a few days as they may need to go through processing centers miles away from the trail, Priority Mail helps speed this process but no guarantee, the best theory would be to mail to a town at least a week ahead to allow plenty of time for the box to travel. Priority mail boxes can be shipped ahead without paying another fee if you don’t open or accept it at the Post Office, some POs will will do this on a phone call. Priority Mail can be sent in both regular and Flat Rate boxes, the regular method pays by weight and flat rate is one fee set by the box size(under the set weight determined by box size).
Old Goat
You may not be asking this but if you open the box you will have to pay postage again to send it on. If you use your bounce box for supplies you might or might not need every time, I believe you can forward it to your next stop with out paying postage if you do not open the box. I have done this once so I don’t know if it is true in all cases. Someone who has more experience can chime in.
John
That only works with the post office, not with UPS.
If you send your box via the post office’s Priority Mail, AND if you do not accept delivery (you don’t open it), the post office will forward it to another address for no charge. This also works with First Class mail, but bounce boxes will routinely exceed the 13 ounce (368 grams) maximum allowed for 1st Class mail.
If you don’t open your UPS box, you can mark it DELIVERY REFUSED and UPS will return it to the sender without charge. They won’t send it anywhere else. Note that in order for this to work, the original receiving address must have the capability to handle outgoing UPS packages. Some small resorts don’t or won’t go to the trouble to call UPS and arrange for a pick-up…you’ll have to do it.
This also illustrates the classic limitation of bounce boxes - sending one to a location that has no out-going mail or package delivery service is to be stuck with it. :eek: Check with your destination BEFORE you send something there; they may no longer accept or hold hiker packages of any kind.
Wandering Bob
Excellent answers thanks; looks like a good potential system.
It would never work in the UK…then again we don’t need resupply…much 
edh
When I was on the CDT, I shopped in Denver health food stores & by parcel post, sent a large box 2 weeks ahead to a large town I could hang out & wait for PO to open in; then divided it up & forwarded a small box or 2 ahead either parcel post or priority depending if I was sure I would stop there & not need to forward… of course I could shop in the large town & add fresh bread, crisps, & vegan sandwich fixins’ etc… to my pack (I have sent whole wheat bread & vegan pastrami days ahead in a box & it was still fresh). ps. to forward at a closed PO, I dropped a stamped post card in slot addressed to postmaster of (for ex.)“podunk” with my request of where to forward & signature & trailname & etc…
gingerbreadman