Illegal to leave in mailbox

[HEFFERNAN]

I would feel more comfortable leaving a package or note in a mailbox if the mail carrier has already been through the neighborhood. The resident doesnt care at all and I'm not gonna get fired for it. They want you to do what ever you can to make the delivery, including bending the rules. If you think you're gonna be fired for this, then you were already on their hit list to begin with.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Heff, you make an excellent point, but I would like to add this note of caution. Please make sure that you do not drop any of the mail in the box on to the ground. One of our drivers decided to DR MB but accidently dropped some of the mail on to the ground and, you guessed it, it rained and the mail was ruined.

Mailbox use, especially on country runs, depends greatly on your relationship with the rural carrier. I had one rural route that went through 5 towns--4 of the carriers were cool and one was a total jerk, which I found out the hard way. I had left a pkg in the mailbox and he removed it and brought it back to the P.O. so I had to go there, get yelled at, retrieve the pkg and then drive back to the address so any time that I may have saved was now long gone.

I have a city run so this is not really an issue other than the college housing that I deliver to. I have one bldg that has 6 mailboxes and none of the apts are marked so, if I am unable to determine which apt is which, the pkgs go by the mailboxes and, if small enough, in the mailbox. 4 years, no DFUs.

 

[New Englander]

Once upon a time I was covering a rural route and the post office had closed
for the day(not early) Post lady just went home and closed shop, cause well
it was just that rural.
So I dropped(DR'd) a Gavalia Box in the big blue box.. I figured, better the
customer gets it than not... think again, the post lady was mad the next day.

But she got over it. Especially when I mentioned that she wasn't there when
she should have been open.(big NO-NO for her)

So no Mailboxes... not even the big blue ones...

Thats incorrect, We have company wide release policies to be able to DR those postal packages into the mailboxes at those sites if USPS is closed and the packages fit.

Post Masters have been told the same thing.

Otherwise feel free to hang packages from the boxes, or stick Infonotices on em.
as long as it doesn't interfere with the Mailman, you are good to go.

 

[lurker]

There usually is a paper box attached to or near the mailbox, especially on rural areas. The mailbox I know is an option in the Diad.

 

[browniehound]

Putting something is a federal offense, I know. Have you ever heard of someone being prosecuted for it? I hope the FBI has better things to do than bust UPS drivers for putting packages in people's mailboxes.

I know its against the rules and if you don't know the local letter carrier, you should never do it. But, if I have a small parcel, and the driveway is 1/4 mile long, and if there is mail in the box, I stick it in there. The only people who will know you did this will be the homeowner and you.


Its not worth it if there is no mail in the box. I had a problem a couple of years ago with our mailwoman. Verizon was sending a 2-page add out to every house in the town 2-day air at the time. Basically it was junk mail that people didn't request and probably didn't want.

So, on these days every house on my route is getting them. I normally would throw them on their doorstep, but this day it was raining out so I left some in mailboxes to keep them dry. I got scolded by the mailwoman the next day. I should have just let them get wet because I wasn't going to bag 250 envelopes that day and nobody would have cared.

 

[Griff]

That is a myth, you can be held accountable to it even though you didn't sign. Reviewed with employee on 5/02/08 they refused to sign (supervisor initials) same thing.

Do you have any idea what an extra contract agreement is? They can review it with you until you are blue in the face, it doesn't matter. From a legal standpoint the document is null and void, the union certainly doesn't recognize it. UPS cannot just fabricate new rules and enforce them under the guise of "reviewed with employee". I'll bet you're one of the suckers they get to pay for DR claims and missing COD checks, what a sucker.

 

[filthpig]

I'll box that bitch in a heartbeat.

 

[1989]

What if you put a pkg in a maibox and explodes? I bet the feds would be looking for you. And I bet you lose your job.

 

[filthpig]

What if you put a pkg in a maibox and explodes? I bet the feds would be looking for you. And I bet you lose your job.

Oh well.

 

[satellitedriver]

I got nailed as a rookie leaving a pkg in a mailbox.
The post master sent a letter to the center saying I violated federal law and was subject to a $300.00 fine.
She stated she would not press charges, if it never happened again.
I checked into this federal law. She was right.
The home owner has to provide a federally approved box at the correct height to receive mail.
The air space inside that box is considered federal property.
To protect the postal system from liability claims, all mailboxes must be mounted on "break away" posts. This is to protect USPS from being sued by the idiot that just ran over your mailbox. This protection does not extend to the owner of the box unless all federal standards have been met.
I hang deliveries in a DR bag on the mailbox flag when the road back to the house is too bad to go down.

