Sorting office

Mail sorting office in Wellington General Post Office, New Zealand c.1900

Sorting office or Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC; name used by the United States Postal Service (USPS)[1]) is any location where postal operators bring mail after collection for sorting into batches for delivery to the addressee,[2] which may be a direct delivery or sent onwards to another regional or local sorting office, or to another postal administration.

Most countries have many sorting offices; the USPS has about 275.[1] Some small states such as Tahiti have only one. The UK and USA have also used Post Office Sorting Vans at various times; the last UK services were in 2004. Currently, Germany has about 95-98 sorting offices across the country.

The United Kingdom Royal Mail's Mount Pleasant Sorting Office was the world's largest sorting office at the beginning of the 20th century but is now only the largest one in London.[3]

Military mail systems, such as the British Forces Post Office and U.S. Military Postal Service, have their own dedicated sorting offices.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Bard, Jonathan F. (2005-02-01). "Equipment scheduling at mail processing and distribution centers". Allbusiness.com. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
  2. ↑ Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary: 3rd edition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 2008. p. 1380. ISBN 978-0-521-85804-5. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  3. ↑ "Mount Pleasant Mail Centre". British Postal Museum and Archive. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  4. ↑ "Welcome to the Official British Forces Post Office Website". British Forces Post Office. Retrieved 30 March 2010.


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