A private mail bag, locked bag or caller service is a term for a special form of postal delivery in some countries, usually a government department or large private company, which receive large volumes of mail. Private mail bag addresses are often used in countries in Africa where there may be no street delivery service.
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In Europe and North America, where street delivery is more commonplace, large users may be allocated their own postal codes, and consequently need only use their physical address in correspondence; the postal code implies that the recipient receives mail by caller service.
Examples and variants
Like PO Box addresses, private mail bag addresses omit the name of the building and street, and include only the number allocated to the user.
Ford Motor Company of Australia Limited Private Mail Bag 6 Campbellfield Vic 3061 AUSTRALIAIn some cases, a private mail bag may not have a number:
University of Sierra Leone Private Mail Bag Freetown SIERRA LEONEIt differs from PO box delivery in that whereas the holder of a PO box has to go to the post office in order to collect mail, the mail sent to a private bag is dispatched to the holder by a mail contractor.
Private Bag
In other countries, particularly South Africa and New Zealand, the term private bag is used.
University of Auckland Private Bag 92019 AUCKLAND 1142In South Africa, the private bag number may also contain letters.
Department of Home Affairs Private Bag X114 PRETORIA 0001Locked Bag and Caller Service
In Australia, there are also locked bag addresses:
Special Broadcasting Service Locked Bag 028 Crows Nest NSW 1585In Singapore, the term locked bag service is used:
Singapore Press Holdings Limited Robinson Road Post Office Locked Bag Service 10 Singapore 908186These are similar to a private mail bag, but the holder must collect the mail at the post office, like a PO box.
In the United States, this service is called caller service. However, mail to a caller number is typically addressed as though the caller number were a physical PO box, as seen in the following example:
Commissioner for Patents PO Box 1450 Alexandria VA 22313-1450