KANSAS CITY, MO – "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" is an inscription on the James Farley Post Office in New York City, which is a quote derived from 5th Century BC Greek Historian Herodotus.

And while city and rural letter carriers in southern Missouri and eastern Kansas are proud of the Postal Service’s unofficial motto, a bit of help from their customers is always welcomed – especially with this week's snow and ice across the region.

"Snow and ice on sidewalks, front porches and around rural mailboxes present a serious safety challenge for our letter carriers across the Midwest," said Gail Hendrix, manager of the agency’s Kansas City-based Mid-America District. The district covers most of western, central and southern Missouri and eastern Kansas.

"Our employees take their jobs seriously and take pride in reporting to work -- regardless of the conditions," Hendrix said, "but if access to the mailbox is blocked by snow or ice, we remind them that safety is paramount to delivering the mail."

The Postal Service also is reminding customers to keep access to their rural mailboxes clear should snow and ice become a hazard. "Our rural and city carriers will battle freezing temperatures, ice and snow in many parts of the Midwest," Hendrix explained. "We urge customers to do the right thing, not just for our letter carriers, but for everyone."

By taking these safety measures, postal customers might be able to make a bit of history themselves this year: an accident-free winter for everyone.

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

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A self-supporting government business, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 151 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 nearly 32,000 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 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, the U.S. Postal Service was ranked number one in overall service performance, out of the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world, Oxford Strategic Consulting. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.