Community Chat

[september]

I'm about to move into a new home, in a new community, and learned that we aren't allowed  to have mail boxes at the ends of our driveways 

As it was explained to me, this ended in 2018, and all new addresses have to have clustered mail box units in a central location. 

I'm okay with this, just kind of curious as to how they justify it. Where I've lived in the past, we had mailboxes at the end of our driveways.  Postal workers stayed in their trucks, only had to get out if there was a package that didn't fit into the box, or an item that needed a signature. 

Where my brother lives, just a few miles away from where I'll be living, the postal carrier pulls a cart on foot, and walks up to the porches of these residents, and leaves the mail in a box just outside the front door. 

 So many different methods of delivery.  Shouldn't they come up with something that is more fair to all?

[ahoymate]

My 2 cents: USPS, as we've all heard is having financial challenges. They probably did a time/motion study to find out which way of home delivery is most efficient for the USPS and came up with the central location.

My post person, used to just leave a box of mail in our lobby for everyone to go thru & sort it themselves. This is totally unacceptable. People going thru your mail is not good. Some mail went missing. I reported and hopefully this is resolved and mail will put it in our individual mailboxes.

Personally, I don't like the central location. Prefer my own mailbox outside my door or end of driveway.

[Marp]

@september,  how do you define "fair"?

I think the only thing that would be "fair" to all is to require everyone to get their mail from a central location like the nearest post office.

Of course that wouldn't necessarily be fair since I might pnly live a block from the post office while others might have to drive miles.

[pigletsmom]

I think there are probably negotiations with USPS when it's decided to build up an area. Everyone in my city has their mailbox on their house but there are two areas that don't. One doesn't seem that new to me but all the houses have boxes at the street. Also it's a big street that makes a U that goes downhill and then back up so maybe no one would want to walk it. The other area is maybe 40 years old and it has condos and houses. They have one central mail area. 

[Snowpuppy]

I live very rural. My street did away with individual rural boxes at the street in favor of a cluster box at the corner.

No more rickety eyesore boxes at the street. No more snowplows knocking over boxes or the mail carrier battling the mess the plow left behind.

Larger packages fit inside 4 larger package sized boxes in the cluster unit. The carrier will put your package inside and leave you the key in your secure mailbox. 

I grab my mail on the way home or pick it up on a walk. If I'm away for days the little mail I get is secure.

[Sage04]

@september  the mail boxes for my subdivision are about a 4 minute walk from where I live. There are about 50 mail boxes, numbered of course. There are also about 8 large boxes for packages and the mail carrier leaves the special key in your personal box to open the large box to retrieve your package.

If it´s a huge package, then it is delivered to your door.

For me, I signed up for Informed Delivery with the Post Office and every morning I am sent an email telling me what mail would be delivery that day. If it´s nothing important I leave it. Sometimes I only check once a week depending on what is there.

[september]

---

@Marp wrote:

@september,  how do you define "fair"?

I think the only thing that would be "fair" to all is to require everyone to get their mail from a central location like the nearest post office.

Of course that wouldn't necessarily be fair since I might pnly live a block from the post office while others might have to drive miles.

---

Exactly!  For the past 10 months, I have been paying for a PO Box, during my transition period. There is a lot less effort involved, in having the postal service employees place it into my box, vs. deliver it to an address. 

maybe the boxes should be free, and those of us who want the mail delivered to our homes, should pay something?   The boxes aren't pricey.  I'd pay that fee for home delivery, since I know it might help save the postal service.  

[Sage04]

Some subdivision have some beautiful mail boxes made of concrete. They look like little houses at the end of their driveway. I like those.

So many drivers knock down the other mail boxes that are on a stand. People have had to replace them often.

[september]

---

@Sage04 wrote:

@september  the mail boxes for my subdivision are about a 4 minute walk from where I live. There are about 50 mail boxes, numbered of course. There are also about 8 large boxes for packages and the mail carrier leaves the special key in your personal box to open the large box to retrieve your package.

If it´s a huge package, then it is delivered to your door.

For me, I signed up for Informed Delivery with the Post Office and every morning I am sent an email telling me what mail would be delivery that day. If it´s nothing important I leave it. Sometimes I only check once a week depending on what is there.

---

@Sage04   It sounds like it will be the same system where I'll be going. Like I said, I'll be okay with this at this time. 

fast forward 20 years from now, if I still live at this address. This could be hard for me.  Meanwhile, my younger brother lives a few miles away, and still has his mail delivered to his front porch?

[Spurt]

---

@Marp wrote:

@september,  how do you define "fair"?

I think the only thing that would be "fair" to all is to require everyone to get their mail from a central location like the nearest post office.

Of course that wouldn't necessarily be fair since I might pnly live a block from the post office while others might have to drive miles.

---

I dont think that would work AT ALL!!!  I can just imagine the huge lines of people waiting to pick up their mail...especially people that work during the week, so this would create a large number of people crammed into the post office trying to pick up mail on a Saturday....And we got a SMALL sample of that when someone broke into our cluster mailboxes ihn our subdivision and everyone had to go to the post office to pick up mail until the boxes were repaired....and that was nightmare!!!!  And it took forever for the Post Office employee to find each person's mail....And since I have Informed Delivery I told her some mail was missing so she went back and checked, sure enough here came some more mail.....so they didnt even do a very good and look very hard for the mail.  People would have to give up their valuable weekend time to stand in line to pick up mail!!!----I dont think that would set very well with people....