Short answer
Awaiting Delivery Scan means your item went out for delivery, but no delivery and no notice left was recorded in time. USPS now expects delivery the next business day. If more than 1 full postal business day passes after this status and it is still undelivered, submit a service request.
Key takeaways
- USPS’s scan-event reference for mailers lists the status as event code DX. It describes it as “An acceptable delivery event (Delivery, notice left, etc.) has not taken place within 18 hours of the Out for Delivery event.”
- USPS’s tracking help page sets the cutoff differently. It says “A Delivered status was not recorded by 9pm local time on the date of the Out for Delivery status.”
- Both documents agree on timing: USPS now expects delivery on the next business day.
- Neither document gives a reason for the missing delivery event. Several other next-day statuses in the reference name one, such as no access, weather, or an incomplete address.
- USPS says that if more than 1 full postal business day passes after this status and the item is still not delivered, you should submit a service request. It goes to your local Post Office. A Missing Mail search request can be submitted starting 7 days from mailing.
Before you start
- Have the tracking number and the date and time of the Out for Delivery scan.
- Check the full delivery address on the label, including any suite, unit, private mailbox (PMB), or # number.
Who this is for
- Anyone whose USPS tracking shows Awaiting Delivery Scan or Awaiting Delivery after an Out for Delivery scan.
- Business owners waiting on a package at an office, a building with a mail room, or a mailbox address.
How USPS defines Awaiting Delivery Scan
USPS publishes a reference of its domestic tracking scan events for mailers on its PostalPro site. The April 2026 edition lists Awaiting Delivery Scan as event code DX. On USPS.com the event shows as “Awaiting Delivery,” and its status category is Alert.
The reference defines the event this way: “An acceptable delivery event (Delivery, notice left, etc.) has not taken place within 18 hours of the Out for Delivery event.” In plain terms, the item went out for delivery, and USPS has no record of it being delivered or of a notice being left.
The customer message for the same event reads “We now anticipate delivery of your package the next business day. We apologize for the delay.”
USPS’s tracking help page describes the same status with a different cutoff. Under the headings “Delivery Status Not Updated” and “Awaiting Delivery Scan,” it says: “A Delivered status was not recorded by 9pm local time on the date of the Out for Delivery status and we now anticipate delivery of your package on the next business day.”
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18 hours or 9 p.m.: the two USPS cutoffs
The two documents measure the wait in different ways. The PostalPro reference counts 18 hours from the Out for Delivery event. The tracking help page uses 9 p.m. local time on the day of that event.
The two cutoffs land at the same moment only when the Out for Delivery scan happens at 3 a.m. We did not find a USPS document that says which rule the tracking system applies, or how the two fit together.
Both versions appear in search results. In the top results we saved on October 12, 2026, one article gives the 9 p.m. version, and a seller forum post gives the 18-hour version. Each matches one USPS document. For you, the practical point is the same either way: USPS expects delivery on the next business day.
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How it compares with other next-day statuses
We read the April 2026 PostalPro reference ourselves. It has 24 pages and 188 event rows. We parsed its table and counted the Status Category column: 51 rows are in the Alert category, and the DX code appears in one row.
Five other Alert events point to the next delivery or business day, according to their customer messages. Four of them name a reason in their event description. Event 71’s description names only a delay, and its customer message adds “an unforeseen operational issue.” The table below quotes each event description.
| Event code | Tracking shows | USPS event description (PostalPro, April 2026) | Reason given |
|---|---|---|---|
| DX | Awaiting Delivery | “An acceptable delivery event (Delivery, notice left, etc.) has not taken place within 18 hours of the Out for Delivery event” | None |
| 30 | No Access to Delivery Location | “The item was attempted but not delivered because the employee could not access the delivery location (e.g., gated community where an access code is required).” | No access |
| 57 | Delivery Exception, Local Weather Delay | “The item could not be attempted and / or delivered due to local weather conditions.” | Weather |
| 70 | Rescheduled to Next Delivery Day | “The local post office has indicated that there was a problem with the employee determining the correct address, so the item needed to be brought back to the office for address verification, with the item going out for delivery (again) on the next business day.” | Address |
| 71 | Rescheduled to Next Delivery Day | “The local post office has indicated that there is a delay impacting the delivery of the item.” | A delay (the customer message adds “an unforeseen operational issue”) |
| 72 | Delivery Exception, Animal Interference | “The local delivery employee has indicated that because of interference by an animal at the delivery location, the employee could not attempt delivery of the item.” | Animal interference |
Source: USPS PostalPro, USPS Domestic Tracking Scan Events, April 2026 edition, read October 12, 2026. Events 70 and 71 show the same status label on USPS.com. Their customer messages differ: event 70’s customer message says the item was returned to the Post Office “because of an incomplete address.”
