my mailbox post is getting rusty,its standard 2 inch pipe painted white,close to 17 yrs old.i have a few 855 cummins cranks laying around and thought one would make a unique post,i planned on putting it in a 5 gallon bucket of cement and burying that.i looked on the usps website to see if theres any regulations on what can be used for a post,only thing I can find are height requirements,and the actual size of the box.over the years ive seen many post made of various things and objects,does anyone know if any regulations exist on the post itself??
- Thread starter 88-1175
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willie in mn
Well-known Member
If the mailbox is located on the road right of way, check with the appropriate state, county, or township road department. They might have specs.
Around here, the spec for new installations is wood 4x4 or the new swing-away style.
Around here, the spec for new installations is wood 4x4 or the new swing-away style.
I took a giant russian olive stump that was the right height and positioned it so that I bolted my mailbox on and it stuck out far enough that the mail driver could pull right up to it. It was massively heavy 15 years ago or so, so that it was impervious to damage from anything but a big truck. Since then, it's dried out alot and lots lighter but still does the job. There are some regs as far as what you can do, but if you make it easy for the mailman to pull up and do his thing, nobody complains around here.
60 acre hillside
Member
The United States Postal Department is likely the smallest concern. Some careless driver may try to say that the heavy post caused excessive damage to his vehicle. I see that many are made of brick and other rigid materials. So far I have not heard of any litigations but it is possible.
4x4 wood post or a fairly skinny metal pipe - I forget the pipe specs.
Anything else opens you up to liability if someone hits it.
I remember years ago a lot of creative stuff for mailboxes, was neat and artistic. My uncle welded a large chain into a curved box holder.
No more. Anybody skins their little pinky and you have more than spec post, its all your fault. People don't have to be responsible for their cell phone use,drinking, high speed driving - it's all your fault you know.
Paul
Anything else opens you up to liability if someone hits it.
I remember years ago a lot of creative stuff for mailboxes, was neat and artistic. My uncle welded a large chain into a curved box holder.
No more. Anybody skins their little pinky and you have more than spec post, its all your fault. People don't have to be responsible for their cell phone use,drinking, high speed driving - it's all your fault you know.
Paul
Blackhole49
Well-known Member
- Location
- White Lake MI
There are a couple of crankshaft posts around me. If you are in a snow plow area, I would for go the bucket and set like a steel fence post.
I was a mailman for 20 years. The Post Office does not care what your post is made of. Height of box is the only requirement they care about.
How ever in most municipalities it is illegal to mount an immovable object on the right of way.
There was a guy in the county that ended up buying a freightliner dump truck complete with plow frame and wing after he mounted his on a piece of anchored railroad rail.
Go ahead and do what you plan,but cut the crank about halfway through 2 inches above the ground.This way it would fold over if hit and you would not be sued.
How ever in most municipalities it is illegal to mount an immovable object on the right of way.
There was a guy in the county that ended up buying a freightliner dump truck complete with plow frame and wing after he mounted his on a piece of anchored railroad rail.
Go ahead and do what you plan,but cut the crank about halfway through 2 inches above the ground.This way it would fold over if hit and you would not be sued.
MarkB_MI
Well-known Member
- Location
- Motown USA
Ditto on the comments regarding immovable objects. If you're lucky the road commission will make you dig it back up. Worst case scenario a drunk plows into your mailbox at high speed and paralyzes his passenger. Guess who pays in the latter scenario?
john in la
Well-known Member
The USPS does not regulate mailbox post.
The Federal highway administration and your state DOT are the ones that regulate it.
Around here that means you can use whatever you want for a post until some lawyer representing someone that was killed by your over constructed post tells you "ignorance of the law is not a defense"
For most states a 4x4 wood post or metal post 2 inches or smaller is acceptable.
Bury post 24 inches or less in crushed stone so it will pull out the ground if hit.
A concrete base can be used rather than crushed stone if the post is designed to break off just above the concrete.
Mount the box so it can not come loose from the post if hit.
The Federal highway administration and your state DOT are the ones that regulate it.
