BALTIMORE, MD — The Postal Service is asking customers to assist their letter carriers by clearing a path to the mailbox. Whether 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.

Although many outdoor workers discontinue their activity in inclement weather, letter carriers are still on the job--each delivering to hundreds of customers daily, but if access to the mailbox is blocked by snow or ice, we remind them that safety is paramount to delivering the mail.

Postal employees make every reasonable effort to deliver mail in many difficult weather conditions. However, delivery service may be delayed or curtailed whenever streets or walkways present hazardous conditions for letter carriers or when snow is plowed against mailboxes.

Slick surfaces from drifting snow and hard-packed ice can develop quickly with serious consequences. Ice is particularly dangerous on steps and any walking surface, especially painted wood or concrete such as stoops and porches. Clearing those surfaces is a homeowner’s responsibility for safe access to the mailbox.

For homes with doorstep delivery, hand rails are also essential. Use of available hand rails is required for carriers and placement of hand rails is a building code requirement in most locations. Officials note that many postal customers have moved mailboxes to curb-level, off porches, so that clearing stairs in winter are no longer an issue.

Residents who receive mail delivery to curbside boxes must keep the approach to and exit from their mailbox clear of snow, ice, vehicles, trash cans and other objects. This is particularly true after roadway snow removal efforts. That clear path permits the carrier to drive up to the mailbox without leaving the vehicle. The approach to and exit from the mailbox should be cleared sufficiently on both sides to allow the carrier to drive ahead safely.

Letter carriers want to deliver the mail but in cases when they cannot get to a mailbox, they must bring the mail back to the post office. Customers can assist letter carriers in the completion of their appointed rounds by clearing a path to the mailbox.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation: 152 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With more than 31,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world's mail. If it were a private-sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 42nd in the 2012 Fortune 500. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for seven years and the fourth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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