USPS Is Asking Wisconsin Residents To Check Their Mailboxes Right Now

There's one thing you need to do before you leave for vacation.

Often, when we go on road trips or vacations, we ask someone to check our mail. It just helps create the look that someone is home and makes the house less attractive to thieves.

Normally, I rarely ever check my mailbox. When I finally do open it, it's smushed to the brim. Postal workers have to deal with a lot of crap, including sassy people, weird weather conditions, confusing or unclear addresses, and certainly weird mailboxes.

Even though mailboxes can be an expression of your style, there are requirements on what they need to be. Whether or not they're tacky is your call.

To make sure you get your mail safely, USPS really wants you to check your mailbox or P.O. Box to make sure it's up to their standards.

The USPS has requirements on where to put the mailbox (like 6-8" away from the curb), keeping the path to the mailbox clear, and putting your house or apartment number on the mailbox. The other requirements you need to check it for include:

• An approved mailbox by the Postmaster General (it will have the PMG stamp if you buy it)
• It can protect your mail from the weather
• It's safe (not rusted out with sharp holes or anything & no bugs)
• Close enough to the roadside for the mail carrier

If you have a door slot or a wall-mounted mailbox, there are requirements for those too. Wall-mounted mailboxes don't have to have the PMG approval but they need to be big enough to hold a fair (daily) amount of mail. Just like with the curbside mailboxes, if yours is on your door or wall, leave a path clear for the mail carrier to walk to.

These are really to just help make postal workers' lives easier. You wouldn't want a confusing mess if it were you delivering mail.