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USPS reminds customers to clear path for carriers

The above diagram shows how snow and other objects should be cleared for curbside mailboxes. A 30-foot approach is required – 15 feet before and 15 feet after the mailbox – to allow carriers to deliver mail safely.
The above diagram shows how snow and other objects should be cleared for curbside mailboxes. A 30-foot approach is required – 15 feet before and 15 feet after the mailbox – to allow carriers to deliver mail safely. Graphic provided.

With winter weather in full force, the U.S. Postal Service reminds customers to give carriers a clear path by which to deliver their mail.

Postal regulations require that snow and objects be removed from curbside mailboxes. A 30-foot approach is required - 15 feet before and 15 feet after the mailbox - to allow carriers to deliver mail safely without having to exit the vehicle, according to City Carrier Brad Schumm of the Huntington Post Office.

In the city, those on walking routes must keep steps and sidewalks clear of snow and ice so carriers can get to their mailboxes.

"If it's not clear, (carriers) are instructed not to go up there (to the box). If they slip and fall, obviously, it's a lot of money spent on going to the doctor," he says. We've had carriers break legs from slipping on ice."

Another headache for postal carriers are trash cans, cars and other objects, which often block the approach to the mailbox or block the mailbox itself. Schumm says they present more safety risks for carriers.

"Any item in front of the mailbox obstructs our rural carriers' approach to the mailbox," he said. "One of our carriers was actually telling me that trash cans are right in front of the mailbox, so he's been having to get out and move them. He's actually doing the customer a favor because we don't require the rural routers to dismount because of safety issues."

Schumm says carriers on foot walk an average of nine miles per day and have about 700 stops on their routes.

Delivery of mail could be refused by either walking or motor carriers if they are not given open access to mailboxes.

"More than anything, they just don't realize the job. I don't think they realize what goes into it, and the fact that people say, ‘Why can't you just get out of your vehicle?'" Schumm says. "If we did that 700 times a day we'd never get done."

Complete caption: The above diagram shows how snow and other objects should be cleared for curbside mailboxes. A 30-foot approach is required – 15 feet before and 15 feet after the mailbox – to allow carriers to deliver mail safely. Keep trash cans, vehicles and other objects away from mailboxes, and make sure paths to boxes are cleared of snow and ice on walking routes.