Winters to early pioneers in Maine were times of privation and hardship. Heavy snows made roads impassable, food was usually scarce, and wild beasts lurked in the forests surrounding homes and villages. Settlers were preoccupied with just staying alive until spring came.
Winter in Maine today is still a hardship but is no longer a life-or-death situation for those of us who have chosen to live here and face it every year. This winter especially has been tough with snow accumulations exceeding 100 inches and snow banks higher than a man is tall. Each of us has to do battle with the blizzards and winter storms and the resulting traffic snarls and accidents. At home, it is a constant struggle to keep driveways and walkways clear, to keep a path clear for the oil delivery guy, to keep the pipes from freezing and the ice dams from forming on the roof.
Mail carriers and snowplow drivers find themselves on the same side of the battle against winter. Their missions are different, but complement each other – deliver the mail and keep the roads open.
Delivering the Mail
"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" may not be the official motto of the US Post Office, but it typifies the dedication of its rural mail carriers to deliver the mail under very tough conditions. This winter has been worse than usual, and the number of homes where mail could not be delivered is high.
The Postal Operations Manual updated in July 2007 states “Curbside mailboxes must be placed so that they may be safely and conveniently served by carriers without leaving their conveyances … Customers must remove obstructions, including vehicles, trash cans and snow, that make delivery difficult.” That means that mailbox owners are required to keep their mailboxes shoveled out so that the mailman can drive up to it and leave mail.
If the carrier can’t get to the box because of snow, or if they can’t find the box because it is buried in the snow bank, they are required to return the mail to the post office. People can pick their mail up at the post office until they shovel out their mailbox so that the carrier can find it again.
The Post Office is clear on this point – it is up to the owner of the mailbox to keep it clear and accessible, and the Post Office bears no responsibility for mail lost or delayed because the mail box was lost somewhere in the snow bank! No matter how much effort and expense we invest in putting out our mailbox at the side of the road, it is our responsibility to keep it clear and to fix it if it is damaged or destroyed so long as we want to have mail delivered to our home.
This mailbox was hidden in the snowbank when the
snowplow found it. It looks like it survived the
impact but the post it sets on will have to be reset in the spring.
Keeping the Roads Clear
State and town road crews are obligated to keep roads in a safe and convenient condition for travelers with motor vehicles. They do so in winter by removing snow and ice from storms. At one point not too long ago winter roads were packed with large snow rollers drawn by horses or oxen, to allow horse drawn sleighs to travel. Cars and trucks were usually “put up” for the winter and mud season. Now, however, we expect roads to be kept plowed so we can drive our cars all winter long.
As the snows continue to fall, the battle of the plow crews becomes one of clearing the roads and finding a place to put the snow. That means using the wing of the plow to push back the snow banks at the edge of the road. If this is not done, with a winter like the one we are now having, roadways would get narrower and narrower as more snow falls resulting in a dangerous driving situation.
In the process of plowing roads during storms when visibility is poor, and when “winging back” the banks, the plows often hit objects that are on the edge of the road. Driveway markers, newspaper boxes, and mailboxes are all in the public right-of-way and are the most common casualties. Sometimes they get hit because they are buried in the snow and not visible, and sometimes it is because the plow can’t avoid them due to oncoming traffic, road conditions, or whatever. I know that we’ve all suspected that the plow drivers seek mailboxes out as some perverse game, but believe me, that is the last thing on their mind while trying to horse around a fully loaded truck on a slippery road in a blizzard. Winter is their enemy, not our mailboxes.
According to Jim Katsiaficas, Senior Staff Attorney for the Maine Municipal Association, mailboxes are in the right of way by permission of the town and if damaged, there is no legal entitlement to replacement or payment. Towns are required to keep roads passable for traffic, and these public safety concerns outweigh any damage that might be done to mailboxes in the process.
The Maine DOT recommends using a free-swinging suspended mailbox on an extended arm, mounted at least 42 inches above the ground to provide clearance for the plow wing. They also recommend that mailboxes be placed on the side of driveways away from approaching traffic to allow plow truck drivers to properly clear the roadway and get as close as possible to the mailbox to minimize the amount of shoveling needed to clear the mailbox for the mail carrier. Sometimes mailboxes can be located on the lee side of a telephone pole or tree and will have considerable protection from plows. Town and state plow crews have instructions to avoid damage to mailboxes whenever possible.
Mailboxes – caught in the middle!
No matter how hard each of us tries, there will still be snowstorms when we can’t get our mailboxes shoveled out in time for our mail carrier to deliver our mail. Worse, our mailbox may be “missing” in the snow banks and fall victim to the snowplow.
A friend here in town remembers several years ago losing their mailbox. They had it affixed to a solid post in the ground and it was kept shoveled out. One day she went out to get the mail and it was gone! The post was still there, but the mailbox was nowhere to be seen! The next day her husband came across it lying atop a snow bank in the next town. Apparently the wing had picked up their mailbox and had carried it along down the road for a bit. Luckily there was no mail in it.
So, the bottom line is that your mailbox could be a casualty this winter and you alone are responsible for dealing with it.
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