Each Certified Mail article is tracked by the United States Postal Service (USPS) tracking system. The item is scanned when it is accepted into the mail stream, in-route through the various USPS mail sorting and automated processing centers and finally at the delivery destination when the item is delivered.
Below is an example of a Certified Mail letter that demonstrates the process of the delivery by USPS. In this example, no one was home to accept or sign for the letter. This is required even though you did not request a Return Receipt Signature, Certified Mail requires a receipt that someone accepted the letter so that the sender has 'proof' the letter was successfully the delivered.
1) In the above example, this scan serves as 'proof of mailing' and acceptance receipt from the U.S. Postal Service. The scan is evidence the letter was accepted by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as 'official Certified Mail'.
2) This scan is an example of the attempted delivery scan 'Notice Left'. This is evidence the item was attempted to be delivered to the address provided on the date and time reported. Perhaps the business was closed, no one was home, perhaps on vacation or the business was closed. The item could not be delivered because every Certified Mail item must be signed for at the time of delivery even if the mailer did not purchase the Return Receipt Requested service. USPS must have a receipt or proof of the delivery.
3) In this example, the item was held at the local post office for almost 4 weeks waiting for someone to pick up the letter and sign for it. A number of times the item may be attempted to be delivered. We have found this depends on how busy each local Post Office is but on average each item is attempted to be delivered twice.
4) If the item is not able to be delivered and no one picks up the letter from the local post office the letter is returned to sender. This means the item is forwarded back to the return address that is displayed in the return address upper left corner of the shipping label.
Certified Mail Labels keeps a history of the transaction inside your account with a copy of the shipping label and receipt that all postage and fees were paid for ten years. If evidence is needed for compliance reporting the information can be easily downloaded 24/7 365 days a year.