Where are the mailboxes? Post office is cutting costs.
Filed under: Budgets, Home, Consumer Complaints
I recently pulled up at the corner by my house to mail some last minute bills. Jumping out of the car with the door open, I looked in disbelief when I couldn't find the familiar blue box. Glancing around, all I could find was some old rust marks on the sidewalk where the box stood for the last 30 years. So where did it go?
I found out the answer when I picked up the evening newspaper: boxes are being eliminated. The United States Postal Service is attempting to cut costs by removing boxes that are not used extensively. I guess it makes sense, but I wish someone would have told me. Or better yet, inform me where boxes still are available.
Information from the post office lets consumers know that they can simply "mail" a letter right in their box by leaving it for the mail handler. Well, maybe that works for some people, but not if you have the old crab that comes to my house everyday. He's grouchy on even the nicest days and never smiles or says "hi." I can just see him muttering under his breathe if I were to ask for any extras.
Now I know that I am dating myself, but I still remember when mail delivery was twice a day. Really. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon. They stopped that a long time ago but I still remember it. I also recall when the postman was not only friendly, but he stopped to chat and talk for awhile.
I guess I have enough friends without the mailman, but I sure would like to know where to mail a letter.
Barbara Bartlein is the People Pro. For her FREE e-mail newsletter, please visit: The People Pro




Reader Comments (Page 1 of 9)
6-24-2009 @ 8:04PM
Louida said...
Well I think it is a smart idea to get rid of the boxes that does not get a lot of mail. Anyway to save money.
Lou @ http://EarningFreeMoney.com
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6-24-2009 @ 8:36PM
SP said...
Go back to school and learn to speak English.
6-24-2009 @ 11:10PM
mickey said...
They took away the vending machine in my post office to buy stamps. Now you have to get in line and buy them from a clerk. How the hell is that saving money? The USPS is the next gross mismanaged money sucking bunch of jerkoffs to be uncovered. DEMAND MORE FROM THESE LAZY ASSES.
6-24-2009 @ 8:14PM
Mark Russell said...
If you place mail in your mailbox with the flag up, you run the risk of someone stealing the mail and identity information. Here in Las Vegas each post office has drive-up lanes with bunkerlike mail drop boxes - - you pull up, drop in your mail and go on your way. It's a sign of the times that dropping off mail has become another errand like returning library books or picking up dry cleaning.
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6-24-2009 @ 8:17PM
D said...
Barbara,
Please don't judge other postal employees by your cranky mailman. Most are very pleasant and helpful. You'll always find the cranks in all walks of life. My suggestion is to call or visit your main post office and ask for a list of collection cans, so you can mail at your convenience.
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6-24-2009 @ 8:43PM
C Jacq said...
I assume this is common practice, but I live in a suburb of Chicago. If I place the mail on my box out side of our house the mailman picks it up.
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6-24-2009 @ 8:20PM
Dave said...
Think about all the junk mail the letter carriers have to deliver these days. They probably have larger routs then in the old days, also. No wonder every once in the while, one of them goes Postal and shoots up their post office. Stress is no escuse for people killing other people, but people go nuts easier and easier in today's rat race, do more , and get paid less for it, work world.
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6-25-2009 @ 8:55AM
smizgala said...
The Junk mail is a moneymaker for them...
6-25-2009 @ 12:49PM
mailgma said...
Are you kidding me????? I am a rural mail carrier and have a GREAT relationship with my mail customers.... I have watched their children grow, and know more about most of them than I do my own family...... If you have a problem with your mail carrier, you need to call the supervisor and complain about his attitude. We are paid to be courteous and respectful to our mail customers, but we do not do it for the pay. We are proud to be postal employees and do not want deadbeats to ruin our good reputations. You can mail letters ( and parcels with carrier pickup, contact USPS.com) without repercussions. DO NOT put up with your carrier's attitude as this affects the postal service in general, and is not good for customer relations.
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6-24-2009 @ 8:22PM
David said...
Mail service is becoming slower, more expensive, and less reliable. First-class mail delivery is 10 percent slower than it was 15 years ago, and the Postmaster General concedes that postal delivery may have been more reliable in the 1920s.
The United States Postal Service (U.S.P.S.) is probably the worst managed and one of the least honest corporations in America. One innovation after another has failed as the Postal Service struggles to enter the twentieth century. The service spends tens of millions of dollars each year to deceive the public about the poor quality of mail service. From mail delivery times to productivity increases to nine-digit zip codes, the Postal Service turns out reams of misleading information.
Americans are suffering a gradual extinction of mail service. In the past 15 years, the U.S.P.S. has intentionally slowed mail delivery, cut back on mail collection pickups, shortened the target zone for overnight delivery, reduced business deliveries, imposed strict requirements on the size of letters it will accept, and begun the abolition of home delivery. Congress is considering ending Saturday mail delivery.
The federal government has a monopoly on the delivery of first-class mail; as a result, the Postal Service is the country's third-largest employer. Like all monopolies, the postal monopoly is abused, as the government forces people to accept increasingly worse service at ever higher prices.
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6-24-2009 @ 8:47PM
kate said...
did you or do you work for the usps ?
My husband did for 28 yrs. nearly all the third shift. He was injuried on the job 3 times and returned every time .
He worked very hard on the intake loading docks at a major hub , often he was upset that he and a few others workers were so loyal and honest hard laborers while the "temporary laborers" played cards or hid for naps !!
He worked his learned" honest work for an honest pay " that he was taught as a child of the 50's. and retired with a clean conscience.
6-24-2009 @ 8:56PM
Jeremy said...
I would LOVE to know where you are getting your "facts." Let me guess, you work for FedEx or UPS. :o)
6-24-2009 @ 9:10PM
Ken L Adamczyk said...
