Mail frustration

[brehon]

So, I need a little bit of knowledge here about USPS delivery. First, a wee bit o' background. I live on a 2 lane fairly busy semi-rural road. My driveway is approximately 100 yds from a blind curve and my mailbox is approximately 25 yds from the driveway (opposite direction from the curve). There is a lay-by where the mailbox is so the mail truck can pull off the road, deliver the mail, and pull back onto the road fairly safely. Is this clear? Makes perfect sense to me; but, of course, I live there, so it would.

 

So, the mailbox has been at the same spot for 40 years (i.e. when the house was originally built) with no difficulties. About 3-4 months ago the new mailman decided he didn't like where our mailbox was located because there is a "bump" going from the road to the little lay-by (which is dirt/gravel). The previous mailman had no issues with the mailbox's placement. This new mailman told my dh that he wanted us to move the mailbox to right by the driveway. Over the past, say, 3 weeks we haven't received any mail because the mailman won't deliver it. (See reason above.) We've had to go into town to pick up the mail at the post office. Irritating and inconvenient, to say the least.

 

Yesterday we found a yellow tag in our mailbox which said (and this is a paraphrase because I'm at work) "Mail carrier, do not deliver mail here. Vacant residence." [Huh? :huh: News to me. Does this mean I don't have to pay the mortgage anymore? :cool: :rolleyes: ]

 

So, dh is going to talk to the postmaster on Monday morning. Yes, I realize this should have been dealt with earlier -- that's another thread, though; one that might possibly veer into disallowed topics, IYKWIM. ;)

 

Does anyone know the rules for mail delivery? Can the mailman just decide not to deliver our mail because he doesn't like where the mailbox is? I asked dh to take pictures of the mailbox's current location, the drive, the curve, and the ditches which are on either side of the driveway to show the post master. There really isn't a way to move the mailbox to where this new mailman wants us to. Practically, the ditches prevent this. And, yes, I would have thought that the ditches were readily apparent to anyone driving by there. Also, there is a matter of safety - it just wouldn't be safe for the mailman to pull over and deliver the mail were the mailbox by the driveway. Although this is a semi-rural road, it is fairly busy and everyone tends to speed.

 

I'm a little bit peeved by this young punk not delivering our mail. Yes, I've interacted with him and yes, I think he's a yound punk. This will, of course, not be the tack taken by dh. So, are there regulations which allow a mailman to decide not to deliver the mail if he doesn't like the location of the mailbox (even though it has been in the same location for 4 decades)?

 

By the way, we never got a note or anything in our mailbox from the post office saying that the regulations or whatever had changed and we needed to find a new place for the mailbox. First we heard of anything is when dh and I talked to this young buck. Thanks.

[Slipper]

There are regulations where I live about the mailbox - how far off the road, how high, what side of the road, etc. I would think your post office could provide guidance for the rules.

[brehon]

There are regulations where I live about the mailbox - how far off the road, how high, what side of the road, etc. I would think your post office could provide guidance for the rules.

 

 

I just finished looking up the mailbox guidelines on the USPS website and ours currently meets all the stated guidelines, except that our street number isn't visible as the stickers peeled off and we haven't fixed that yet. That wasn't the carrier's problem, though.

 

Thanks for the reply!

[Rai B.]

So, are there regulations which allow a mailman to decide not to deliver the mail if he doesn't like the location of the mailbox (even though it has been in the same location for 4 decades)?

To an established (one they have been delivering to) mailbox, no. (Unless part of the mailbox had broken recently.)

 

The vacant notice would usually be there if mail is not picked up for 10 days—the house can be declared vacant and the mail returned to the senders. Have you been picking it up at the post office regularly? It is not very common, and not what was supposed to happen, but the carrier isn’t supposed to randomly require you to move the mailbox either.

 

I used to be a USPS rural carrier. And if your mailbox gave me a place to pull off the road while delivering, I’d have loved it.

[brehon]

To an established (one they have been delivering to) mailbox, no. (Unless part of the mailbox had broken recently.)

 

The vacant notice would usually be there if mail is not picked up for 10 days—the house can be declared vacant and the mail returned to the senders. Have you been picking it up at the post office regularly? It is not very common, and not what was supposed to happen, but the carrier isn’t supposed to randomly require you to move the mailbox either.

 

I used to be a USPS rural carrier. And if your mailbox gave me a place to pull off the road while delivering, I’d have loved it.

 

 

Weeelll, dh was supposed to take care of picking up the mail. He picked it up last week, I think. See above for disallowed topics ;) and follow up with thoughts for the frustrated wife. Anyway, yes, this new mailman decided he didn't like the location. And then, when we didn't move the mailbox [which, according to the USPS website, requires prior notification to and approval of the post master], stopped delivering the mail. Grrr...

 

Thanks.

[kiwik]

I don't live in the US but I wouldn't have thought it was up to the individual carrier to randomly ask you to move the mailbox and then refuse to deliver.

[TXBeth]

Honestly if you are going to talk to the postmaster I would (very strongly) request a new mail carrier. If this "punk kid" gets in trouble because you told on him (which I would), your mail may not be safe.

[Pawz4me]

I'd talk to the postmaster, too. And I'd be prepared to agree to get some gravel to fill in the "bump" as a compromise.

[Tap]

Can you just raise up the ground so there is not a bump there? If it has been washing away for a while maybe it is time to add some gravel or asphalt to level it out. The more experienced drivers may have been able to handle it or maybe it has just now gotten to the point that it needs fixing, but whatever the new mailman's issue is, I doubt you will get by without at least trying to fix the problem. Maybe he is too inexperienced in a mail truck to handle the bump and watching for traffic on the curve at the same time.

 

Hopefully, dh will be able to resolve the issue.

[brehon]

Hi, ladies. Sorry I haven't answered again before now - busy night at work and rushing this morning to get to Mass somewhat on time.

 

We're not averse to adding some gravel to try to smooth out the bump down, though it's really no more difficult than driving on a gravel road. We have some pea gravel left over from another project that might work.

 

I mainly wondered if the mailman could decide not to deliver the mail on his own. Based on the replies here and my research on the USPS web site it doesn't appear that he can.

 

Thanks, everyone, for the replies.

[gardenmom5]

I would go straight to the Postmaster! No, the individual mail carrier can't make decisions on placement on his own. I had to get a mail carrier in trouble years ago. I commented to her that it was odd that all my new chicken catalogs came the same day--I thought it was odd since I'd ordered ones from all over the US. Mail carrier, "Oh, I just delivered them today--they looked interesting, so I kept them for a few days!" I went in to the Postmaster, with a written complaint, and the woman was fired. I had to wonder what ELSE she hadn't delivered!

 

in our area, there have been a few reports of mail carriers burning mail, burying mail, tossing mail - 'cause they just didn't want to bother delivering -in the city. for YEARS. makes you wonder how they got away with it for so long.

[kitten18]

Giving this a bump. Wondering if you got it resolved? :lurk5:

[fairfarmhand]

The postmaster decided that our mail carrier would not be delivering packages up the 600 ft driveway to my house because of my dog, but that's a different story. However, I do have a WONDERFUL carrier who calls me to see if I am home when I have a package. If I'm there, he'll leave it at the base of the mailbox, but if I don't answer, he takes it to the PO so I can pick it up.

 

He's a GREAT mail carrier!