Problems with the mailman

[JimPghPA]

I have never been a mailman/mailperson, but their day not including lunch probably goes something like this:

8:00 AM Punch in.

Wait for daily assignment.

8:15 get daily assignment.

Get mail.

Organize mail to match the rout.

8:30 Leave office.

Add gas to vehicle and check oil.

8:50 Drive from office to first stop.

9:00 arrive at first stop.

9:00 to 3:30 Deliver mail to 500 locations.

3:30 to 4:00 drive to office to drop off vehicle.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM is 6.5 hours or 390 minutes.

390 / 500 = 0.78 minutes or 46.8 seconds per delivery, including travel from previous delivery to that delivery.

And this average of 46.8 seconds per stop is regardless of weather. So if it is raining, snow, or sweltering heat, they still have to keep the average delivery time so at the end of the day all the mail on the rout is delivered.

Now if a customer arranges their mail box to require extra seconds to get to it, that mail-person, probably adjusts the delivery to minimize any additional time required, so that at the end of the day all of his/her deliveries are taken care of before he/she has to return to the office.

 

[surfstar]

NEWMAN!

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Simple-the mailbox needs moved. Fix it and the problem is solved.

 

[coolbird101]

We have lived here 18 years, this guy has been doing our route for at least 10 years. I guess the driving on the grass and me being out of compliance (which I was unaware of) came to a head today. I was ticked off , what I needed was some tactful worded "the customer is always right stuff" He was not willing to serve it up. Since I am out of compliance and he won't stay off the grass I will move the box. This should also free up 1 to 2 seconds of his day. My next door neighbor has been here since the 50's and dirt roads, he says my box has always been where it sits now.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Simple-the mailbox needs moved. Fix it and the problem is solved.



I agree. You are very lucky they haven't made you fix it before now. The town owns that part of the grass anyway so they can drive on it if they want. The post office does set standards on where the mailbox is.

 

[opus1]

Actually, the carrier doesn't have to resort to any of the revenge tactics mentioned -- all he has to do is say the box is not in compliance and stop delivery. In my family's case this happened a long time ago, but when we moved into the house I spent most of my growing years in, there was no mailbox or permanently affixed house numbers. Despite my Mom waiting for the carrier, he would not hand-deliver the mail to her and said that the mail for us was being held until we had an actual mailbox and numbers on the house. Next day after work, Dad installs the box, didn't have time to mount the house numbers, so the number was written on a piece of paper and hung in the window. No dice. Someone had to go to the post office in town to pick up the mail until the PO was satisfied that we complied with the regulations.

I know you (OP) said you're going to move the box, but I wanted to relay the story to illustrate to everyone that the carrier doesn't really have to *do* anything to inconvenience us.

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted By: Kruse
My memory of this movie eludes me right now, but wasn't there a Tom Hanks movie where the mail man just drives by and throws the mail out the window and laughs?

That wasn't Tom Hanks, it was Chevy Chase. And the movie was Funny Farm.

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
Originally Posted By: Kruse
My memory of this movie eludes me right now, but wasn't there a Tom Hanks movie where the mail man just drives by and throws the mail out the window and laughs?

That wasn't Tom Hanks, it was Chevy Chase. And the movie was Funny Farm.


Notice that the mailbox in the movie is also not in compliance. Coincidence?

 

[mechanicx]

Originally Posted By: surfstar
NEWMAN!

Awesome. I kind of thought about Kramer's campaign against the postal service when I read this thread.

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: coolbird101
We have lived here 18 years, this guy has been doing our route for at least 10 years. I guess the driving on the grass and me being out of compliance (which I was unaware of) came to a head today. I was ticked off , what I needed was some tactful worded "the customer is always right stuff" He was not willing to serve it up. Since I am out of compliance and he won't stay off the grass I will move the box. This should also free up 1 to 2 seconds of his day. My next door neighbor has been here since the 50's and dirt roads, he says my box has always been where it sits now.


Good idea....otherwise they will find your mail in Wyoming...

 

[mrsilv04]

Originally Posted By: doitmyself
Originally Posted By: exranger06
Originally Posted By: Kruse
My memory of this movie eludes me right now, but wasn't there a Tom Hanks movie where the mail man just drives by and throws the mail out the window and laughs?

That wasn't Tom Hanks, it was Chevy Chase. And the movie was Funny Farm.


Notice that the mailbox in the movie is also not in compliance. Coincidence?



Ha! It's about 6 feet off the road, 4 feet off the ground, and is blocked by a pile of rocks.

Or is that a birdhouse?

 

[bradepb]

If there is a car parked on the street to close to our mailbox they wont leave the mail. They dont have to get out of there truck.I guess if they did that every time it would add many minutes to there route.

 

[Fleetmon]

We have an 850' driveway that our mailperson doesn't like to drive down (no idea why since there's plenty of room to turn around (I've had a TT turn around at the bottom when he got lost!), is paved, is well lit, and a covered porch to deposit packages on) so instead she crams everything into the mailbox. She's driven down the driveway in the past and she seems pleasant enough but if she can shove it in the box, she will.....no matter what gets damaged.

 

[rjundi]

Either move box as stated or install gravel(not sod) where he drops the wheel in.

The folks here actually put nice stone pavers around the bast of mailbox so driver can nudge in from road without creating ruts like you have. Alternatively I notice some folks who pave their driveway build a lip out to there mailbox off the main road. The pavers when doing main road tend to extend and fix these areas too if home owner installed pavement is there.

6" drop is totally unacceptable and putting a statue in the roadway is a hazard and not your property.

 

[Mystic]

I had a problem with my mailman also. Across the street from me is a house with the same number as mine but a completely different address. The mailman kept delivering my mail to that mail box and sometimes delivering the mail for those people to my mail box. I kept taking their mail across the street to them. Finally those people moved to another city and the house is still empty, and as far as I know I am receiving all of my mail.

 

[coolbird101]

I moved the box today, is now exactly 8" off the edge of road. Hopefully this will keep them off the grass.

 

[coolbird101]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
Either move box as stated or install gravel(not sod) where he drops the wheel in.

The folks here actually put nice stone pavers around the bast of mailbox so driver can nudge in from road without creating ruts like you have. Alternatively I notice some folks who pave their driveway build a lip out to there mailbox off the main road. The pavers when doing main road tend to extend and fix these areas too if home owner installed pavement is there.

6" drop is totally unacceptable and putting a statue in the roadway is a hazard and not your property.

Our road is on a slight slope, we are about midway down the road, when it rains, water rushes down our street and wears away at the drop off. The blacktop was starting to break apart at that point it was so bad. As far as the statue goes, it was never in the road, it was in the grass and was meant to show the mail people that we made repairs in this area and didn't want to do it again. Clearly this didn't work. I understand that the county owns the easement, should I have called them to fix the drop off? It is there property.

 

[Mystic]

Well my mailman is not quite as bad as the mailman in the video! My mailman just could not get past the numbers to the rest of the address. He must have been speed reading. Yep, those are the numbers, and this is the general location!

 

[PRND3L]

Originally Posted By: coolbird101
I moved the box today, is now exactly 8" off the edge of road. Hopefully this will keep them off the grass.

Keep us "posted".

 

[Rick in PA]