My girlfriend bought a house and the Postal Service has been holding her mail

We discovered this after I’d shipped her a flat rate box that stated it was delivered “left in or at mailbox”. She obviously didn’t receive and went to the Post Office and inquired as this was not the first one

The Post office told her they want the mail box moved to the street after a home changes ownership. Currently it’s on the porch by the front door where it’s been for 100yrs

I told her to call BS and ask where it states a mailbox HAS to be on the street for a lazy ass to drive by and put it in. Make the lazy SOB get out of the Vehicle and walk 30 ft and put it where it’s supposed to be, in the mailbox. She lives in a town of about 13k in eastern OR (full disclosure I had a “discussion” with a Postal Master in Atlanta a while back when the carrier refused to deliver my mail when a vehicle obstructed the box on the street, I threatened to pull the box from the street to MAKE them walk to the porch, never had an issue afterwards)

Am I unaware of some current regulation, or am I overreacting because I recall when Mailmen walked each piece of mail daily to the house box/slot as they still do at my fathers house

Anytime a customer relocates a box, it has to be approved by the local postmaster. This is more of a safety issue. I’ve had customers be allowed to move their box to the top of the steps. The only problem is these are the ones who typically don’t shovel their steps when it snows, or put down salt on ice accumulation, and dog issues. Any time a drive up mailbox is blocked, it becomes a safety issue. If the carrier exits the vehicle, they are supposed to curb the wheel, turn off the vehicle, and apply the emergency break. Even then “roll aways” happen all the time, a carrier has exited the vehicle, and either unintentionally or a mechanical failure, and the vehicle rolls away. Also, we are advised to avoid backing up as much possible. Customers approach mail trucks all the time, and people getting backed over by mail truck.

For your situation, since they are asking you to relocate it from it’s current situation, I honestly can’t answer that.

These are safety protocols. The fastest way to loose your job in the post office is to have a vehicle safety related incident. We are told how to park, each and every time we exit a vehicle. Even if nothing happens, it can be grounds for suspension or termination.

The Post Office is constantly trying to increase efficiency (they are cutting manpower, not increasing laziness). If you are the last holdout of porch delivery, they are trying to save the time of dismounting the vehicle, and walking between stops, thereby increasing the number of stops each delivery person can make.

It is rare that they will require a box relocation on an existing stop, but since it changed ownership, it's no longer "grandfathered" at that location.

This is what was explained to me when I helped move my MIL into a subdivision. They had a communal box that she was forced to use (even though her house had a porch box).

They made us move ours from the porch to the curb 20 years ago when we bought this house.

Made it more convenient for the mail carrier and the thieves. I ended up getting a PO Box.
Now that We have that, I ought to just remove the curbside box entirely. It’s just a delivery point for junk mail.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
They made us move ours from the porch to the curb 20 years ago when we bought this house.

Made it more convenient for the mail carrier and the thieves. I ended up getting a PO Box.
Now that We have that, I ought to just remove the curbside box entirely. It’s just a delivery point for junk mail.

That's what I did - no regrets. And - now the snowplows have to target someone else's mailbox.

When I worked for the post office 15 years ago (Letter carrier) the goal was to get as many boxes motorized or or into CBU’s (big boxes) as possible because it’s saves time.

I'm working with a builder in a new subdivision to design and purchase a new construction semi-custom home.

According to him, new subdivisions are required by USPS to have a big multi-unit cluster mailbox on each block, instead of individual mailboxes in front of each home.

Apparently it's part of a push by USPS to increase efficiency for mail carriers.

My big kid lives in a small town in NC. His home is in the “old money” section of town near the original city center and by a river. All the homes had “hidden letter boxes” meaning the carrier had to walk to the front door or around the side of the home to drop mail.

When we bought the home I flagged the mailman on his rounds to address how we could make it better for him. He about fell over! He was very thankful and stopped and showed me how high to put the box and how far away from the roadway, going so much that he pulled up and showed exactly how and where to put it for him.

Super easy. He said that every time a home is sold in the area they hold the mail and make the new owner put up a box by the road. It is all to make it quicker for the PO to deliver smoother.

I’m down with that. And I even left him a thank you note for his help.

They can’t make you by law, but they will try to make you believe they can. They recently tried this on a property I just purchased. I pinned down the Postmaster and asked her what enabling legislation gave them the right to discontinue my mail service to an already approved receptacle. She admitted there is none, and delivery resumed to the porch box. I eventually moved delivery to the curb for other reasons, but it wasn’t because the post office forced me.

