post office didn't deliver to my side of the street

[shellybaxter]

I totally agree. While it is frustrating when the plow blocks the way to the mailbox (this happened to us yesterday!), it's not the mailman's responsibility to get the mail there in that case. They are under no obligation to deliver if they do not have a clear & unobstructed path directly to the mailbox, or if they feel the driving conditions are unsafe. They are also under no obligation to leave their vehicle for any reason. Mail delivery is a free service. If someone doesn't want to respect that they're not going to do everyone a favor by wading through snow or walking the mail to the box, then they should pay for a PO box & go pick it up at their convenience.

So much for ... “Neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night will keep me from my appointed rounds"

 

[HelenePA]

where mailboxes are on the houses they have been like that from the start and are "grandfathered in" so to speak, but you will see that new developments are either curbside or even "gang" boxes. Each route is accessed for how long it takes so a jumping route, or walking route as opposed to curbside will obviously have less deliveries because it takes longer to deliver. I carried a curbside route that used to have almost 1000 deliveries. Can you imagine how much longer it would have taken if even just 5% of those boxes were blocked and I had to get out of the truck to put the mail in the boxes.

I actually have a mail slot that goes into my house.. i had no idea where my mail box was when I moved in my house! After a few days of unpacking I moved the couch a little bit and found our mail We've since put up a real mail box because nothing "big" fit in and was a PITA when we got magazines and stuff.. they would open our door and throw the mail in. would scare me half to death that someone was trying to "break" in my house..

 

[ctinct]

Wow, this is weird. While I was reading this post, the mail carrier did something he has never done before.

The area in front of my driveway and mailbox is very icy pretty much all winter long. I clear it of snow, but the next door neighbors have a pipe coming up out of their driveway that constantly lets water into the road. I don't know if it is a spring or what, but they pump a lot of water. I live at the bottom of a dip, so it runs down here and fans out. I put ice melt down in the road, but at times the ice becomes several inches thick. I would understand completely if the carrier refused to deliver sometimes when it is really bad. As it is, we can tell when he comes by the sound of his spinning tires as he pulls away. Today, though, he stopped the truck and walked a few feet to the box. (We had snow that turned to rain and then froze yesterday.) Gotta thank him.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

everything fine today. We took care of the snow last night and had it right up to the box--the plow had added some today but they were able to get to it. Just weird that it had never happened before.
In my first house the mailbox was on the house--loved it--then in my second house it was in the street and across it too--I had to cross the street to get the mail (or just drive up to it before I turned into the drive). One of my list items when looking for this home was a mailbox on our own side of the street!
All new developments here--and by new I mean in the last 30 years--have mailboxes in the street.
And the real good old days---when they would put your paper on the porch! I really miss that--now it's in the box by the mailbox, or if you don't have a box they just throw it in the driveway. They never get out of the car!
Robin M.

 

[Nancyg56]

If the postal service intended for postal workers to walk to each mailbox, they'd still have that as the standard mode of delivery. That approach is more expensive, factoring in ALL the factors associated with it. The postal service standards are there to ensure there is a clear understanding about what their obligations are with regard to delivering mail and what your obligations are as a home-delivery recipient of mail. If you don't like that offer, you have the option to stop home delivery, and pick up your mail at the post office.

ITA. My brother was a letter carrier for over 30 years and he went over and above what he was required to do but if he got hurt because he did not follow protocol he was held accountable.

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

our post office will not deliver if they can not clearly get to our mailbox. Our mailbox is up a flight of steps that ice over easily. So we have a basket at our side door downstairs and that is kept free of ice. So the letter carriers know that in the winter mail goes to downstairs, summer/spring/fall up stairs. I went in to the post office and made this agreement with them. Maybe you could try something like that.

 

[LisaNJ25]

I am glad my mail man walks.

 

[bicker]

does everyone have a mailbox by the road? Mine is attached to my house.. everyones around here is.. Our mailman/maillady has to walk to everyones house. Sounds like your mail people have it rather easy compared to ours!

The post offices in this area stopped accepting new mailbox-attached-to-house customers back in the 1980s. They have since ceased accepting mailbox-on-post-by-road customers as well, requiring that instead mailboxes for homes within a certain distance from each other (I think it is about 500 feet) have their mailboxes all together, in an array. For us that means 12 of us have our mailboxes together in something that looks like this:

This is more secure for us, and of course saves the postal service a lot of money, since the carrier doesn't have to make 12 stops -- he just makes one stop for 12 homes.

 

[bicker]

So much for ... “Neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night will keep me from my appointed rounds"

No, that still generally applies, but not for remote delivery. If you want to pick your mail up at the post office, you get much more timely service.

 

[goofyernmost]

So much for ... “Neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night will keep me from my appointed rounds"

That is not now nor has it ever been the motto of the U.S. Post Office. It became popular because someone while dedicating a building, I believe it was, used that phrase. I wish I could remember what context it was originally used in, but I know it wasn't the Post Office.