Around here that means you can use whatever you want for a post until some lawyer representing someone that was killed by your over constructed post tells you "ignorance of the law is not a defense"
For most states a 4x4 wood post or metal post 2 inches or smaller is acceptable.
Bury post 24 inches or less in crushed stone so it will pull out the ground if hit.
A concrete base can be used rather than crushed stone if the post is designed to break off just above the concrete.
Mount the box so it can not come loose from the post if hit.
sideconsole4020guy
Member
My idea for my mailbox post is a railroad tie and then the box support would be a JD 7000 planter row unit. I would mount the mailbox in place of the insecticide box and keep the 1.6bu seed box for bigger packages because we have a 3300 foot drive way and our mail personnel are lazy and just leave packages laying on the ground . One day i was driving by my place on my way to a service call amd one of my packages was blown by the wind right next to the hwy so that is ny reason for the elaborate mailbox mount. My box is along a highway but located in the middle of the ditch along my driveway so I would believe I would be fine with it there.
Donald Lehman
Well-known Member
Yeah, the State DOT wants to make sure it is built light enough so the stinkin' snow plows can rip it off and scatter it to the four winds at least twice per winter. Used to be the DOT policy to pay for the replacement mailbox for you, but it got so bad they wouldn't pay for them anymore. Then one of the employees let it out that some of the plow drivers thought it was good sport to nail the mailboxes. The resulting public reaction sort of "induced" the bosses to have a little talk with the plow jockeys. Haven't lost a mailbox in 3 or 4 years now.
kent@junction
Member
I took a 4x4 post mounted the box set it in a 10gal milk can filled it with gravel- leveled base put down a little lime and packed- if it gets hit it usually just needs set backup without damage to anything, had the post broken off once when a nieghbor caught it with a field cultivator but the box was ok just a little scratched up.
BANDITFARMER
Well-known Member
You can go to your local post office and get the information there for your mail box and post. Their is a requirement for how far the post has to be from the road and how high it is and the post must be made to brake away. Bandit
Back in the 80's I lived in Wyoming the county furnished all the mailbox post that was a 2" pipe in the ground with a steel plate on top to mount your mailbox to. I fastened a Ford C6 transmission case to the plate and put my mailbox inside, well a guy from the county came out and asked me to take it down, I said I would if he could show me some regulation that I was violating he couldn't but he said the reason was somebody could hit it and it could come through the windshield. So I fastened it to the county's post with cable, still was not good enough. I then got a letter that they would be out on a certain day and remove it and they would confiscate mail mail. In the mean time I had replaced the aluminum case with one I made out of fiberglass that looked exactly like the C6 case. I called the county representative and told him i would meet him that day with the press , he did come out and I showed him the fiberglass mailbox. Needless to say he left with a red face and I never was bothered again.
Many years ago I lived in northern Maine where it snows a lot. It was quite common to use a potato barrel for a mail box so not to much damage if the snow plow hit it. One fellow got tired of the plow hitting the mail box / barrel just to see it fly, so in the summer he found a railroad rail and put that in the ground and into the barrel. He then filled the barrel with concrete. Did a lot of damage to the snow plow. Think they said it spun it around in the road. Not sure if anything happened to the guy.
Ah yes the mailbox wars. As others have said you put anything substantial out there and someone hits it either due to accident, carelessness or plan and they get messed up you better have a real good lawyer. Once years ago some thugs (okay high school boys with a pick-up truck, ball bat and case of beer) came through and made sport of about 100 mail boxes. One of our neighbors upgraded his mail box, used a much shorter post and put a coil spring between the mail box and the post, had a piece of 1/4" plate bent to go over the top of the box. Word was the next miscreant that tried his mail box messed up his wrist as he wasn't expecting the box to give them spring back. Probably the best one I have seen had the actual post well off the road way and had the mail box mounted on a swinging arm so if the plow jockey or miscreant hit it it swung out of the way and then swung back.
gtractorfan
Well-known Member
My neighbor has a crankshaft mailbox post like you're talking about. They just returned yesterday from down south, otherwise I'd go take a picture of it. Maybe I will anyhow and "post" (no pun intended) it later. It's a big crank, don't know what engine it was from. I might ask him - and for permission to take a pic.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Best thing that ever happened to my mailbox was when Canada Post notified me that it was in a dangerous location and would not deliver mail to it anymore.
