Looking for Advice on the Postal Service

[wtxbadger]

I'll try to keep this brief and not write a book. I live 4 miles outside of a small city in an area with around 50 or so homes. While we are not contiguous with the city we were annexed by the city decades ago and have city designated addresses recognized. Before the annexation every home had a rural route address and as result we have several clusters of individual mailboxes.
Last year our mail carrier for many years passed away and that's when the trouble started. Our old carrier was a contract employee with the USPS, our new carrier is an actual USPS employee and a month or so after this person took over several of the residents started getting notices that unless they didn't make their mailboxes meet current USPS policies on the height of their boxes their mail service would be suspended and if they wanted their mail they would have to pick it up from the post office.

This small community was established back in the sixties and the mailboxes have never been an issue until now. Several residents have had their mail delivery suspended as a result and I'm trying to figure out what recourse we might have with the USPS to remedy this without quite a few of our elderly residents on fixed incomes having to go to the expense of replacing or having their current boxes worked on?

Any advice or insight on trying to get this resolved would sure be appreciated.

wtxbadger

[ironglows]

    I don't know your situation of course, but back many years where I lived in Texas, there was some kind of mail box tax, and somehow the rural boxes were maintained by the municipality, on very similar posts/bases..
    But that was years ago, and in east Texas..   
   Here, the box height is 41".. and they still all too often get covered in snow...but of course, the height is configured to the delivery vehicle..

  A couple suggestions..  Since you have clusters of boxes, you could use a couple 4"X4" or 6'X6' posts, perhaps 10 or 12 feet apart.. and string  a couple 2"X6' boards between the posts..which would be much easier & thriftier, than a single post for each box.

  Another suggestion.. Since apparently there are mainly seniors there, do you have a Boy scout troop in the area?  Some scout or scouts seeking their eagle badges, could do the needed work as an eagle project...perhaos they only need the suggestion.
  Barring that, is there an American legion post nearby?  Perhaps they would consider it a "fun project" to do the work.

   How about a nearby Home depot...great chance for a cheap and easy project..with lots of free advertising !

  Seek out the manager..talk to him/her..you will never know, if you don't try..just impress him/her with the public relations value of such a simple project !

[DDZ]

I think IG gave the only solution other than changing the mind of the new carrier.  The USPS guidelines for a mailbox are 41 to 45 inches from the ground to the bottom of the entry door on the box.  My guess is that if the height of the boxes are not changed the problem with the carrier will not go away.

[oldandslow]

I'm sure you have a postmaster. Arrange a meeting with him/her and explain your concerns politely and ask for their help for your situation. It could be as simple as telling the carrier to let things stay as they are.

When I moved to the country and got a box number I was told what height the box had to be and I was warned about the temperament of my carrier. No one that I ever met liked the guy. He was a real a-hole PIA and no one liked him. I bought gasoline in bulk and no one was home during one delivery and the driver stuck my bill in my mailbox. I didn't know that and received an envelope with my bill in it and a postage due notice along with it. The carrier had removed my bill and mailed it to me with a bill for the 4 cent stamp he put on it. We had a very heated discussion in my driveway on my next day off. In his eyes anything in the box was the property of the post office and even though I bought and installed the box it belonged to them also. I should have filed a complaint on him but I gave him four pennies to get rid of him and told my gas guy not put anymore bills in my box. He was very close to retirement and everyone seemed to be be glad when he was gone.

I switched to a PO box years ago for added security.

[NWBear]

You might check with the post office and see what it takes to have a "Post Office" supplied "cluster box" put in for several families.  Where I live most people have individual mail boxes they put up, but we share an official box, kind of like you see at small apartments.  I was told by neighbors that one of our neighbors got enough folks to sign a request (I think our box has 9 boxes) and the PO put one in.  The old one one was rusting out at the post a couple of years ago so I went to see the PO.  The maintenance guy said he had a new box but it would take him a while before he could get a base poured to install it.  I offered to pour the base for which he gave me the spec and template for the mounting bolts.  After I poured the base he came out in a week or so and installed our new box.  NO charge to the residents.  The box is nice since it is always locked and has 2 large boxes on the bottom for larger packages.  This might be an option, it makes it faster for the mailman as well he makes one stop and fills 9 boxes.

[wtxbadger]

Appreciate everyone's advice. Last year our postmaster was transferred and the new one was sent in to try and streamline their operations and as part of that for whatever reason he assigned us our current carrier instead of replacing her with another contract carrier. Not long afterwards was when the trouble started with the new carrier and got progressively worse. We are not exactly an HOA but a club that was formed in the sixties when the housing development was started. Generally when there is any kind of issue with the city or county they will contact the club president or a board member to find an amenable solution or vice versa. When the trouble started as club president I contacted the new postmaster and he was willing to work with us to reach a mutually agreeable solution. After several meetings with him personally and his meeting with the club board we had a workable solution and were getting ready to move forward. Within a few weeks of that agreement he was reassigned to another post office and we were assigned a new postmaster who will not honor the agreement reached with the former one and is taking a hard line stance. Technically what is happening is our residents are being persecuted/punished by the mail carrier who has proved to be a pain in the butt and now the postmaster using USPS code in the process and hiding behind it.
I met with the new postmaster this morning and was basically told to take a hike and that she was strictly following USPS code and would not discuss it further. After thinking on this for a few hours while my blood pressure went back down to normal after being talked to like I was an idiot or child I got to thinking on it and after some digging found the name, phone number and address of her district manager and will be sending that info on to our residents. If that doesn't produce any results then I will track down the district managers boss and move it on up the chain.

