CMRA redirects here. For other uses, please see CMRA (disambiguation)

CMRA (disambiguation)

CMRA can mean:*Commercial mail receiving agency*Central Motorcycle Roadracing Association*The Canadian Marine Rescue Auxiliary, a former name for the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary...

.

A commercial mail

Mail

Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...

 receiving agency ("CMRA"), also known as a mail drop, typically operates as a Private Mail Box Operator.

A customer of a CMRA can receive mail and other deliveries at the street address

Address (geography)

An address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used for describing the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along with other identifiers such as house or...

 of the CMRA rather than the customer's own street address. Depending on the agreement between the customer and the CMRA, the CMRA can forward

Mail forwarding

Post offices and other mail service providers typically offer a mail forwarding service, commonly known as hybrid mail or virtual post office box services, to redirect mail destined for one location to another – usually for a given period of time. In the case of the United States Postal Service's...

 the mail to the customer or hold it for pickup.

A customer may wish to use the services of a CMRA for privacy; for example, a person running a home-based business may not wish to disclose his or her residential address. Alternatively, a customer in one community may contract with a CMRA in another community with a better known or more prestigious address.

A CMRA is able to receive parcels shipped by means other than a postal system; some postal operators, such as the United States Postal Service

United States Postal Service

The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...

, are not. CMRAs also usually provide ancillary services such as copy or courier services. Many CMRAs will discount their other prices for mail box subscribers. The use of a CMRA may render the delivery of mail at a later time of day than it would at a Post Office box.

Some CMRAs offer an online post office

Online post office

An online post office is a commercial mail receiving agency that implements the concept of hybrid mail, enabling conventional mail to become electronic, or electronic correspondence to be printed and mailed at a remote location...

, providing a means to access mail over the internet.