# Postal Carrier wants me to move my car. I say I dont have to.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 18, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696 "2006-12-18T21:47:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/21 "2006-12-19T00:17:33Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Whether you’re in the right or the wrong, this approach is not only hideously rude, but also a surefire way to end up with your mail rubbed generously in the sweaty asscrack of whichever mail carrier is delivering it. [/QUOTE] Or worse - after all, this is a postal worker we’re talking about - slamming the door in his face might be equivalent to saying “Oooh! Oooh! When you go on a killing spree, Shoot ME, Shoot ME first!” ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/22 "2006-12-19T00:21:08Z")
Suppose my neighbor decides that the best place for him to park his '86 Buick is directly in front of my mailbox, resulting in my mail delivery eventually being put on hold. Further suppose he tells me to get stuffed when I ask him to park elsewhere: “It’s a public street, Buddy. I’ll park where I want.” What are my options at this point? Is he breaking any laws? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/23 "2006-12-19T00:24:03Z")
IIRC that motto (neither snow, nor rude owners of SUV’s parking in the way, nor dark of night…) is not of the USPS, but a courier service that build a building and had their motto set in stone, then the USPS bought the building and never removed the motto. IIRC it is the USPS on 8th ave and 33rd st in NYC. But besides that, why would you purposely make someone’s job difficult? Can’t you just park in some place that won’t cause problems? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/24 "2006-12-19T00:26:50Z")
[QUOTE=brad\_d] Suppose my neighbor decides that the best place for him to park his '86 Buick is directly in front of my mailbox, resulting in my mail delivery eventually being put on hold. Further suppose he tells me to get stuffed when I ask him to park elsewhere: “It’s a public street, Buddy. I’ll park where I want.” What are my options at this point? Is he breaking any laws? [/QUOTE] Simple-you call the cops, and they’ll send a tow-truck, I would imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/25 "2006-12-19T00:29:00Z")
[QUOTE=brad\_d] Suppose my neighbor decides that the best place for him to park his '86 Buick is directly in front of my mailbox, resulting in my mail delivery eventually being put on hold. Further suppose he tells me to get stuffed when I ask him to park elsewhere: “It’s a public street, Buddy. I’ll park where I want.” What are my options at this point? Is he breaking any laws? [/QUOTE] My letter carrier husband says to call the post office and either talk to your carrier or a delivery supervisor, explaining the situation. Either they’ll make an exception for you, or maybe try to deal with your neighbor too. ---
**Author:** ![the\_PC\_apeman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac8455/32.png) [@the\_PC\_apeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_PC_apeman)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/26 "2006-12-19T00:48:03Z")
[QUOTE=Ferret Herder] … And reversing? In the street when not absolutely required? Hell no. You try to back up a brick-shaped vehicle with all of those odd mirrors and see how often you want to do it, especially when you’re trying to not hit a customer’s car or mailboxes. Where my husband works, he absolutely cannot back up his vehicle except for specially-designated situations/locations, or face suspension. (Apparently the risk for/incidence of accidents in these vehicles is too great.) [/QUOTE] Are mail delivery routes this micromanaged? We had a substitute carrier one week - a young (20-ish) guy with a serious attitude problem. Unfortunately for him, I had a concrete delivery one day during his stint and it was blocking the width of the street. He griped and stomped his feet and demanded that I move the mixer. Well, it wasn’t my mixer to move. Maybe I could have asked the contractor (who ordered the cement) to ask the driver but none of us thought that should be necessary. So for the next 15-20 minutes the carrier sat in his van pouting and listening to his iPod. Did he do the cul-de-sac behind him that he normally delivers after my street? No. Did he go around the block and access the street from the other direction. No? He just sat there, pouted, and waited. Could it really have been that he had no discretion in the matter? ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/27 "2006-12-19T00:49:38Z")
[postalworker/]“_Say_ …that’s a nice car…it sure would be a _shame_ is something were to _happen_ to it”[postal worker] That, and are you sure he dosen’t collect AK-47s? Do yourself a favor, and don’t aggravate a stranger with an already stressful job. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/28 "2006-12-19T02:56:41Z")
Of course you don’t have to move your car. You will move it, though, when you drive to the post office to pick up your mail which the postman won’t deliver. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/29 "2006-12-19T03:12:20Z")
[QUOTE=the PC apeman] Are mail delivery routes this micromanaged? We had a substitute carrier one week - a young (20-ish) guy with a serious attitude problem. Unfortunately for him, I had a concrete delivery one day during his stint and it was blocking the width of the street. He griped and stomped his feet and demanded that I move the mixer. Well, it wasn’t my mixer to move. Maybe I could have asked the contractor (who ordered the cement) to ask the driver but none of us thought that should be necessary. So for the next 15-20 minutes the carrier sat in his van pouting and listening to his iPod. Did he do the cul-de-sac behind him that he normally delivers after my street? No. Did he go around the block and access the street from the other direction. No? He just sat there, pouted, and waited. Could it really have been that he had no discretion in the matter? [/QUOTE] Yes they are that micromanaged. And no he didn’t have much discretion in the matter. There is a lot of answering to do if you are found out of your route. The problem with your new carrier was probably aggravated by the fact that didn’t KNOW how to navigate around that obstacle. It would have messed up his sequence and he wouldn’t have known how to pick up his trail again (think ants in “A Bug’s Life”). Your regular carrier might have been able to deal with it better. ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/30 "2006-12-19T03:17:34Z")
