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Well, I don't the usps delivering at all....let UPS take the job if the state can't run their business efficiently.
Sure for $15.00 a letter go ahead and start using UPS, I'll keep with the USPS for less than $.50. By the way were you aware that UPS uses the postal service to deliver many of their packages as a cost saving measure for them?
Our community is over ten years old and has cluster box delivery - a decision imposed by the postmaster from the start.
I can report that the sky hasn't fallen.
My mother-in-law lives in a semi-rural area, and has never had postal delivery. She has to - gasp - go to the Post Office to get her mail. Same with all her neighbors.
I get mail delivered to my house 6 days a week. At least 2 of those days, my mail gets put in my neighbor's box, and she brings it over. This, in spite of having the same delivery person every day, and him having been told repeatedly that this is happening.
What happens when you get a large package? Go to the post office? Or does the mailman bring it to your house? Also, what happens if you lose the key or the box gets broken or otherwise disabled?
Also, I wonder when and where the first cluster/hive was installed. My aunt's neighborhood had one. Her place was built in 1982 and the area is a bit older than that.
Edit: nevermind, found it out: "The Post Office Department first introduced curbside cluster boxes in 1967."
As I said earlier we have central delivery location boxes and have had that for decades. There are small boxes for letters and large boxes for packages. They put a key in the small boxes that opens a large box when you get a package. Sometimes the mail truck just brings my package to the door too, maybe because the boxes are full. If you lose your key they give you another one at the post office. They also fix them if they get damaged - they are postal property. When you move in to a new home, they change the locks.
As for theft, well we have none where I live. Never had any. But in some areas I suppose that could be a problem. In some parts of Phoenix metro, I know, they won't let you leave letters in the outslot (on the cluster boxes) because of theft. But we are cool where I am.
My boxes are kind of old school and ugly but the new ones going in my development are all built in wall like structures with stucco and faux stone surrounds, parking spaces etc.
There are bigger delivery boxes below the individual smaller boxes where larger packages are left. Each has a key that gets left in our personal box indicating that we've received something.
If the package is too big for one of those, then either they will try home delivery or leave one of those postcards in the box.
If I lose the key, I go to my central post office and ask for a replacement.
As far as broken or disabled, I believe that the post office would have to replace or repair the box(es).
Again, for me, this is really no different than living in an apartment building where we had banks of mail boxes in the lobby or a mail room with rows of boxes.
This is fine for small light boxes of no great value. What about heavy things? Who drags them back to your door? And I would not trust that a package was safe that way and requst ups delivery. More and more stuff is being ordered with all the online shopping and a few boxes to lock things in may not be enough. With more and more online shopping going on including heavy or large boxes, I think the policy should be anything in a box is delivered to the actual address.
The apartment I lived in had tiny little boxes and they stuffed in all the junk mail. I had other mail damaged by it. I seldem got much mail except for personal things and things I ordered. I hope the post office ate the cost of the delivery for the cd they broke since that was being irresponsible.
The boxes went into a big box by the door of the office. They'd say look through them and see if any of its yours. Nobody checked if you were the reciepient thus I would show up the same time the mail did when I was looking for something.
When I order from Walmart, even small things arrive in a huge box filled with padding. Perhaps too much has vanished in mail cubies and Walmart wishes to make sure the box has to find the owner by making them too big to fit.
They leave a form for you to pick up the package at the post office.
You can pay $15 for any weight in certain PO boxes. Your UPS isn't going to do that.
You can use UPS now, if that's what you like. No one is stopping you.
But I don't have a car and have to get a ride to get to the post office. And most of what I order is free shipping, even Walmart which uses mostly UPS. I don't want it to come to a PO Box. I want in in front of my door if its a box or in my mailbox if it isn't. So why should I pay fifteen dollars for when I'm saving money by ordering free shipping? And if its above a certain value UPS will not leave the item on your doorstep without a signature but they will redeliver when you call. Will they do that?
If Walmart uses UPS for most everything, even small things, there must be a reason and I'll bet it has to do with their replacement costs of lost items.
I don't get much 'mail' but what I do is either local stuff, or stuff which has to be sent that way or small packages. My dog knows when its the mailman and barks his mailman bark and its retrieved immediately. My relatives experience with 'clusters' is mail chucked in the wrong boxes more often than not. Maybe your mailman is on the ball, but who says they all are?
Bad idea, and its going to cost them more than they save.
What is the big deal? How is their proposal to stop door-to-door delivery going to save money? I can understand eliminating Saturday delivery saving money but their newest BS? Biggest problem is the postal union...maybe eliminate them.
Nothing precludes the use of UPS to deliver mail. All we have to do is pay for it. In fact, the USPS uses UPS and other private contractors to deliver the mail in some rural areas.
Yea, I understand that...the argument has been addressed in some detail moving forward in this thread.
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