Receiving, Processing, and Delivery

United States Postal Service Mail

Distribution Services receives mail for campus departments from the USPS (United States Postal Service) Monday through Friday only. On average, the campus receives 1,600 pieces of mail daily which is manually sorted by department. Due to processing time, mail is delivered to departments on the business day following its arrival on campus.

Two mailbags will be delivered to and picked up from each department every Monday through Friday afternoon. The green bag is for outgoing intercampus mail and the red bag is for outgoing off-campus mail. Mail should be placed in the outgoing mail bags by 12:30 pm in order to guarantee pick up for that day. Outgoing off-campus mail in the red bags are processed and given to the USPS for same day postmarking.

Notes regarding United States Postal Service mail

• Mail sent from within California typically arrives on campus within 3 business days while out-of-state mail usually arrives in 5 business days. However, it is not uncommon for mail to take up to 2 weeks to arrive on campus.
• Mail delays occur due to incorrect or incomplete address information.
• Use of the department ZIP+4 code increases the efficiency of mail sorting and delivery.
• We strongly recommended that any items that are time sensitive or have significant value be sent using an overnight service such as UPS or FEDEX. These overnight services provide tracking which provides for a better shipping experience.
• We strongly discourage using the 'Delivery Confirmation' service offered by the United States Postal Service. These items are scanned as delivered well before leaving the USPS sorting facility which in no way indicates correct delivery dates, times, or whether the item has ever reached campus. In addition, some items using the 'Delivery Confirmation' service never receive an actual delivery scan by the USPS. For these reasons, Distribution Services does not accept liability for items shipped using the 'Delivery Confirmation' service.

Intercampus Mail

Intercampus mail picked up from departments in the green mail bags is processed and delivered to its destination department the following business day. Please include a department name with addressing to ensure prompt delivery.

Parcel Couriers

Parcel Couriers such as UPS, FedEx, and OnTrac typically make their deliveries to Distribution Services between 9am and 1pm, Monday through Friday. Parcels delivered to Distribution Services before 11:30am are processed and delivered to the destination department that afternoon. Some smaller items may be placed with the afternoon mail for the afternoon delivery. Parcels received after 11:30am may be delivered on the following business day.

Notes regarding courier parcels

• Large orders including bulky, heavy, or multiple box shipments exceeding 10 boxes may experience a short delivery delay as alternate delivery means must be scheduled.
• Parcels with a Corporation purchase order number present will be directed to the Campus Dining dock in bldg 19 for processing
• Parcels with a State purchase order present will be held for processing resulting in a small delivery delay.
• When calling Distribution Services regarding the location of a parcel shipped using a courier services, please have the tracking number available. Distribution Services maintains a tracking database for all courier parcels.
• Distribution Services strongly suggests using a parcel courier service for any items of value or requiring tracking.
• Most parcels will be delivered directly to the department technicians office or the department office. Please check these areas first before contacting Distribution Services for package location inquiries