[oldandslow]

Good for you. Hope you get some satisfaction against the local bureaucrat.

[Dee]

Looks to me like changing out a few posts to comply with regs would be the way to go instead of fighting a nationwide height requirement.

A Saturday morning get together of able bodied men could solve the problem for the elderly.
Probably spend less time complying than fighting over it. Mail men/women have delivery schedules and noncompliance by a few affect the many.

[wtxbadger]

One word....... Principle

[Dee]

Ok. What's the principal?

[wtxbadger]

First off here is the definition of two very different words https://www.dictionary.com/e/principal-vs-principle/ and second the use of law or policy to achieve ones goal when it is questionable or unethical and should be challenged. There are two very different actions/approaches in the application of policies and laws. One is fair application and the other is abusive to achieve a means to an end without discipline or thought.

The eroding of our country started with the idea of just don't worry about and do what they want because it's just a little thing and it's no big deal. Maybe we'll worry about it when it's a bigger issue. Thinkin this past election speaks volumes on giving in one little bit at a time because it was easier to just to go along to get along for decades until there's nothing left.

Extreme example? Nope.

[Dee]

Well not trying to start an argument, and you seem a little twisted off at my suggestion, but we're talking about mailboxes here. Had one myself until I sold the house about 2 weeks ago.
I think we all agree on the election, but here we're talking about the inches off the ground on a mailbox.

We agree about keeping our principles, but millions of postal customers nationwide are complying so I having difficulty seeing the rub.

I'm older but more mobile than some, and if an independent contractor in your  case died, or quit delivering my mail, I wouldn't really think anything about raising or lowering my mailbox so the mail carrier wouldn't have anymore trouble or effort in delivering my mail from anyone elses.
If an older, or disabled neighbor had difficulty in complying, I'd offer my help in getting them in compliance. We're talking raising, or lowering here.

Like I said, you seem a little twisted off at my solution (didn't mean ta cause that), but here's another way of looking at it.

Pray for the strength to change the things I can. Accept the things I can't. And have the wisdom to know the difference.

Struggled with those 3 things for over 70 years.

[DEACONLLB]

In My area a lot depends on the attitude of the carrier we had one, a woman sorry girls That was a sticker for the box if there were flowers around it no mail if we let the grass get a little too high no mail if the box was not an official sanctioned box no mail if it was a brick enclosed box no mail box had to be on a 4x4 post at a prescribed height if not no mail she is no longer with the post office retired.
 Deaconllb

[wtxbadger]

Hey Dee, I'm not twisted off and sorry if it came across that way, I tend to be fairly direct without and sometimes don't couch my words as I should. Yes you're right the simple thing would be to just fix the boxes that need help. The issue raised its head when the new postmaster didn't contact one of the board members to let us know she would not be honoring the agreement reached and instead immediately started the notices and mail delivery suspensions.

We had an agreement with the prior postmaster on either going to individual home delivery or community boxes which was to be voted on after the postmaster provided information on individual mailbox placement locations and the proposed location of a few community boxes. Quite a few of the residents here think the current mailbox clusters are unsightly and this provided a perfect opportunity to satisfy both the usps concerns and the people who live here.

[NWBear]

WTX

I would check again on the PO supplied multiple boxes.  There must a reg somewhere which specifies this, it wasn't too long ago they replaced ours AT NO EXPENSE ( I volunteered to pour the foundation to save time). 

I think the rationale (which you might use) is, it is FASTER to load 9-20 boxes at one stop then stopping 9-??? times to load each box.

Good luck

[ironglows]

 You can do as you wish of course, but for myself, i guess I would try to get the situation remedied.  You must have some charitable group which would be glad to help if they were informed.
  Perhaps if one of the residents would only mention it in their church...   That's about all it would take in our church, and some young men would be right there to do the job.. maybe some light refreshments..and cool drinks if it is a hot day.
   Then of course, if you have further, serious problems with the new boss at your post office, she can't say you refused to cooperate previously.   In fact, you can point out where you really cooperated with her !

  Small jobs like this..when shared,  can build friendships and and fellowships.

[Ranger99]

I no longer patronize the closest USPS
office because of the  blm type woman
that runs it.  I have to drive past it to
get to the one I go to.
She rants and raves aloud about how
the job is so hard for all the postal
workers and the customers don't
understand and they're underpaid
etc. etc.
The last time I was there, she just
got through arguing with a border
jumper woman about a package from
mexico,  and was mad and I was
next and she thought she might hand
me a dose of it too.
Well there's no sense in being at odds
with the people that are responsible to
make sure your important mail gets to
you, anymore that it would make sense
to argue with the person about to put
together your hamburger order.
They're not about to put a black woman
out of a gubmint job, even if she isn't
the least bit qualified to do any job in
the building

[Mule 11]

Same reason I started using the Bureau of motor vevicles 40 miles away from the one a mile from my house. Now that one is closed. Go figure...

[wtxbadger]

Filed a formal complaint with the district manager a couple of days ago. In the meantime one of the residents here told me they went to the post office to pick up their mail because their home delivery had been suspended. The post office refused to give them their mail until their mailbox had been fixed. A clear violation of usps code. We have a postmaster on a power trip and she will be reined in one way or the other. Figure escalating this as high up as possible. I have no patience for stuff like this and I don't quit when challenged by petty people who feel empowered by their position.

[VA Rifleman]

Wtxbadger. Good for you. Give your congressman a shout as well. Who knows, they might actually do something. Add vote by mail an all that....

Local news is always interested in stories like yours. No manager likes bad PR.