I have been a letter carrier for over 30 yrs. the reason for the drop in service is the USPS in trying to cut cost cuts service. Ask your letter carrier to pick up a book of stamps for you like you did in the past and he is told to hand you a stamps by mail form fill it out, insert your check and in 3 to 5 days you get your stamps. Failure to do it this way may result in discipline for the carrier. Two years ago i purchased stamps after i clocked out for the day for an invalid on my route. I placed the wax paper envelope with the stamps in the slot for her mail for delivery the next day. A supervisor noticed me placing them with her mail for delivery that day. I was threatened with theft of services because i didn't put a stamp on the envelope. If anyone tells you he sees his carrier take hour lunches or hides for any length of time call him a liar. Each carrier is issued a hand held scanner that reads and records the time you scan a barcode. When i leave the station to begin my deliveries i must scan a barcode on the wall when i get to my first delivery i must scan another barcode so they know the time it took me to travel there i have 14 more barcodes spread out along my route so it's known how much time i take to deliver each segment failure to scan them results in discipline. Your mail is made a certain size so it fits on the automated sorting machine. Craft employees positions were cut drastically resulting in service cuts. One thing though it's now estimated that there is 1 person in a supervisory position for every 8 craft employees they need that many to find out why workers can't meet their expectations. So if the carrier or clerk seems like they don't have time for you it's because they don't
6-24-2009 @ 9:44PM
debbie said...
In 1972, my mom carried mail on a rural route, and yes, she had fewer stops, less mail, plenty of time to stop and chat, have lunch, glass of tea, whatever with her customers. Then I started carrying mail in 1998, door to door, up probably 1000 stairs a day, fighting dogs, seeing all kinds of obsenities and crime, being followed by suspicious people, drinking 2 gallons of water per day, walking in rain and cold, sweating like I thought I would die in the summer, and all the while someone driving an air conditioned car behind me telling me to speed up, walk faster, jump over this, go around that, etc... and now it is even worse. Thankfully, I got to go inside and now I am a clerk. The pressure is still there, just not all the other obstacles. And the post office is in financial crisis, however, the employees should not be blamed. If you feel you have a bad mail carrier, I would say there are 100 who are not like him. Every company has their "less than desirable" employees. But I still think we have the best deal in town, for someone who wants to ship or mail anything, which many folks don't do anymore, due to electronic devices. The post office will rise above their crisis, not lay of employees, most likely not ask us to cut our benefits, and definately not ask for a bail out! I am a proud USPS employee. The demands of a mail carrier are extremely difficult, and only the strong survive. They must carrry more mail in less time, to keep management off their backs, and the demands go all the way up to the top. My guess is you are a white collar worker, sitting in an air conditioned office, answering your phone when and if you want.. Don't be critical of what you don't know. And remember everyone has bad apples, and each person makes mistakes and has bad days.
6-24-2009 @ 9:41PM
Pastor said...
David, I can always spot the competitor...so you work for BROWN? You do not provide factual information, which is indicative of a liberal. If you really want to impress the reader, just put down the facts; why make it up?
6-24-2009 @ 9:42PM
Trayci Stephenson said...
What a ridiculous rant of hogwash!!!
I am a proud postal worker of 14 years. I have been a city letter carrier, shop steward, delivery supervisor, acting station manager, acting postmaster in a large city delivery office and I have now down-graded to a small office where I now also can add window service to my list of positions performed.
The postal service may have a monopoly on first class mail but the problem is that this is not where our bread and butter is. We make our money on Bulk Business Mail or as many refer to it, junk mail.
First try to think of how many companies have gone out of business in the last 12-24 months. Hundreds? Thousands? Now, lets look at just one for an example, Circuit City. They mailed a monthly flyer, with more at Christmas time. They mailed bills to all of their credit customers. They mailed credit and coupon offers to customers. All of this done montly, at a minimum, for all of their stores, nation wide. GONE, all gone.
Now imagine how many credit card offers you used to receive from your bank or your bank's competitor. How many of those banks no longer even exist? Add their montly mail volume of advertising and billing. GONE!
Removing a few collection boxes and raising the price of stamps two cents and even getting rid of Saturday delivery isn't going to begin to cover the massive losses in revenue we are experiencing because of the depression being suffered in this country right now. Depression, not recession, depression. The impacts on all aspects of this line of work including the private sector printers, paper manufacturers, and transportation networks are all suffering or have gone out of business. Yet we can not go out of business, we just keep going deeper in to debt to provide a "service" that is expected to be supported by its own income but is not being compensated for, due to current conditions.
Get over your conspiracy theories and look at it from a business perspective and you will see that we, the UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE, are fighting, scratching and clawing to continue to provide this country with a proud tradition of service as we have done for centuries!
6-24-2009 @ 10:59PM
Brenda Wren said...
Well here is my thought, if you think you could do a better job at it I suggest apply. I am a rural carrier and everything you posted is just hot air and as for your information alot of changes are due to 911 just the same as at airports. So I suggest If you think you could do better service apply usps.com and be my carrier in my neighborhood and let me see if you meet all the hot air you posted on here. Have a nice day.
6-24-2009 @ 11:16PM
Florida said...
where do you get your info?????
6-24-2009 @ 8:21PM
Chuck said...
Sounds like a good idea in the city as long as there is a post office nearby.
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6-24-2009 @ 8:26PM
David said...
The reason postmen or women don't have much time to stop and chat anymore is because the postal service, like just about any business, is cutting back the number of employees and putting more work on the ones that are left. Don't get back to the post office on time after delivering your route, you will be made to feel you're not doing your job properly. Yet the postal service can't make the connection that taking time to chat and being more friendly while out on the route might just result in customers doing more business and thus helping the postal service's bottom line.
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