Be specific about the spot
Behind the blue recycling bin, left of the storm door. A precise phrase gets followed; a polite generality gets treated as no instruction and the parcel goes back on the truck.
Recipient control
USPS Delivery Instructions
Delivery Instructions is the tool the addressee uses to tell USPS how an inbound package should be handled before it turns up. USPS puts it plainly: if your package does not fit in your mailbox and you will not be home to receive it, you can provide USPS Delivery Instructions online and authorise your carrier to leave it in a specified location (per usps.com, checked 2026-07-28).
Recipient-side onlyExtra postage rule citedHard limits listed
Instructions beat a second attempt
A named safe spot filed before the truck arrives saves the whole redelivery cycle that follows a missed knock.
What the tool actually controls
Two capabilities matter, and USPS states both in its own words. The first is authorising a drop location, which covers the porch, the side door, the back entrance or wherever you trust more than a doorstep. The second is a relocation, and USPS is direct about the cost: for the cost of additional postage, you can have your package sent to a different domestic address.
| Capability | What USPS states |
|---|---|
| Leave in a specified location | Authorised by the addressee online, for a package that does not fit the mailbox |
| Send to a different domestic address | Available for the cost of additional postage |
| Who files it | The addressee, not the sender |
| Where the request starts | From the item record, using its tracking or extra services barcode |
| When it stops working | Once the piece has been delivered or handed over |
The barcode is the gate. A piece with no tracking or extra services barcode has no record to attach an instruction to, which quietly excludes plain stamped mail from the whole system. If you cannot find an instructions option against a tracking number, the item is not eligible rather than the site being broken.
The four things it will not do
Most complaints about this tool are really complaints that it was asked to do a different job. Here is the honest boundary.
- It cannot fix a wrong address. The instruction rides on top of the addressing already printed. A missing unit number stays missing, and the piece can still earn an Insufficient Address endorsement, which DMM 507 1.4.1 defines as mail with the number, street, box number, route number or geographical section omitted and the correct address not known.
- It cannot force a delivery time. USPS does not sell a delivery appointment on ordinary parcels, so an instruction changes the where and not the when.
- It cannot override a signature requirement. Where the sender bought a signature service, someone still has to sign, and no safe-drop instruction outranks that.
- It cannot be filed by the seller. This is an addressee tool. A shop that wants to move its own outbound parcel needs Package Intercept instead, at $19.45 plus applicable postage.
If a delivery has already been attempted, instructions are the wrong page. That situation runs through the redelivery flow, which accepts either the tracking number or the barcode on the notice, and it is covered on our redelivery guide along with the retention clock that follows.
Cost context for the parcel itself
An instruction changes handling, not postage. For a sense of what the shipment underneath is worth, these are live SMKlog quotes for a 12 x 10 x 6 in carton at 5 lb going Newark, NJ 07102 to Chicago, IL 60601, captured 2026-07-28.
| Carrier | Service | Price | Transit window returned |
|---|---|---|---|
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $14.02 | 8-9 business days |
| UPS | Ground Saver | $14.02 | window not returned |
| UPS | Ground | $14.55 | 2-3 business days |
| UPS | 3 Day Select | $19.94 | 2-3 business days |
| UPS | 2nd Day Air | $21.96 | 2-3 business days |
Two services tied to the cent at the top of that table while quoting very different windows, one of which USPS itself did not return in a usable form. That is a good argument for reading the quoted transit alongside the price rather than sorting on price alone.
A closing boundary on what we do: SMKlog sells US domestic parcel labels without an account. Recipient-side controls like this one live inside a USPS.com account, and we have no way to set them for you.
File it before the delivery day
An instruction saved the night before travels with the item. One added while the carrier is already on the route may not reach the scanner in time to matter.
Apartment buildings behave differently
Where a building has a parcel locker or a managed mailroom, that path usually wins over any instruction you can file. Check with building management before setting a safe spot that nobody will use.
Delivery Instructions, answered
What are USPS Delivery Instructions?
They are the addressee's way of telling USPS how to handle an inbound package before it arrives. USPS describes authorising your carrier to leave a package in a specified location when it does not fit the mailbox and you will not be home to receive it.
Do Delivery Instructions cost anything?
Leaving a package in a specified location at your own address is presented as part of the service. Having the package sent to a different domestic address is the paid case, and USPS states that it costs additional postage.
Which packages are eligible?
Ones with a record to attach the instruction to, meaning a USPS Tracking or extra services barcode. If no instructions option appears against a tracking number, the item is not eligible rather than the tool being unavailable.
Can the sender set Delivery Instructions for a buyer?
No. This is a recipient tool tied to the addressee. A sender who needs to change what happens to an outbound piece uses Package Intercept instead, which USPS prices at $19.45 plus any applicable postage.