What to do, and when
The steps below follow USPS’s own pages. The waiting periods are USPS’s, not ours.
- 1The day the status appears: wait. Both USPS documents say delivery is now expected the next business day. In its entry for Out for Delivery, USPS’s tracking help page suggests signing up for text or email tracking updates.
- 2If more than 1 full postal business day passes after this status and the item is still not delivered: the tracking help page says to “use your tracking number and submit a service request to your local Post Office™.” Its link goes to the USPS package inquiry form.
- 3From 7 days after mailing: USPS’s Missing Mail page says “Missing Mail search requests can be submitted starting 7 days from mailing.” It asks for both addresses, the container type, tracking or mailing receipt details, and a description of the contents.
- 4If you paid for a service with a money-back guarantee: the Missing Mail page says that if you used “a service with a money-back guarantee such as Priority Mail Express®, you may be able to request a refund.”
If you are the sender, Package Intercept is probably not an option at this stage. USPS describes the service as a way to stop or redirect a package “that is not out for delivery or already delivered.” An item showing Awaiting Delivery Scan has already had an Out for Delivery event.
Once a search is open, tracking can show it. The PostalPro reference lists event VM, “Missing Mail Search Request Initiated,” which tells the customer “A search has been initiated on your item.”
When the package is going to a business address
Awaiting Delivery Scan does not say the address is wrong. It says no delivery event was recorded. A business address can add a handoff before the package reaches you. Check the address-related statuses in the same tracking history.
If the building has a front desk or mail room, a handoff there has its own delivery event in the reference: “Delivered, Front Desk/Reception/Mail Room.” Awaiting Delivery Scan means USPS has no record of that handoff yet. Our guide to what “Delivered, Front Desk/Reception/Mail Room” means covers what to do once that scan appears.
If an earlier scan says Rescheduled to Next Delivery Day with an incomplete address, look at the suite or unit number on the label. If it says No Access to Delivery Location, check how a carrier gets into the building. For that status, USPS’s tracking help page says to submit a service request if it has been “more than 24 hours since the No Access status.”
Mailbox addresses carry one more rule. DMM 508.1.8.3 requires a commercial mail receiving agency (CMRA), such as a mailbox store, to show customer addresses with “PMB” or the “#” sign. It adds that “The USPS may return mail without a proper address to the sender endorsed ‘Undeliverable as Addressed, Missing PMB or # Sign.’” Make sure every sender has the full address, including that number. Our guide to USPS return to sender reasons explains each returned-mail endorsement, and our guide to the Insufficient Address scan covers what to check when USPS says the address is incomplete.
About these sources
This guide quotes the USPS PostalPro scan-event reference (April 2026 edition), the USPS tracking help page, the USPS Missing Mail page, the USPS Package Intercept page, and DMM 508, all as read on October 12, 2026. USPS updates these pages over time. Your local Post Office can explain what happened to a specific item.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources & References
Primary sources this guide is based on.
- 1USPS · USPS PostalPro, PTR Event Descriptions (April 2026) (accessed October 12, 2026)
- 2USPS · USPS FAQ: Where is my package? Tracking Status Help (accessed October 12, 2026)
- 3USPS · USPS Missing Mail (accessed October 12, 2026)
- 4USPS · USPS Package Intercept (accessed October 12, 2026)
- 5USPS Postal Explorer · DMM 508 Recipient Services, section 1.8 (accessed October 12, 2026)
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