Postal Service urges customers to clear mailboxes from the latest weather wallop

NEW HAMPSHIRE / VERMONT—As we endure another blast of winter weather, postal officials remind customers letter carriers are often on the front line of severe weather. Customers are responsible to keep mailboxes clear for safe delivery.

Letter carriers are not required to deliver to locations where safety issues—such as unshoveled steps, snow-packed paths or icy overhangs—create perilous conditions.

Painted porches and steps are particularly hazardous. While salting or rubber-backed mats help make them less slippery, postal officials request that customers clear snow and ice from the path to mailboxes before a letter carrier arrives. Local postal officials acknowledge that it is an ‘extra effort’ and, sometimes it is not possible. On a day like that, carriers who do not find safe access to a mailbox may not be able to deliver.

For households or businesses with roadside delivery, it means clearing around the mailbox to permit a postal vehicle to drive up—and then drive away, without backing up—for delivery. A carrier cannot leave that vehicle to service a mailbox.

Injuries take a physical toll on a carrier. But the costs of injuries take a financial toll on the Postal Service, as well. The average fall-related injury cost about $4,300 in medical and compensation expenses. Postal customers bear those costs.

That’s why the Postal Service reminds local residents to add upkeep of mailboxes as part of snow and ice removal routines.

The Postal Service’s New Hampshire/Vermont District reaches more than 1.9 million customers served by 513 Post Offices.