USPS Requests, Please Clear Snow from Your Mailbox

Snow knows no limitations this winter, creating challenges in communities throughout the Northeast including routine delivery of the mail.

Your letter carrier may be the first to visit a home before snow removal or salting begins. Consider they make hundreds of stops a day loaded with important packages, magazines and letters. They may use stairways, porches or walkways that a family does not frequent during the winter months. That’s why the Postal Service reminds residents not to overlook regular upkeep of residential mailboxes as part of any snow and ice removal routine.

In order to avoid an interruption in service, here are a few tips that never go out of season.

• Keep stairs and walkways clear of snow and ice. Mail carriers are especially vulnerable to slips, trips and falls during the winter months.

• Remove obstructions around a mailbox. If you have a mailbox at the road, keep it clear of packed snow. Clearing the mailbox 15 feet before and after the box allows letter carriers to deliver mail safely and without delay.

• Painted porches and steps are particularly hazardous. Salting an area or using rubber-backed mats may help make them less slippery.

• Add a reflector and house numbers for visibility by your letter carrier, plows, emergency vehicles and others.

• Watch for mail carriers on foot and slow-moving postal vehicles.

• Leave a light on to help illuminate potential hazards on the way to your mailbox.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

Submitted text and courtesy photo.