Snowy Conditions Prevent Mail Delivery

When the mail carrier used to say that "neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night" would stop them from delivering letters, that carrier probably didn't have winters like this to deal with.

If you haven’t been receiving your mail lately, you might want to take a look at your mailbox outside, or your sidewalk. Carriers can't reach some receptacles, and, in some cases, sidewalks are still full of snow.

When Jamie Schutt tried to deliver mail in some sections of south Moorhead Monday, he found a mountain of snow and an inaccessible row of mailboxes.

“They won't receive mail today, and until it is cleared, it will be held at the Moorhead post office,” said the mail carrier.

In some cases the mail carriers cannot even get to the mailboxes. They would have to crawl over all the snow and then once they got there they wouldn’t even be able to open the door.

Jamie doesn't walk his route, he drives it, and since so many spots have yet to be cleared, he can't get his delivery van near many mail boxes.

“It is up to the individuals to clear this out,” said Schutt.

Bruce Carlsrud walks his route in south Moorhead. As it snowed and blew all this weekend, Bruce, like a lot of other carriers, wondered what his route would look like today.

“Actually yesterday I did drive by just to see how they were doing,” said Carlsrud.

Homeowners are reminded if mail carriers find sidewalks covered in snow or ice, letters and packages will not get delivered.

“It is up to us [to decide if it’s safe]. If they have not shoveled it is a safety thing,” said Carlsrud.

If snow and ice prevent a carrier from dropping mail at your home, you will get a notice asking you to clear the walk or steps.

Tags: reporter stories, kevin wallevand, news, snow, blizzard, mail, fccnetwork