When Will Your Mailing Be Postmarked?
Written by Atty. Jennifer M. Hayden of Pettit Law Group S.C.]
Effective December 24, 2025, the USPS will adopt a “final rule” that, along with the implementation of the Regional Transportation Optimization (“RTO”) initiative, is likely to result in the date a mailing is postmarked being a day or more later than the date the mailing is delivered to USPS, unless you have it postmarked by hand by a USPS retail worker when you drop it off.
The postmark on mailings sent via USPS reflects the date of “first automated processing” at a “regional processing center,” rather than the date the mail was dropped off at a retail location. For mail sent outside the 50-mile radius of a regional processing center, that distinction is likely to create a larger difference because of the reduction from two trips per day to collect from each Post Office location to one. For all mailings, this means the date a mailing is actually postmarked may be days after the date it was received by a post office, particularly if there are weekends or holidays involved. So, you cannot assume that the postmark will reflect the date a piece was mailed.
Apparently, this is not actually a “change” of “any existing postal operations or postmarking practices, but is instead intended to improve public understanding of postmarks and their relationship to the date of mailing.” However, due to the RTO initiative, there is likely to be a more noticeable difference between the date a mailing is sent and the date it is postmarked, particularly in some areas.
The Rule clarifies that “the presence of a postmark confirms that the Postal Service accepted custody of a mailpiece, and that the mailpiece was in the possession of the Postal Service on the identified date.” However, “the postmark date does not necessarily indicate the first day that the Postal Service had possession of the mailpiece. Moreover, the absence of a postmark does not imply that the Postal Service did not accept custody of a mailpiece, because the Postal Service does not postmark all mail in the ordinary course of operations.” Evidently, postmarks “have never provided a perfectly reliable indicator of the date on which the Postal Service first accepted possession of a mailpiece, and this fact will become more common under RTO.” “To the extent that customers currently have this view of the postmark, it does not reflect the realities of postal operations,” and this additional information is being provided so customers are “better equipped to adjust their plans accordingly.”
You can, and should, for all situations in which time is of the essence or proof of a particular date is needed, still request a postmark or “hand cancellation” at a retail counter to ensure the date of the postmark matches the date you handed the mailing to a USPS worker, at a minimum.
“Customers who want a postmark aligning with the date on which the Postal Service first accepted possession of their mailpiece may request, for no additional fee, a manual (local) postmark at any Post Office, station, or branch when tendering their mailpiece. Customers planning to present significant mail volume—50 or more mailpieces—for (local) postmarks should contact the postmaster or other manager in advance to ensure that adequate resources are available.”
Further, you can request a “Certificate of Mailing.” “Customers who wish to retain a record or proof of the date on which the Postal Service first accepted possession of their mailpiece(s) may purchase a Certificate of Mailing,” which is a service designed to provide evidence that individual mailpieces have been presented for mailing.” Registered Mail and Certified Mail services remain an option if you need a mailing receipt for proof of any applicable dates. The final option to ensure a postmark is applied the same day is to purchase postage at the counter and have a USPS employee apply a “PVI label” to the document, which indicates the date of acceptance.
The rule expressly warns that pre-printed labels, such as those from a “Self-Service Kiosks (SSK), Click-N-Ship online postage, and meter strips – show merely that a customer has purchased postage and the date on which the postage was printed” and that such pre-printed labels “do not in themselves demonstrate that the Postal Service accepted the mailpiece, or the date on which any such acceptance occurred.” Similarly, Intelligent Mail Barcodes (“Imbs”) are also applied by customers and do not “verify Postal Service possession.”
So, for anything you are mailing via first-class mail that needs to be postmarked by a certain date, or anything for which you may need to rely on the postmark date for any reason, additional steps have always been important, but now are even more so.
On the upside, it appears there is no planned increase in First-Class stamp prices for January 2026.
39 FR 52883, Section 608.11 “Postmarks and Postal Possession.
Written by Atty. Jennifer M. Hayden of Pettit Law Group S.C.