They tried this back in 1998 on my old house that was built in 1937. It had brass mailbox hardware on the side of the house that dropped mail into an in-wall box in the kitchen. There was no way I was giving that up, so I told them there was no way I’m mounting a curb box. Once you do a curb box, there’s no going back.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
I'm working with a builder in a new subdivision to design and purchase a new construction semi-custom home.

According to him, new subdivisions are required by USPS to have a big multi-unit cluster mailbox on each block, instead of individual mailboxes in front of each home.

Apparently it's part of a push by USPS to increase efficiency for mail carriers.

That rule has been in place for at least 30 years. I think it's driven by when the property is platted. We bought a 2 year old house in the Denver area in 86 that had a community box. A new house in Austin (1991) that had a community box, and a new house in Cary NC in 1996. The Cary house was in a subdivision that was established long ago and we have a mail box on the street.

I honestly prefer the neighborhood version - got to see neighbors from time to time and it had a locking door so mail didn't disappear.

Porch mailboxes here went out with the last walking route, except for packages the won't fit in a mailbox. Lot of folks weren't happy!

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I threatened to pull the box from the street to MAKE them walk to the porch,

Go for it, see what happens.

PO can't make you move the box if it's already there, usually. If it was a hardship delivery, and you aren't a "hardship", you ain't getting your mail on the porch just because you want it there. If it's a mounted route, you have to have a curbside box. You're not special, unless your disabled (and live alone).

Keep in mind, if your mailman walks up to your box, when it rains, your mail will most likely be wet etc.
I have a shitty trailer park on my route, part big metal box, part mounted, I'd rather just walk down the streets.
Even on a walking route, I have people who put up curbside boxes that I walk up to (some on the street, some by the steps to their porch), it saves a tremendous amount of time.



People who put in new mail slots should be purged from our society.

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That rule has been in place for at least 30 years.

News to me. Our current house was bought as a new construction house in a brand new neighborhood in 2005, and it has its own mailbox.

The UPS needs to get SHUT DOWN...it's useless and has outlived it's time.

A total waste of money.

All I get is SPAM mail that goes right into the garbage.

quote:

Originally posted by Patriot:
The UPS needs to get SHUT DOWN...it's useless and has outlived it's time.

A total waste of money.

All I get is SPAM mail that goes right into the garbage.

Take your mailbox down, you'll never have to deal with it again.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

That rule has been in place for at least 30 years.

News to me. Our current house was bought as a new construction house in a brand new neighborhood in 2005, and it has its own mailbox.

I know of a Postmaster who had to stand before Congress for moving mailboxes back in the 1990's. It's not a rule. He was forced into retirement.

As to the actual legal standing behind the post office’s insistence on a curb box, I’m ignorant. I just know that they’ll hold the mail once the ownership changes and the “grandfather” passes. When this happened to us in 2003, we didn’t choose to escalate it into a battle. I just bought a post-hole digger and mounted a new box at the curb.

There are bigger concerns in life. Meanwhile, my neighbors are still grandfathered and get their mail at their doors. But I stopped worrying about it once I bought the digger!

I’m not very pragmatic. Yet, I was able to find peace with a practical approach. You can too.

I retired from the USPS in 2017. I had multiple residents, one church, and four businesses that made regular trips to the post office to retrieve their mail because their boxes were continually blocked. Postal regulations plainly state the approach and departure of the mail receptacle are to be kept clear. The customer is responsible for that.

Last October a patron drove to the office to retrieve his mail. His box was blocked, the carrier did not exit the vehicle to put the mail in the box. The patron wanted the mail carrier fired. He stated the “previous carrier always put his mail in the box”. That would of been me. The Postmaster turned to the floor, and said aloud, “Carriers, this man claims Colby got out of the LLV and put his mail in his blocked mailbox.” Everyone burst out laughing, the Postmaster called him a liar and told him to move his vehicles.

quote:

Originally posted by Patriot:
The UPS needs to get SHUT DOWN...it's useless and has outlived it's time.

A total waste of money.

All I get is SPAM mail that goes right into the garbage.

UPS is a totally different company. Maybe you should contact them.

This is nothing new. As the others have stated it is a rule the USPS has been doing for some time. I moved into my house five years ago and the mail box was on the front porch. Was informed that it needed to be moved to the street now as we are the new owners and it was more efficient.