EDITORIAL: Mailboxes — tidy up

Published 9:56 pm Friday, May 15, 2020

Did you know that this week was Mailbox Improvement Week? 

Like many of us, you probably didn’t. 

Each year, the U.S. Postal Service designates the third full week of May to encourage customers on city motorized, rural, or contract delivery service routes (formerly highway contract box delivery routes) to examine and, where necessary, improve the appearance of their mailboxes.

This is an annual effort on the part of the U.S. Postal Service to encourage residents to address the wear and tear that occurs to mailboxes every year.

Neat, attractive mailboxes make a significant contribution to the appearance of our roadways. It’s a small way to help improve the look of our communities. 

So what can residents do to tidy up around their mailboxes? According to the Postal Service, residents should: 

• Replacing loose hinges on a mailbox door.

·Repaint mailboxes that may have rusted or has started to peel.

· Remount loosened mailbox posts.

· Replace or adding house numbers. In rural communities, in particular, this is vitally important as there may be dirt roads or roadways that are more difficult to navigate, let alone find house numbers. 

You may use a “custom-built” mailbox but get approval from your local post office to make sure it meets the guidelines.

The Postal Service wants mailboxes to be fully operational, safe to use, conveniently located and large enough to support each customer’s daily mail and package volume.

Mailboxes that meet these requirements help ensure delivery and collection are handled efficiently, which improves service to the entire route, according to USPS.

So while many of us are still at home, let’s do what we can to ensure that these frontline workers are supported and our mail runs as smoothly as possible.