Will USPS deliver mail in western Pennsylvania after the winter storm? It depends on where you live.
If you take a drive around just about anywhere in the Pittsburgh region, you'll see mailboxes covered in snow and even plowed in. What does that mean for mail service? Some get prescription drugs delivered. Others are waiting for important tax information. But whether or not your mail arrives depends on where you live.
"We ask those that get city delivery, please clear a way for your carriers to get to your mailbox," said Mark Wahl, a strategic communications specialist with the United States Postal Service. "Whether it's on your porch, whether it's in the driveway, if it's a central delivery unit — clear that way. Now, if you're a rural resident, it's required that you clear your mailbox for our rural carriers."
If you're in a rural area, you are required to clear your mailbox, otherwise the mail carrier is allowed to pass on by. If you live in an urban area, the rule is that carriers can make their own decisions based on a willingness to try and their own personal safety.
"If they can safely get out and attempt to make that delivery, we're going to make every attempt that we can," USPS driving safety instructor Paul Stitch said.
The post office said carriers genuinely appreciate you clearing your area to help keep them safe while allowing them to deliver your mail to you.
If you find you have mail in your mailbox that you can't get to but you want to continue getting mail, you can go online and register to have your mail held. If you haven't been getting your mail, you can go to your local post office and ask to pick it up. If your mail isn't being delivered, they are taking it back to the post office, and that's where it sits.
