Are Traditional Mailboxes Going Away? Montana Reacts to USPS News

If you have a mailbox sitting outside at the end of a gravel driveway somewhere in Montana, it might be worth checking out today. Not because the post office is open. But apparently, the American mailbox has somehow found itself in a national debate.

Some homeowners in Wisconsin recently received letters from the United States Postal Service informing them that they would need to purchase and install new mailboxes at their own expense. The reason was to place mailboxes closer to the road and streamline delivery routes even more. Fewer stops. Less time spent entering and exiting the truck. Faster routes overall. The message ticked people off because they were reportedly being told they would be footing the bill for the change.

The twist is that the Postal Service later explained that it had sent the letter in error and had no immediate plans to have mailbox changes in that neighborhood. But why would they draft the letter in the first place? Are there already letters drafted and ready to go out in your neighborhood someday soon?

Would Mailbox Adjustments Ever Come to Montana?

The Postal Service has long been moving ever so slowly toward more efficient types of delivery. That usually translates to centralized mailbox clusters rather than individual boxes at each home. That saves carriers time and money.

But Montana is not a cookie-cutter subdivision.

Out here, mailboxes are often…custom.

You’ll find them on railroad ties, welded to steel posts, or attached to structures that seem able to withstand a small meteor. Some are shaped like trout. Some are duct-taped together. Some of them have certainly been shot at with a .22 at some point in their life.

Montana Already Has A Mailbox Replacement Program

If the USPS ever implemented a nationwide mailbox upgrade rule, Montana folks might just shrug. Mailbox replacement already exists around here.

It’s called winter.

Between drifting snow, cold roads, and snowplows, Montana mailboxes already seem to have it pretty rough. So if the day ever arrives when the Postal Service tells you it’s time for your mailbox to go…The snowplow will probably make it there first.