Canada Post Will Assess All Rural Mailboxes
Sunday October 29, 2006
Canada Post plans to assess about 800,000 rural mailboxes across Canada individually to decide whether mail delivery can be made safely based on new safety criteria established by an expert panel. If a mailbox is identified as a potential hazard, the first option will be to move the mailbox to a safer location. If it can't be repositioned for safe delivery, then Canada Post will change the resident's delivery to another system, such as a community mailbox.
Rural mail delivery became an issue earlier this year when unionized workers refused to deliver mail in parts of the Maritimes, claiming that their routes were unsafe.
Canada Post hired the services of an expert panel that has come up with the new safety criteria which will be applied to individual rural mailboxes. The safety assessment of individual mailboxes will include
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Rural mail delivery became an issue earlier this year when unionized workers refused to deliver mail in parts of the Maritimes, claiming that their routes were unsafe.
Canada Post hired the services of an expert panel that has come up with the new safety criteria which will be applied to individual rural mailboxes. The safety assessment of individual mailboxes will include
- legal restrictions that apply to the area
- the type of road
- the volume and speed of traffic
- the position of the delivery vehicle on the road
- the ease of merging back into traffic
- safe stopping and passing distances
More on Postal Services in Canada
Rural Mail Delivery Under Review in Canada
MPs Vote to Restore Rural Mail Service - CBC News New Brunswick
Postal Services in Canada
Comments
I live in a rural area and get mail delivery.
What I find most unsafe is the METHOD of mail delivery. Canada Post contracts with mail delivery people who drive ordinary left hand drive vehicles. This means they are always on the wrong side of the vehicle to put mail in the box conveniently. Almost daily I encounter a delivery person on the WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD. This is extremely unsafe.
Mail delivery people should have right hand drive vehicles like they use in the US.
That would solve 90% of the safety issue. Instead on comming down hard on those with rural mailboxes Canada Post should clean up their own act first.
This ids obviousky an attemt to reduce rural delivery.
Tim Gay, from MainelyMetals LLC in Pittston, Maine US, has a device called the MailSwing that is a fully adjustable mailbox arm. This product allows the homeowner to adjust their mailbox to allow safe delivery.
You can view it online at http://www.mailswing.com.