They gave me a choice of a no charge box in the community mailbox or a box at the post office in town. No brainer, I went with the community box a mile down the road, wife goes by it everyday on her way to work, picks the mail up 2 or 3 times a month.
I don't have to maintain it, mow around it, plow snow away from it, suits me to a T.
jimg.allentown
Well-known Member
I don't see any liability here......
I see that it is NOT on a right of way, since if it were it would have to be in the driving lane. I also know that if you strike a stationary object with your vehicle, YOU ARE AT FAULT!! PERIOD!! That _IS_ the law. Learned that over and over in CDL school, at safety meetings, and from insurance representatives.
As an example, I see that the guard rails in use on many highways are using steel uprights that the rail is fastened to. Then there are utility poles, trees, and other objects near the road. Can you sue a tree for causing "excessive" damage to your vehicle? Or a utility pole? I think not.
I see that it is NOT on a right of way, since if it were it would have to be in the driving lane. I also know that if you strike a stationary object with your vehicle, YOU ARE AT FAULT!! PERIOD!! That _IS_ the law. Learned that over and over in CDL school, at safety meetings, and from insurance representatives.
As an example, I see that the guard rails in use on many highways are using steel uprights that the rail is fastened to. Then there are utility poles, trees, and other objects near the road. Can you sue a tree for causing "excessive" damage to your vehicle? Or a utility pole? I think not.
Dave Sherburne, NY
Member
MarkB_MI
Well-known Member
- Location
- Motown USA
>I see that it is NOT on a right of way, since if it were it would have to be in the driving lane.
You should know that the road right-of-way almost always extends beyond the edge of the road.
>I also know that if you strike a stationary object with your vehicle, YOU ARE AT FAULT!! PERIOD!!
True. If someone runs over your mailbox, they owe you a new mailbox. What's a mailbox cost? A hundred bucks, tops? But if you put something out on the side of road, and somebody runs into it and is killed or seriously injured, you WILL get sued and the liability could be upwards of several hundred grand. Of course, the merits of the case will be decided by a jury of your peers. "Peers" in this case meaning some people who had nothing better to do than show up for jury duty. The good news is you should be able to deduct the cost of replacing your mailbox from the multi-million-dollar settlement those nice folks are going to award the plaintiff.
>I see that the guard rails in use on many highways are using steel uprights that the rail is fastened to. Then there are utility poles, trees, and other objects near the road.
These days, anything placed near a highway is SUPPOSED to be "breakaway" or otherwise protected. Sometimes they fail to work like they're supposed to, and often lawsuits follow. You may have noticed that highway departments have been aggressively removing trees near roadways, sometimes infuriating residents by cutting down hundred-year-old trees in the name of safety and risk management.
You should know that the road right-of-way almost always extends beyond the edge of the road.
>I also know that if you strike a stationary object with your vehicle, YOU ARE AT FAULT!! PERIOD!!
True. If someone runs over your mailbox, they owe you a new mailbox. What's a mailbox cost? A hundred bucks, tops? But if you put something out on the side of road, and somebody runs into it and is killed or seriously injured, you WILL get sued and the liability could be upwards of several hundred grand. Of course, the merits of the case will be decided by a jury of your peers. "Peers" in this case meaning some people who had nothing better to do than show up for jury duty. The good news is you should be able to deduct the cost of replacing your mailbox from the multi-million-dollar settlement those nice folks are going to award the plaintiff.
>I see that the guard rails in use on many highways are using steel uprights that the rail is fastened to. Then there are utility poles, trees, and other objects near the road.
