Winter Mailbox Protection

We’re right in the middle of winter, meaning snow, ice, and snowplows. Is your mailbox safe from all of these dangers? We’re here to give you a few tips to keep those mailboxes safe.

1.      Clear the snow away from your mailbox. This is not only helpful to the letter carriers delivering your mail, but for incoming cars and snowplows. If your mailbox is located on the street, snow alongside your mailbox will be kicked up into your mailbox. Keeping your street clear will reduce the amount of snow hitting your mailbox.

2.      Place reflective tape on your mailbox. This will make it easier for people, including those driving the snowplows, to see it. This will significantly reduce the chances of your mailbox being hit by a plow or vehicle.

3.      Check to see how securely your mailbox is mounted. With the ground frozen it may be too late to make adjustments to the post, but you can make sure the mailbox itself is mounted securely to the post. This will also help prevent it from taking great damage.

4.      If you have a warm spell and are able to do so, move your mailbox as far away from the road as possible. You must of course adhere to USPS standards, but the more distance between your mailbox and the street the better your chances of no mailbox fatalities.

5.      Keep the mailbox itself clear of snow. If the top of your mailbox is covered in snow, it’s going to be difficult to see. This goes hand in hand with tip number two. You want to do everything you can to make sure your mailbox is visible.

None of these tips are, of course, perfect. Accidents do still happen. While there are specially designed mailboxes created to reduce the risk of snow plows, they can be very expensive and even though don’t guarantee your mailbox won’t be damaged or destroyed. But take heart, because the end of January approaches which means spring, and no more snow, is on the way. 

CBUs VS Door-to-Door Delivery

Recently, there has been a great deal of discussion regarding which method of delivery is better. On one hand, there is door-to-door and curbside delivery, which has been around for many years. On the other hand, there is cluster box unit delivery, which is already common in apartments, but not in neighborhoods with individual homes. Yet door to door delivery is something that has been phased out in other countries, and could be phased out in America as well. Today we are going to look at the pros and cons of making a switch to CBUs.

Cluster Box Units (CBUs)

A cluster box unit, also known as a CBU, is a single structure that holds multiple individual’s mail. This type of mail delivery is very common with apartments. A letter carrier gets access to the entire unit and is able to deliver multiple people’s mail in one place. This way, a mail carrier can deliver a handful of people’s mail at once instead of walking from door to door. This unit is placed in a centralized location to be accessed by many people.

Door-to-Door and Curbside

Both door-to-door and curbside delivery has been commonplace for a very long time. Door-to-door and curbside both see letter carriers delivering mail to individual homes. The only difference is with door-to-door, they must walk to each door while with curbside, letter carriers can often drive from mailbox to mailbox. Curbside is fairly common in more rural areas with rural letter carriers, but is also in cities.

Pros

The biggest pro to switching to CBUs is that it will save a great deal of money. According to the USPS, CBUs will cost $160 per address a year, versus curbside which is $224 and door-to-door which is $353. That is a huge cost difference. This is because letter carriers are using less gas, their vehicles are lasting longer, and mail delivery takes less time.

Another great pro for CBUs is security. With standard residential mailboxes, there is no type of lock. Mail can easily be accessed by any individual that thinks to open the mailbox. This can lead to stolen mail and sometimes even stolen identity. With a CBU, the only people with a way in are the letter carriers and the individual’s who have a key for their mailbox.

Cons

A big flaw with CBUs is that while many people can walk a block to retrieve their mail, individuals who are elderly or disabled often have a much harder time. This is even truer in inclement weather, such as rain and snow. It could lead to this demographic getting hurt, though some have proposed that if CBUs are installed there should be exceptions for the disabled and elderly.

Another flaw is that CBUs have an initial cost that is fairly expensive. Not only that, but it is not entirely clear who would be responsible for maintaining the CBU. This includes not only keeping snow away from them, but keeping them in working order.

One of the biggest concerns that have arisen in other countries is the actual placement of the CBUs. Many believe that CBUs will end up being placed in areas that are unsafe for individuals to access. This is an issue that has been raised many times in Canada as CBUs are installed. Many people worry about safety from passing cars, or the neighborhood itself.

So as you can see, there are pros and cons to installing CBUs instead of using door-to-door delivery or curbside delivery. If the cons of cluster box units are considered and addressed, they can be a great cost efficient method of handling mail delivery.