 

[DS]

They are not so anal about it up here...I always use the mailbox to leave an info notice and a copy of the brokerage charges due.I get along well with our letter carriers and I've never had a problem.I usually get there after the mailman anyways'so its to the customers benefit .If its a ups express letter,I try to leave it between the doors;but when all else
fails ,the mailbox works.

 

[jbomb1010]

Sorry but I dont have a post for this thread and I hate so sound stupid but, how do I start my own thread. Thanks for the replys.

 

[DS]

Sorry but I dont have a post for this thread and I hate so sound stupid but, how do I start my own thread. Thanks for the replys.

at the top left where it says 'NEW THREAD"

 

[trplnkl]

UPS cannot just fabricate new rules and enforce them under the guise of "reviewed with employee".

This is not a new rule, it's been a rule for at least 19 years. Add that to the fact that it is against federal law for anyone but postal carriers to put anything in a mail box, your post is basically incorrect.

 

[wadep]

Only in the states would that be a federal law! Up here in good l Canada we own our own damn mailboxes, and what we want to do with em in our free time is our own buisness.

 

[Griff]

This is not a new rule, it's been a rule for at least 19 years. Add that to the fact that it is against federal law for anyone but postal carriers to put anything in a mail box, your post is basically incorrect.

Okay guy, so if its been a rule for 19 years why are they having people sign off on it? I was speaking in broad terms about the enforcement of "new" rules, not specifically this one. UPS cannot just type up a new rule in Microsoft Word and have people sign it, it's an extra contract agreement. A glaring example would be this "cell phone while driving" nonsense that they are pushing everywhere. While most of us don't do this, UPS is trying to make this a cardinal sin here by having people sign off. This is an extra contract agreement and any BA worth his weight will tell UPS to hit the road because it is void.

 

[yeldarb]

Many of you talk on here as if you have never done anything wrong.

 

[1989]

Okay guy, so if its been a rule for 19 years why are they having people sign off on it? I was speaking in broad terms about the enforcement of "new" rules, not specifically this one. UPS cannot just type up a new rule in Microsoft Word and have people sign it, it's an extra contract agreement. A glaring example would be this "cell phone while driving" nonsense that they are pushing everywhere. While most of us don't do this, UPS is trying to make this a cardinal sin here by having people sign off. This is an extra contract agreement and any BA worth his weight will tell UPS to hit the road because it is void.

Because it's federal law...not a new rule. Federal law trumps any contract language. Or in this case non contract language. Had a lazy driver put 32 stops in mailboxes one day. He didn't sign any form pryor and got a warning letter that day.

 

[toonertoo]

Because it's federal law...not a new rule. Federal law trumps any contract language. Or in this case non contract language. Had a lazy driver put 32 stops in mailboxes one day. He didn't sign any form pryor and got a warning letter that day.

I dont use the boxes, I knew this since I was like 5. I have done it, but not regularly. My point is, it should not be in the board, if its illegal!!!!!

 

[trplnkl]

Okay guy, so if its been a rule for 19 years why are they having people sign off on it? I was speaking in broad terms about the enforcement of "new" rules, not specifically this one. UPS cannot just type up a new rule in Microsoft Word and have people sign it, it's an extra contract agreement. A glaring example would be this "cell phone while driving" nonsense that they are pushing everywhere. While most of us don't do this, UPS is trying to make this a cardinal sin here by having people sign off. This is an extra contract agreement and any BA worth his weight will tell UPS to hit the road because it is void.

Maybe because they have gotten away from stressing this rule and law over the years and want to make sure everyone is in compliance. Hell, I don't know. It's been on every yearly DR certification I have ever seen and there has been many.
Would it not have clearer if you had said "Generally speaking" or some such disclaimer before getting all testy?

Well, I'm not totally sure that it is an extra contract, just a signed proof that you have been informed of the rule. I don't disagree with them not being able to simply make up rules as we go along. Again, this is not a new thing (at least in my part of the brown world). Could this not fall under that category of "work as directed" or" following instructions"?

Tooner, you're right it should not be in the board.