While in college, I worked for USPS as a Casual Carrier (that is, an un-uniformed temporary carrier). From what I remember, USPS was largely (if not entirely) self-sufficient financially, but is still a Federal agency, FWIW. More importantly, USPS policies regarding driving routes (and driving to park-and-loop route stops) were largely written with an eye toward safety. Having driven an LLV (the aluminum cheesebox on wheels that’s become ubiquitous), I can say that reverse should only be used when absolutely vital (i.e., parking the thing in the Post Office’s loading bay. There’s no rearview mirror (since there’s no rear window), and reversing using just the side mirrors leaves a big blind spot right where you least want it - your direction of travel while reversing. You having to park somewhere else is a small price to pay to avoid having a kid chasing a ball into the street getting killed by a Postal worker who can’t see him. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/31 "2006-12-19T03:21:28Z")
So what you guys are saying is, if there is a car _near_ the mailbox, so the carrier cannot reach the mailbox without stepping out of the van and walking 10 feet, he would choose not to deliver to that mailbox? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/32 "2006-12-19T03:23:20Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] You need to apologize profusely to that man. [/QUOTE] Or tender a polite apology accompanied by some fine baked goods. I doubt your family is really happy about losing mail service merely for your parking convenience. I and at least half the people on my block got curt notices awhile back to mount our curbside mailboxes 18 inches higher within 72 hours, or have mail delivery suspended. Aapparently the new Mail Delivery Czar drove a taller vehicle and found it inconvenient to reach down into the boxes which had served just fine for years. Enough people squawked so that the deadline was graciously extended to 10 days, but we all dutifully went out and got new posts. You don’t mess with the Postal Service. For the old-fashioned “neither rain nor snow…” delivery types, take the bozos who drop off the free Weekly Suburban Pissant newspaper and ad fliers. Nothing will stop them from completing their appointed rounds…on your driveway, in your flower beds… ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/33 "2006-12-19T03:58:53Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] So what you guys are saying is, if there is a car _near_ the mailbox, so the carrier cannot reach the mailbox without stepping out of the van and walking 10 feet, he would choose not to deliver to that mailbox? [/QUOTE] I think that’s it. While it was rude how you acted toward the carrier, I feel that if a car is obstructing the mail box, it is not a lot to ask to step out of the carrier vehicle and put the mail in the frickin’ mailbox. These vehicles are not space capsules, you can get out of them after you launch from the post office. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/34 "2006-12-19T04:01:35Z")
\*You as in the OP, not you **scr4**. ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/35 "2006-12-19T04:11:52Z")
[QUOTE=the PC apeman] Most every one in my neighborhood has a mailbox attached to the house near their front door. The mail carrier parks and walks to a half-dozen or so houses, moves the van, repeat. (He probably does more houses at a time in the flatter areas.) Maybe you could change to a house-mounted type mailbox or a mail-slot in your front door. I’m sure your carrier would love that. (While my home’s foundation was dug out for repairs, I set up a typical streetsedge box on a post. When construction was complete, I felt kind of bad moving the mailbox back to the front door. It’s up about 8 steps.) [/QUOTE] You’re lucky. Apparently, the USPS is forcefeeding my neighborhood with curbside boxes. I had to get one since I was new to the neighborhood. So now about five houses out of 100 or so have a curbside mailbox. That will really improve effienciency. I am sure they will force everyone to convert soner or later. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/36 "2006-12-19T04:16:02Z")
If they get really evil they’ll put one of those conglomerated mailbox deals at the end of the street. Now THOSE are the devil. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/37 "2006-12-19T04:32:41Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] So what you guys are saying is, if there is a car _near_ the mailbox, so the carrier cannot reach the mailbox without stepping out of the van and walking 10 feet, he would choose not to deliver to that mailbox? [/QUOTE] Multiply that by three hundred houses and you might understand why. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/38 "2006-12-19T04:57:52Z")
I don’t mind the conglomerate boxes since they added locked package boxes as well. I’ve never had my mail ripped off or unwanted non-USPS mail put in the box when I’ve had one of those, rarely wind up with missing mail or someone else’s mail, and still have a personal relationship with my mail carrier. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/39 "2006-12-19T12:02:45Z")
[QUOTE=hajario] Multiply that by three hundred houses and you might understand why. [/QUOTE] Exactly. That’s why I noted above that a rare occasion is probably fine, but repeated instances are another matter entirely. The whole point of a driving route is to be able to drive up to each box, lean out, and put the mail in. Cars behind the postal vehicle will expect slow driving with a series of very brief stops. When it turns into “drive forward, secure parking brake, unbuckle seat belt, hop out of vehicle, close door, walk to box, put mail in, open door, hop in, buckle up, take parking brake off, continue forward” then suddenly the drivers behind you don’t know what to expect from your vehicle, and your time for each stop where this happens has probably tripled, messing up your delivery time, and probably pissing off your supervisors because if enough people do it you’re suddenly getting overtime on this route that has been planned out for you to fit in under that time. So it’s not just the letter carrier’s convenience at stake, but safety issues, USPS budgets, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696/40 "2006-12-19T12:11:27Z")
[QUOTE=Meeko] what would he do if it snowed? [/QUOTE] I can tell you from experience, if it snowed to the point where he couldn’t pull his car up to the mailbox, he wouldn’t deliver the mail. As many others have said, it’s the recipient’s responsibility to provide a clear path to the mailbox; that includes snow removal. We happen to pay for snow removal service. Our plow guy does our drive and then cuts a swath by the mailboxes. Even with that, we sometimes get a notice in our mailbox saying that we need to do it better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/postal-carrier-wants-me-to-move-my-car-i-say-i-dont-have-to/384696.md?page=3)