These days, anything placed near a highway is SUPPOSED to be "breakaway" or otherwise protected. Sometimes they fail to work like they're supposed to, and often lawsuits follow. You may have noticed that highway departments have been aggressively removing trees near roadways, sometimes infuriating residents by cutting down hundred-year-old trees in the name of safety and risk management.
jimg.allentown
Well-known Member
Sorry, but I don't see it that way. In this day and time, anybody can sue anybody for ANY REASON. There does not even have to be any merit to the case. BUT......The plaintiff must still prove that there is sufficient cause to proceed with the case. And, the plaintiff still has to prove the extent and value of the injury or damage.
Now, having said that, there is still the issue of striking a stationary object with a moving vehicle. That is 100% fault of the driver, and can result in charges against that driver such as failure to keep the vehicle under control. If the collision is/was deliberate, then the charge would be something like criminal mischief or vandalism.
Now, moving on, hitting a mailbox is (in my opinion) no different than hitting a parked vehicle - which is there LEGALLY. Substantial damage can result up to death of the driver. In such a case, there is no liability on the part of the owner of said parked vehicle. Been there. Done that. When MY legally parked vehicle was hit, there followed a claim against my insurance. Claim was denied on the grounds that said driver failed to keep his/her vehicle under control, and struck a LEGALLY PARKED vehicle (otherwise known as a STATIONARY object).
Now to top it all off, I point to the federal NHTSA requirement that mandates that ANY vehicle sold for highway use must be tested to withstand a 35mph collision without intrusion into the passenger compartment. Having sufficient force to injure/maim/kill the driver would indicate also an excessive speed further supporting the claim that the owner of the parked vehicle or mailbox holds NO LIABILITY.
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
Now, having said that, there is still the issue of striking a stationary object with a moving vehicle. That is 100% fault of the driver, and can result in charges against that driver such as failure to keep the vehicle under control. If the collision is/was deliberate, then the charge would be something like criminal mischief or vandalism.
Now, moving on, hitting a mailbox is (in my opinion) no different than hitting a parked vehicle - which is there LEGALLY. Substantial damage can result up to death of the driver. In such a case, there is no liability on the part of the owner of said parked vehicle. Been there. Done that. When MY legally parked vehicle was hit, there followed a claim against my insurance. Claim was denied on the grounds that said driver failed to keep his/her vehicle under control, and struck a LEGALLY PARKED vehicle (otherwise known as a STATIONARY object).
Now to top it all off, I point to the federal NHTSA requirement that mandates that ANY vehicle sold for highway use must be tested to withstand a 35mph collision without intrusion into the passenger compartment. Having sufficient force to injure/maim/kill the driver would indicate also an excessive speed further supporting the claim that the owner of the parked vehicle or mailbox holds NO LIABILITY.
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
MarkB_MI
Well-known Member
- Location
- Motown USA
You seem to confuse the way you would like things to be with the way things are. Bad assumption.
A car parked at the side of the road is not the same thing as an immovable post, either in terms of how it behaves in a collision or in how it is treated by tort law.
Also, in most states contributory negligence by a plaintiff does not bar the plaintiff from recovering damages. I suggest you check what the law is on contributory negligence in your home state before you erect something on the side of the road. And even if you happen to be in one of the few states with "pure" contributory negligence, that still would not bar a passenger in a car that hits your mailbox from suing you.
A car parked at the side of the road is not the same thing as an immovable post, either in terms of how it behaves in a collision or in how it is treated by tort law.
Also, in most states contributory negligence by a plaintiff does not bar the plaintiff from recovering damages. I suggest you check what the law is on contributory negligence in your home state before you erect something on the side of the road. And even if you happen to be in one of the few states with "pure" contributory negligence, that still would not bar a passenger in a car that hits your mailbox from suing you.
cannonball
Member
look at the posts the state puts up..they are break away...
john in la
Well-known Member
There is no law that states you can not have a legally parked car.
Hence the word legally.
There are laws in many states that say what can be used legally as a mailbox post.
You would have a hard time proving No Liability when the post you used is against the law.
Hence the word legally.
There are laws in many states that say what can be used legally as a mailbox post.
You would have a hard time proving No Liability when the post you used is against the law.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Yes, but some folks are above the law dontcha know.
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