United States Postal Service is an independent body that looks after the postal service present in the United States of America. The formation of USPS is related to the time when President Richard Nixon signed Postal Reorganization Act on August 12, 1970. The USPS came into effect on July 1st of 1971.
The USPS follows certain rules and regulations while conducting its business.
This postal service has served the people of the United States of America well as it has become more cost-friendly and reliable than it was many years ago. The past of the USPS is not very famous, it has surely changed the working in the new times.
Can You Use Duct Tape on USPS Packages?
Now the question arises will the USPS allow to use of duct tapes on USPS packages?
Duct tape, no matter what, comes very handy in lots of situations, it can definitely make packaging quite easy. But unfortunately, the USPS protocols and rules of conduct restrict the use of duct tapes on USPS packages. They are quite picky about the tape you use and the use of duct tape is not on the approved list.
Although it is not approved, they will not send your package back. Instead, the USPS will provide you with their own tape and accept your package then.
Why does the USPS not approve the use of duct tape?
You may wonder that why the USPS does not approve of the use of duct tapes.
It is no doubt that the use of duct tapes is very common in the household and practically used for many domestic uses, but it does not prove to be as useful as it is for other works when we talk about the packaging.
You want your package to reach you in the best of its health and you expect no damages while it is delivered. Considering the safety of the packaging and the delivery, the USPS ruled out the use of duct tape. While duct tape can come in handy in other domestic purposes, it however proves to be a little risky for the purpose of packaging as it does not do very well with cardboard. Hence putting the safety of the package in jeopardy.
A. Required materials provided by USPS
Since USPS ruled out the use of duct tapes, you must be asking yourself that what else can be done to replace duct tapes as a source for packaging.
To the relief of citizens of the United States of America, USPS provides the required material for packaging.
USPS will provide you with their own approved tapes if you want extra safety for your package. However, this approved tape by USPS does not come for free and will cost you $7- $21 for their shipping services.
B. Tapes that are approved by USPS
It is to be noted that, all kinds of tapes are not blacklisted. There are several types that are approved by the USPS. The main criteria that are used to judge if the tape you are using is correct or not are the clarity of the tape and should be of standard quality as well as clear packing tape that will adhere to the cardboard.
However, regular and standard tape is available easily. Packing tape can easily be found in the general store and can also be bought from the USPS website.
C. Selection for the best tape
There are a few choices if we consider getting a tape from the approved list of USPS. You might get confused as all the tapes look well. So how do you choose from the list of tapes if all the tapes are good enough?
In most cases, the standard tape does the job finely. The packing tape is designed in a way that it will stick to the cardboard firmly and will not leave any room for mistakes and damage. So the basic recommendation will be to use the standard packing tape. It is also available easily and does not cost a fortune. It will support your economic aspects.
At the end of the day, you want your valuable items to be delivered safely without enduring any damage and issues. So it is better to avoid duct tape for the purpose of packaging as the duct tape is not manufactured to provide assistance to shipping boxes. To avoid later malfunctions, you should better opt for the standard packaging tape that is provided in the list of the USPS.
If you are facing too much confusion and cannot make a conclusion out of your dilemma, you can take the help of the USPS office. They will clear your dilemma and provide you with the best choice which will make sure that your package arrives at the desired destination in one piece.
