Except as excluded by 3.1.2, every letterbox or other receptacle
intended or used for the receipt or delivery of mail on
any city delivery route, rural delivery route, highway contract
route, or other mail route is designated an authorized depository
for mail within the meaning of 18 USC 1702, 1705, 1708,
and 1725.
3.1.2 Exclusions
Door
slots and non-lockable bins or troughs used with apartment
house mailboxes are not letterboxes within the meaning of
18 USC 1725 and are not private mail receptacles for the
standards for mailable matter not bearing postage found
in or on private mail receptacles. The post or other support
is not part of the receptacle.
3.1.3 Use for Mail
Except
under 3.2.11, Newspaper Receptacle, the receptacles
described in 3.1.1 may be used only for matter bearing postage.
Other than as permitted by 3.2.10, Delivery of Unstamped
Newspapers, or 3.2.11, no part of a mail receptacle
may be used to deliver any matter not bearing postage, including
items or matter placed upon, supported by, attached to,
hung from, or inserted into a mail receptacle. Any mailable
matter not bearing postage and found as described above
is subject to the same postage as would be paid if it were
carried by mail.
3.1.4
Clear Approach
Customers
must keep the approach to their mailboxes clear of obstructions
to allow safe access for delivery. If USPS employees are
impeded in reaching a mail receptacle, the postmaster may
withdraw delivery service.
3.2.1
Manufacturer Specifications
Manufacturers
of all mailboxes designed and made to be erected at the
edge of a roadway or curbside of a street and to be served
by a carrier from a vehicle on any city route, rural route,
or highway contract route must obtain approval of their
products under USPS Standard 7, Mailboxes, City and Rural
Curbside. To receive these construction standards and drawings
or other information about the manufacture of curbside mailboxes,
write to USPS Engineering.
3.2.2
Custom-Built Mailbox
The
local postmaster may approve a curbside mailbox constructed
by a customer who, for aesthetic or other reasons, does
not want to use an approved manufactured box. The custom-built
box must generally meet the same standards as approved manufactured
boxes for flag, size, strength, and quality of construction.
3.2.3
Locked Box
A
mailbox
with a lock must have a slot that is large enough to
accommodate the customer's normal daily mail volume. The
USPS neither opens a locked box nor accepts a key for this
purpose.
The
post or other support for a curbside mailbox must be neat
and of adequate strength and size. The post may not represent
effigies or caricatures that tend to disparage or ridicule
any person. The box may be attached to a fixed or movable
arm.
3.2.5
Advertising
Any
advertising on a mailbox or its support is prohibited.
3.2.6
Location
Subject
to state laws and regulations, a curbside mailbox must be
placed to allow safe and convenient delivery by carriers
without leaving their vehicles. The box must be on the right-hand
side of the road in the direction of travel of the carriers
on any new rural route or highway contract route, in all
cases where traffic conditions are dangerous for the carriers
to drive to the left to reach the box, or where their doing
so would violate traffic laws and regulations.
Every
curbside mailbox must bear the following address information:
a.
A box number, if used, inscribed in contrasting color
in neat letters and numerals at least 1 inch high
on the side of the box visible to the carrier's regular
approach, or on the door if boxes are grouped.
b.
A house number if street names and house numbers have
been assigned by local authorities, and the postmaster
authorizes their use as a postal address. If the box is
on a different street from the customer's residence, the
street name and house number must be inscribed on the
box.
3.2.8
Owner's Name
The
mailbox may bear the owner's name.
3.2.9
More Than One Family Sharing a Receptacle
If
more than one family wishes to share a mail receptacle,
the following standards apply:
a.
Route and Box Number Addressing. On rural and highway
contract routes authorized to use a route and box numbering
system (e.g., RR 1 BOX 155), up to five families may share
a single mail receptacle and use a common route and box
designation. A written notice of agreement, signed by
the heads of the families or individuals who want to join
in the use of such box, must be filed with the postmaster
at the delivery office.
b.
Conversion to Street Name and Number Addressing. When
street name and numbering systems are adopted, those addresses
reflect distinct customer locations and sequences. Rural
and highway contract route customers who are assigned
different primary addresses (e.g., 123 APPLE WAY vs. 136
APPLE WAY) should erect individual mail receptacles in
locations recommended by their postmasters and begin using
their new addresses. Customers having different primary
addresses who wish to continue sharing a common receptacle
must use the address of the receptacle's owner and the
"care of" address format:
JOHN DOE
C/O ROBERT SMITH
123 APPLE WAY
Customers
having a common primary address (e.g., 800 MAIN ST) but
different secondary addresses (e.g., APT 101, APT 102, etc.)
may continue to share a common receptacle if single-point
delivery is authorized for the primary address. Secondary
addresses should still be included in all correspondence.
3.2.10
Delivery of Unstamped Newspapers
Generally,
curbside mailboxes are to be used for mail only. However,
publishers of newspapers regularly mailed as Periodicals
may, on Sundays and national holidays only, place copies
of the Sunday or holiday issues in the rural route and highway
contract route boxes of subscribers if those copies are
removed from the boxes before the next scheduled day of
mail delivery.
3.2.11 Newspaper Receptacle
A
receptacle for newspaper delivery by private carriers may
be attached to the post of a curbside mailbox used by the
USPS if the receptacle:
a.
Does not touch the mailbox or use any part of the mailbox
for support.
b.
Does not interfere with the delivery of mail, obstruct
the view of the mailbox flag, or present a hazard to carrier
or vehicle.
c.
Does not extend beyond the front of the mailbox when the
box door is closed.
d.
Does not display advertising, except the publication title.
