Package delivery can be tricky business at times, but it’s a necessary part of property management. Ensuring that packages can safely reach the residents of your community will keep tenants happy and help to minimize turnover.
It’s well known that packages can get lost, fall victim to thieves, or get damaged. Even without these issues, it can be difficult for packages to reach residents at times, especially if they’re not home during delivery hours.
Even without theft and damage, managing packages is an even more important issue than ever. Online business is increasing, and with it, so is the delivery of packages. Online sales are now over 10% of all retail sales. And during the holidays, package delivery increases even more, straining mail rooms in apartment complexes and condominium communities. However, if mail rooms aren’t used, then packages are often left in front of residents’ doors, leaving them open to theft and damage from weather.
Residents of apartment complexes and other multifamily housing want secure package delivery, and many are looking for this when moving to a new complex or community. Here are some solutions for managing package delivery, and for the best results, you may want to use more than one solution.
Holding Packages
One option that many property managers try is to simply have packages held at a central location such as a clubhouse or apartment office. This can help keep packages secure if not many are received, or if there aren’t many tenants in a community.
Holding packages at an office or similar location will allow tenants to pick up packages at their convenience and can eliminate theft from in front of apartment doors or from porches. However, this may require keeping an office open for longer hours than normal to accommodate those who are returning from work after business hours, which will likely be most tenants. During holidays, holding packages may become more difficult due to volume, and organizing them can become even more so. Holiday seasons may require an office or clubhouse to extend their open hours as well.
Some communities have an employee or maintenance crew member deliver packages to each apartment (private delivery) but this won’t eliminate theft from in front of doors or from porches. Also, this will take time and money to do, which will add up over time.
Sometimes, theft can occur from unsecured apartment lobbies, as people will be going in and out frequently, so any packages held there will need to be monitored. This can be inconvenient, but thankfully, there is a solution for securing most packages in a central location.
Providing More Parcel Lockers for USPS Delivery
If you already have parcel lockers with your apartment or community’s centralized mail system, and you receive USPS delivery, you already know that you need to have at least one parcel locker per ten customer compartments. This is part of the USPS-STD-4C requirements set forth in 2004.
Did you know that you can add more parcel lockers to your existing setup, to accommodate more packages and packages of different sizes? There is no upper limit on how many parcel lockers can be provided to tenants. Parcel lockers can come as recessed models, pedestal models, and wall-mount models and can be installed side by side to save space. They range in size from just 10 inches high for smaller packages to 15 inches high for larger packages. A variety of sizes can be ordered to meet varying package needs.
When tenants have packages delivered to parcel lockers, they’ll receive a key in their normal mailbox to access the correct locker. The tenants can therefore access their packages at their convenience, and this will be much appreciated and will help ensure that you retain your tenants for years to come.
Parcel lockers also help clear space otherwise used for holding packages at offices and clubhouses, and save time as employees of your property will not need to deliver packages or keep an office open for longer hours for package pickup.
Providing Parcel Lockers For Private Delivery
Parcel lockers can be purchased for private (non-USPS) delivery as well. This option may work if you or an employee of your property will be handling delivery of packages to tenants, but security and time is a concern.
Not all packages are delivered by the USPS. Other delivery services have grown in popularity during recent years, and these other delivery companies can’t deliver right to locked USPS-approved boxes. However, having parcel lockers for such private delivery can allow an employee of the property to accept these packages. This employee can then place these packages in lockers, and then deliver a key or notice directly to each resident. Residents can then access their packages at their convenience. While this may take a bit of time, it will eliminate the need for an office or lobby to stay open for extra hours and will eliminate the need for an employee (or you) to haul around heavy boxes to different buildings.
Using parcel lockers for private delivery can also work for USPS-delivered packages. You can still have boxes and other large pieces of mail delivered to a central location, and then an employee can deliver them to specific parcel lockers and let the residents know that their mail has arrived.
Where To Begin?
If your property is having issues with mail going to the wrong place, or going missing, then your commercial or residential tenants will thank you for switching to a more secure, more convenient, and more organized delivery system. Such a system will attract new residents
We can help you determine which mailbox type will make delivery more organized for your community, commercial property, or apartment complex. Contact us today to get started.
