Rural mailbox

[Unquestionably Confused]

That's what our carrier does as well, but I think Ed was referring to one of those "community/central" mailboxes shared by a dozen or so families.

The one's I've seen have a couple of large (as it 2 - 4 x's the size of the individual boxes) package bins on them. When the carrier has a package that won't fit in the individual mailbox, the place it in one of the bins and place the key for the bin in the mailbox.

This is similar to what they do in the post office itself when an item arrives that won't fit in the smaller PO Box.

What they do for the occasional item too big to fit in the package bin is anyone's guess. I suppose they could fall back to the common sense approach and stop by the individual house, but that would make sense and we ARE dealing with a government created agency and a union so...

[Piso Mojado]

That's about par for a unionized semi-government employee.

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

Some days, when I get mail a majority of it goes straight to the trash.

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

A lot of what I get is sent by some other carrier like UPS to the post office. Their tracking info will send be a message saying the package was delivered. What the message DOESN'T say is that it was delivered to the post office and will be in the mail (not the same day, but the next).

[Micky]

You just want burial cable because you're afraid you'll be cold in your coffin.

[Micky]

You never put a blank line between your text and what's before it.

That's what I thought would happen in the US until we actually moved to a place with a rural mailbox. But apparently here, the red is only to tell the mailman that there is outgoing mail.

[Micky]

Ours don't rotate.

And I guess I was wrong about the blank line.

[Micky]

There might be another route or half-route that he does before yours some days.

When I was a mailman 50 years ago, I didn't know what time to come in until the previous day and it ranged from 6 to 10. Some days I started off by sorting mail and other days iirc it was already sorted.

[Micky]

He's not goiung to like that, having to stop to pick up mail only to find there is none.

And that will be the result .

[Micky]

That will be terrible for me. I have a slot in the door. I can go away for 9 months and still be able to push the door open when I get back.

[Micky]

Take our word for it, that's the plan, at least about the group boxes. The less frequent delivery is only a proposal afaik.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Do you have a free MYUPS account? App on the phone? Very accurate and you know where the package is and you can tell them where you want packages left. If is is sent Smartpost you will know and an accurate delivery time to the house.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Micky:

Sounds complicated in the context of the government having to acquire property or property rights for the space where the group boxes structure would be erected.

The bit about a separate large-package bin and the key in the mailbox works for me.

For the scheme in general, I would guess that some people in ill health will have to work something out.

[Unquestionably Confused]

Shouldn't be a problem. Every "community" mailbox I've seen in subdivisions are placed on the right of way. Check the survey for your own home. Chances are you'll find the highway easement extends another

6'-8' into what you think is your yard.

In the town where our daughter moved to a couple of years ago, the neighbors warned them about the USPS trying to get them to install a rural type mailbox on a post in front of their home rather than continuing to use the box on the house.

Note that they live in town and the home they purchased originally had one of those mail chutes that would drop your mail (and water from a garden house) in the foyer.

Sure enough, they got a note from the Postmaster pretty much telling them they HAD to install the curbside mailbox but down at the bottom in fine print was a notation that such would be voluntary since their mailbox was grandfathered in.

Small town but certain area residents have taken a stand and refuse to go with the program. USPS wants to be able to do away with the walking letter carrier.

[Dean Hoffman]

The counties in my area of Nebraska own a 66 foot (one chain) wide strip for the road. Space for the boxes would be between the counties and the postal service. A quarter section is usually close to 2600' by 2600' give or take as a result.

[bob haller]

the cost to deliver to a group box is a fraction of at to a walking or driving carrier..

so paying for a location for the group box isnt a big deal.

i think the elderly or handicapped should still be accomodated

[Micky]

I havent' noticed that.

I may have registered for something, I can't remember, but for the first time this time, UPS sent me an email saying the package is comign tomorrow, and tomorrow, when I was upstairs, they sent me an email saying it was delivered.

That's great. What's not great is that the second email said he put it on the patio (where it couldnt' be seen from the street) but in fact it was right in front of the front door, where it could be seen by someone who walked by. No one has ever stolen any package** but I want to keep it that way. And since the big tree fell down blocking the path across the shallow part of the stream, almost no kids walk by where they can see my front door. But almost every package to me has "Hide from view" or "Hide to right of big square thing", which only requires putting it 3 feet to the right, but almost no one ever does that.

**No package has been stolen but once two gas push lawnmowers were stolen. I'd tried all summer to make even one of them work, stealing parts from one for the other. So I thank whoever took them away for me. Also an old bicycle was stolen. I had removed the seat and the post to get a longer post, but real bike stores didnt' sell posts in that diameter, because the bike was so cheap. They'll never find a post that fits either, so they're stuck with that too.

[Micky]

Well this might be good for me. Because we own our own streets, not the government. We also have to pay for them to be repaved. (We might be able to give them to the county if we ever pave them to be thick enough, but I'm not sure if only the blacktop has to be thick, or if an underlayer has to be also. We're not redoing what's underneath the blacktop.

Sure, when you're feeling well, when you're up and around anyhow, and it's not raining or cold, it's little trouble to get tthe mail at a center box, but when your sick, when your snowed in, or the weather stinks, it's a pain, and for me and my mail slot, when I'm out of town for 3 days or 2 months, I don't have to cancel the mail or do anything

That would be good.

OT, btw, there are rural mailboxes here on a street that's been widened more than once, and the openings no longer face the street. They had to turn them 90^ so cars woudn't hit them as they drove by. Now they don't extend past the curb at all.

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

Here, the water main runs down this side of the street. The gas main is on the other side. Would that be a problem, or could they put it over one of them?

[snip]

[Unquestionably Confused]

Not positive but I don't believe it would be a problem. The "community boxes I've seen are mounted to a concrete slab and I believe those may be prefabricated. So they'd remove a couple of inches of sod and be done with it.

YMMV