USPS won't relocate rural mailbox

[lkfarms]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Colorado

My elderly father-in-law has mail delivered to a mailbox 1/2 mile away from his house. He would like to move the mailbox near his house due to decreased mobility, but USPS refuses. The road by his house is county maintained. The carrier is contracted by USPS and doesn't want to travel the extra distance. Is there a Colorado law that requires USPS to relocate a mailbox so that mail is delivered closer to his house?

Thank you for any help you can give!

 

[FlyingRon]

What the contractor wants to do is entirely immaterial. State law has no bearing on this either. I presume you also mean the USPS won't authorize you to move the mailbox. The USPS neither constructs nor moves mailboxes. That's the owner's responsibility.

The rules for what the USPS requires for mailbox location are involved and vary based on when the house was built. There are also special hardship delivery provisions for the disabled.
I would sit down and have a frank discussion with the postmaster and see if they can reach an accomodation.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Is there a Colorado law that requires USPS to relocate a mailbox so that mail is delivered closer to his house?

Thank you for any help you can give!

The short answer to that question is no. Colorado has no such statute and even if it did, it would be invalid. A fundamental part of our federal/state system is that federal law trumps state law and that the states cannot regulate the federal government. The USPS is a federal agency and thus is not subject to state regulation. The USPS sets its own rules regarding where it will deliver mail. The Postal Operations Manual requires that any request for rural delivery must be approved by the District Manager or his/her designee. In short, your father would need to get Post Office approval for the change. If the change requires that the carrier has to go ½ mile off his/her route to do it then it will probably be tough getting approval. Rural delivery is particularly expensive for the Post Office and they want to make that delivery as efficiently as possible.

 

[HRZ]

My suggestion....read the rule book on placements first and have a pretty darn neat plan/sketch of what FiL seeks ..and go with FIL to visit postmaster at an appointed time ...make it easy for postmaster to give approval ..

And if FIL has handicap plates ..well state the facts as appropriate .

I presume you mean a county thru road past the home .....whether the post office delivery will make drops down long one entrance streets sort of depends....will NOT in places around me ...do some homework first .

 

[lkfarms]

Thank you all for your help!

I was afraid that it might be difficult if not impossible to get permission to move my father-in-law's mailbox.

Thanks again!

 

[Shadowbunny]

Good luck with this, and I hope all is well with your father.

 

[not2cleverRed]

I've seen this go both ways. An elderly relative literally moved out of a home that had been in her family for generations, in part because she couldn't get the mail box moved to her side of street. (Tough for a 90 year old with a bad hip to get across a busy road with a 45 mph speed limit.)

Her neighbors down a side road were finally able to have mailboxes on whatever side of the road the house is on, but only after someone got killed.

One of my neighbors on a corner got their address changed to the less busy street on the corner, and with that relocated their mailbox from the end of the front walk to the end of their driveway.

How far is his house from the road?

 

[lkfarms]

I've seen this go both ways. An elderly relative literally moved out of a home that had been in her family for generations, in part because she couldn't get the mail box moved to her side of street. (Tough for a 90 year old with a bad hip to get across a busy road with a 45 mph speed limit.)

Her neighbors down a side road were finally able to have mailboxes on whatever side of the road the house is on, but only after someone got killed.

One of my neighbors on a corner got their address changed to the less busy street on the corner, and with that relocated their mailbox from the end of the front walk to the end of their driveway.

How far is his house from the road?

His house is 1/2 mile from where the mailbox is currently located.

 

[not2cleverRed]

His house is 1/2 mile from where the mailbox is currently located.

If his house is 1/2 mile from the nearest public road, then I really think he's out of luck.

In some areas people are allowed to have mailboxes on their house by the front door, but that's generally in high population density areas. My block has them by the street, one block away from me the mailboxes are all on the houses.

I think you are out of luck.

 

[lkfarms]

If his house is 1/2 mile from the nearest public road, then I really think he's out of luck.

In some areas people are allowed to have mailboxes on their house by the front door, but that's generally in high population density areas. My block has them by the street, one block away from me the mailboxes are all on the houses.

I think you are out of luck.

His house is 50 feet off of a public road, but his mailbox is located 1/2 mile from his house on a different public road. We are trying to get permission to relocate his mailbox to the road that goes right by his house. There are two other families near him whose mailboxes are also located next to his and they, too, have to drive 1/2 mile to get their mail. He lives just four miles from town.

 

[Ohiogal]

His house is 50 feet off of a public road, but his mailbox is located 1/2 mile from his house on a different public road. We are trying to get permission to relocate his mailbox to the road that goes right by his house. There are two other families near him whose mailboxes are also located next to his and they, too, have to drive 1/2 mile to get their mail. He lives just four miles from town.

They may tell him to get a post office box.

 

[lkfarms]

They may tell him to get a post office box.

Then he'd have to drive 5 miles one way to get his mail.

 

[Shadowbunny]

His house is 50 feet off of a public road, but his mailbox is located 1/2 mile from his house on a different public road. We are trying to get permission to relocate his mailbox to the road that goes right by his house. There are two other families near him whose mailboxes are also located next to his and they, too, have to drive 1/2 mile to get their mail. He lives just four miles from town.

If the PO doesn't agree to moving his mail box, perhaps one of the other neighbors wouldn't mind dropping dad's mail off to him?