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Thread: Truncated ZIP Codes

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    Member checkrail's Avatar
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    Default Truncated ZIP Codes

    Do all US addresses have a second group of numbers in the code or just a few? If the former, why do most people appear to think it is not worth using?
    Kind regards
    Timothy

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    Default Truncated ZIP Codes

    All do
    Mostly because we are old and have memorized the original zip for so long we forget about the +4
    They are not required yet and we would have to look it up

    The first 6 is State and City (sometimes also neighborhood )
    The +4 are some sort of sorting code. Not sure if it's blocks or routes
    Last edited by Silverbreeze; January 26th, 2015 at 08:10 AM.
    Tom
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    Default Re: Truncated ZIP Codes

    I'm in my 40s. I can't remember that many numbers.

    Since you don't actually need it, I think many folks figure "why bother?" Maybe if I had an issue with mail being delivered, I'd be motivated to add it.

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    Default Re: Truncated ZIP Codes

    I'm not sure what the +four stand for but I and all my neighbors share the same extended zip code.

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    Default Re: Truncated ZIP Codes

    Bet you all have the same mail person Jar

    Which is why I think it's truck route numbers
    Tom
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    Default Re: Truncated ZIP Codes

    I live in a small farm town and all the houses have their own unique +4. I found this on zip-codes.com:
    The first five digits identify the area of the country and the delivery office to which the mail is directed. ZIP Codes start with a zero (0) in the northeast and gradually get higher as you move west. ZIP Codes in the far west start with a nine (9).

    The sixth and seventh digits point to a delivery sector, which may be several blocks, a group of streets, a group of Post Office boxes, several office buildings, a single high-rise office building, a large apartment building or a small geographic area.

    The last two digits represent a delivery segment, which might be one floor of an office building, a side of a street, specific departments in an office, or specific Post Office boxes.

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    Senior Member jar's Avatar
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    Default Re: Truncated ZIP Codes

    Quote Originally Posted by sgtstretch View Post
    I live in a small farm town and all the houses have their own unique +4. I found this on zip-codes.com:
    The first five digits identify the area of the country and the delivery office to which the mail is directed. ZIP Codes start with a zero (0) in the northeast and gradually get higher as you move west. ZIP Codes in the far west start with a nine (9).

    The sixth and seventh digits point to a delivery sector, which may be several blocks, a group of streets, a group of Post Office boxes, several office buildings, a single high-rise office building, a large apartment building or a small geographic area.

    The last two digits represent a delivery segment, which might be one floor of an office building, a side of a street, specific departments in an office, or specific Post Office boxes.

    That's interesting but all our mail gets delivered to communal boxes around the development. But the last two digits do vary based on which side of the street the house is located even though the mail delivery for several street and half of each odd and even grouping get delivered to the same communal box. It looks like the code does somewhat point to where the house is located but not to where the mail gets delivered.

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    Default Re: Truncated ZIP Codes

    I can remember my zip + 4 (and my phone number . . . and address . . . and social security number), but it's all the OTHER data bric-a-brac that I forget -- computer user names and passwords -- and even more so if the data system requires me to CHANGE that password every year to something completely different (and with or without letters, numbers, capitals, or unique characters, and of so-many-characters-in-length). By the time I've memorized the old, I have to think of something new, and by THAT time, I'm completely befoggled. (I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about.) After all, one only ever has one, and only one, birthday. It's not a date that's on casters, that can be randomly changed for security purposes.

    THANK HEAVENS that snail mail is friendlier and more egalitarian, and that the post office doesn't require me to key in some outrageously long password before I'm allowed to adhere a stamp to the upper right corner of an envelope.

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    Default Re: Truncated ZIP Codes

    mailartist, you are definitely not alone with your password woes. Here is the best description I have how on the issue.

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    Default Re: Truncated ZIP Codes

    That's great, Mark. It made me laugh.
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    Default Re: Truncated ZIP Codes

    I was thinking of starting a new thread, but I'll just put it here:
    Since Charlie put the link to the zip+4 finder I have it bookmarked on my computer and I'm looking up every+4 number for all my correspondence. After writing my own return address 3 or 4 times I had mine memorized. I don't remember anyone else's 5 digit zip without looking so that part is easy. I just thought that as people with a big stake in the postal service perhaps we should take the lead in helping it work more efficiently. What say you all?
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    Default Re: Truncated ZIP Codes

    Quote Originally Posted by Type40 View Post
    mailartist, you are definitely not alone with your password woes. Here is the best description I have how on the issue.
    One of the applications at work increased the password requirements from 6 to 12 characters but now has the option to auto-generate a new password and send it to you in an email titled Confidential: Password Reset Notification - Self Service Portal
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    Default Re: Truncated ZIP Codes

    Quote Originally Posted by Bogon07 View Post
    now has the option to auto-generate a new password and send it to you in an email titled Confidential: Password Reset Notification - Self Service Portal
    Couldn't find a emoticon slapping its forehead with the palm of its hand or one beating its self against a desk/wall/anything hard...

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    Default Re: Truncated ZIP Codes

    Since I use a post box my last four are the last four numbers of my post office box. Which makes it simple to remember.


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    Default Re: Truncated ZIP Codes

    Quote Originally Posted by Type40 View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Bogon07 View Post
    now has the option to auto-generate a new password and send it to you in an email titled Confidential: Password Reset Notification - Self Service Portal
    Couldn't find a emoticon slapping its forehead with the palm of its hand or one beating its self against a desk/wall/anything hard...

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    Default Re: Truncated ZIP Codes

    I've been superstitious about always using the extra four digits in my return address and have suspected I've got some nominal OCD. For some reason, not even the Police or the School District show our house on their maps since part of the property belongs to a golf club.

    Now that I've read this, I feel I'm being a little more logical in using it...
    "Nolo esse salus sine vobis ...” —St. Augustine

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    Default Re: Truncated ZIP Codes

    If I remember correctly, when you are doing a big mailing to lots of addresses you get a better rate if you use the extra digits and sort everything numerically.

    I take the presence of the extra digits as a clue that I am receiving a mass mailing. (Unless the address is hand written in fountain pen ink.)

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    Default Re: Truncated ZIP Codes

    The 9 digit ZIP came along when I was a child, & I have always been in the habit of using it.

    I live in an apartment building with only 10 units, and we have 5 different 9 digit zip codes in just our building. You could put my nine digit zip on an envelope with no other address and it would get to me.
    Last edited by nospam666; October 13th, 2015 at 02:42 PM.
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    Default Re: Truncated ZIP Codes

    We have a post office box in a small town. Our +4 is our box number. That is easy to remember but we still don't use it. Actually, you can address a letter to me using only my first name, city, and state and I will get it.

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