USPS service alerts are the Postal Service’s official notices about disruptions to mail processing, delivery, and facility operations, and they tell you whether your local post office is open, whether packages are moving through affected regions, and which international destinations are currently cut off from U.S. mail.1United States Postal Service. Service Alerts If an alert affects mail you sent or expected, the steps you can take depend on where the item is and what class of service it moved under.
Where To Find USPS Service Alerts
The alerts live on a dedicated page on the USPS site, split into three sections: residential customers and small businesses, business mailers, and international destinations.1United States Postal Service. Service Alerts The residential section tells you whether mail is being delivered to your neighborhood and whether your post office is open. The business section covers processing facility statuses, delivery unit operations, and whether drop shipments are being accepted. The international section lists the countries USPS is not currently mailing to.
Local postmasters and regional processing centers feed updates into the page, so it reflects conditions close to real time. The same page links to related tools you may need during a disruption, including hold mail and change of address.2USPS. Mail Service Alerts and Updates
What Triggers a Service Alert
Most domestic alerts come from weather. Hurricanes, heavy snow, wildfires, and flooding force USPS to close post offices and suspend routes to protect carriers. When conditions are dangerous, service standards give way to employee safety.3United States Postal Service. DMM Advisory – International Mail Service Disruptions Due to COVID-19
Equipment failures inside processing facilities cause a quieter category of alerts. High-speed sorting machines handle enormous volumes, and when one goes down, mail backs up fast. Electrical failures, building maintenance shutdowns, and transportation bottlenecks between states also slow the pipeline. These tend to clear in days rather than weeks.
International alerts follow a different pattern. When a foreign postal system can’t guarantee safe handling, or when transportation routes collapse, USPS stops accepting mail bound for that destination. Armed conflict, sanctions, and the loss of reliable air freight routes all show up on the international list, and suspensions there can last months or years.
Countries Currently Suspended
As of 2025, USPS has suspended mail to more than 20 countries, primarily because transportation is unavailable. The list includes Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Russia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen, among others.4United States Postal Service. International Service Alerts Check the international service alerts page before mailing anything overseas, because the list changes as conditions on the ground shift.
One separate suspension worth knowing about: Global Express Guaranteed, the premium international shipping service, was suspended to all destinations effective September 29, 2024. Post offices are not accepting GXG shipments to any country.5United States Postal Service. IMM Revision – Changes to Global Express Guaranteed Service
Tracking Mail When Service Is Disrupted
Your tracking number is the most useful tool during a disruption. Enter it on the USPS site to see the last scan location, whether the package has been rerouted, and any delay updates.6United States Postal Service. Receive Mail and Packages If you sent the item, the number is on your counter receipt or in the label confirmation email. If you’re the recipient, ask the sender or check shipping notification emails.
Informed Delivery adds hands-free monitoring. You get grayscale preview images of incoming letter mail and package status updates by email or through the USPS app, and you sign up by verifying your identity and address through the USPS portal.7United States Postal Service. Informed Delivery – Mail and Package Notifications The value during a disruption is that you can see what is supposedly on the way even when delivery timing is unreliable.
For SMS updates, text your tracking number to 28777 (2USPS). Add a keyword after the number to shape what you get: DND for delivery activity, AF for future activity only, or AA for all past and future scans. Send “Quiet” to 28777 to silence updates between 11:00 PM and 7:00 AM Central. Standard messaging rates apply.8United States Postal Service. USPS Text Tracking FAQs
Holding or Rerouting Your Mail
If a disruption keeps you out of your home, USPS Hold Mail holds letters and packages at the post office until you pick them up. Requests run a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 30 days. Anything longer needs mail forwarding instead.
A temporary change of address reroutes mail to another address for a minimum of 15 days and up to one year.9United States Postal Service. Standard Forward Mail and Change of Address It works well when you’re displaced and staying somewhere with a reliable mailing address. If you need every physical piece of mail rather than just forwarded first-class items, Premium Forwarding Service Residential bundles your mail and ships it weekly by Priority Mail. Enrollment costs $26.40 online or $28.70 at a post office, plus $29.70 per week of service.10United States Postal Service. Premium Forwarding Services The weekly fees add up, so this option fits short-term relocations where the mail itself matters.
Already shipped something into a disrupted area? USPS Package Intercept can stop delivery or redirect the item before the last mile. The fee is $19.45 per request and is charged only if USPS successfully intercepts the item. Most domestic mailings with a tracking barcode are eligible, and the service is not guaranteed.
Refunds When International Mail Is Returned
When USPS suspends service to an international destination and your mail comes back with the “Mail Service Suspended — Return to Sender” marking, you’re entitled to a full refund of postage and fees, whether or not the item included a customs form.11United States Postal Service. 604 Postage Payment Methods and Refunds The alternative is to hold onto the returned item and re-mail it using the existing postage once service resumes, as long as you cross out the return markings.2USPS. Mail Service Alerts and Updates
To claim the refund, bring the returned item and your original mailing receipt to any post office. The refund covers the full postage you paid.
Filing a Claim for Lost or Damaged Items
If a shipment does not arrive, submit a Missing Mail search request starting 7 days after the mailing date.12United States Postal Service. Missing Mail and Lost Packages USPS searches its facilities and tries to match your description against items in the system. This is a search, not a claim, and it’s the first step before insurance reimbursement.
For an insured item that can’t be located, you’ll file a formal indemnity claim. Deadlines depend on the class of mail:
- Priority Mail Express: file between 7 and 60 days from the mailing date.
- Insured Mail and Priority Mail: file between 15 and 60 days from the mailing date.
- Registered Mail and COD: file between 15 and 60 days from the mailing date.
- APO/FPO/DPO insured or registered mail: file between 45 days and 1 year from the mailing date.
Those deadlines are firm.13United States Postal Service. 609 Filing Indemnity Claims for Loss or Damage During a widespread disruption it’s easy to assume the package is only delayed and wait too long. If tracking hasn’t moved and you’re approaching 60 days, file rather than wait.
USPS accepts several forms of proof of value: a sales receipt, credit card statement, canceled check, money order receipt, or an online transaction record showing what you paid. For collectible items like stamps or coins, you’ll need either a sales receipt or a valuation from a recognized dealer. Repair estimates from a licensed business count when the item arrived damaged rather than lost.14United States Postal Service. Domestic Claims – Customer Reference Guide Keep your receipts from the start. Claims without proof of value can still be paid, but USPS may cut the payout significantly.