4-4.2 Time Limits for Delivery — “Loss-of-Value Test”

The conditions for time limits for delivery are as follows:

1. For letters dispatched within 50 miles of the intended destination, delivery of those dispatched by noon must be completed within 6 hours or by the close of the addressee’s normal business hours that day, whichever is later, and delivery of those dispatched after noon and before midnight must be completed by 10 a.m. of the addressee’s next business day. For other letters, delivery must be completed within 12 hours or by noon of the addressee’s next business day. The suspension is available only if the value or usefulness of the letter would be lost or greatly diminished if it is not delivered within these time limits. For any part of a shipment of letters to qualify under this section, each of the letters must be extremely urgent.
2. Letters sent from the 48 contiguous states of the United States to other jurisdictions of the United States or to other nations are deemed delivered when they are in the custody of the international or overseas carrier at its last scheduled point of departure from the 48 contiguous states. Letters sent from other jurisdictions of the United States or from other nations into the 48 contiguous states are deemed dispatched when they are in the custody of the domestic carrier, having been passed by U.S. Customs, if applicable, at the letters’ point of arrival in the 48 contiguous states.
3. Except as provided in this section (i.e., 4-4.2c.), the times and time limits specified in 4-4.2a. are not applicable to any location outside the 48 contiguous states. The times and time limits specified in 4-4.2a. are applicable to letters dispatched and delivered wholly within Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or a territory or possession of the United States. The regulations provided in 4-4.2b. relating to the delivery and dispatch of letters are applicable by analogy to letters shipped between these jurisdictions and other nations.