Community Corner

How To Keep Receiving Your Mail In The Snow

Keep your mailbox accessible. Mail can be held to addresses where ice and snow have not been cleared.

While "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night" will stay the mail couriers from "the swift completion of their appointed rounds," the U.S. Postal Service asks that you help out by clearing a path to the mailbox.

So when you're shoveling snow from the driveway and the sidewalk, don't forget to make a path to the mailbox, including any nearby curbs or steps or walkways.

Although the Postal Service anticipates normal operations during the snowstorm, it asks customers to help keep the mail coming and help keep their letter carriers safe by clearing snow and ice from mailboxes and walkways.

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Whether your mail arrives on foot or by postal vehicle, the letter carrier needs access to the mailbox to deposit mail. Please make sure the mailbox itself is visible and free of snow and ice, and make sure it is safely accessible for your letter carrier. 

Letter carriers are instructed to hold mail to addresses where ice and snow are not cleared.

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With those guidelines in mind, the Postal Service recommends the following actions:

  • Customers are asked to clear enough snow from curbside boxes to allow mail trucks to approach the box, deliver the mail, and to drive away from the box without danger or the need for backing.
  • Walkways should be cleared of snow and ice and allow enough traction to avoid slips, trips or falls.
  • Steps should also be kept clear of ice and snow and in good repair so as not to cause injury to the letter carriers or others who visit the customer’s home.
  • Overhangs should be clear and free of snow and ice to avoid injury.


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