Door-to-delivery or a hassle? Local veteran's neighborhood not getting their packages delivered
VALENCIA, Pa. (KDKA) - A local veteran has told KDKA-TV that he's tired of lifting and lugging his packages as one delivery has left them along a highway instead of delivering them to his front door.
"The biggest complaint for my neighbors from the beginning of the road to the end of the road is FedEx," said Alvin Mays.
Mays messaged us because it's not just impacting him but all of his neighbors, as well. It's a unique situation that about a dozen or so homes in Valencia grab their mail at their mailboxes along a busy Route 8. That's the turn into their neighborhood, but the problems started when packages began stacking up there, too.
As traffic whizzed by, Mays found himself slugging through the snow, hugging the shoulder to fetch his packages along Route 8.
"It's supposed to be door-to-door delivery, not door-to-mailbox," he said.
Mays said the mailboxes sit two-tenths of a mile from his house but his neighbors along Hamilton Lane find their packages at the mailboxes in rain, snow, and whatever other weather you can name.
While UPS and Amazon deliver to the street, FedEx does not.
"You can go on their site and it's described as they have home delivery, door-to-door delivery, not mailbox delivery, and it's uninsured," Mays said. "Right [there] on Route 8, which has gotten busier and busier. I've had ammunition left on the mailboxes, I've had jewelry from where I ordered it from Navy Exchange and been delivered."
Mays's neighbor Mike Biskup started a community Facebook page just to talk about the packages.
"We have a Facebook group that we message each other on to let each other know there's a package at the mailbox, and it's just scoured with comments," Biskup said.
Another neighbor, Dawn Hucker, said anyone driving by can just grab it. She's decided to ship her heavy or expensive items to her parents' house.
"It's disturbing because I've had Omaha Steaks in the middle of the summer left on Route 8, I get Chewy delivered, I have it delivered to my mom's because I'm not going to bend down on Route 8 and pick up a 100-pound bag of dog food," she said. "It's a dangerous road, people fly on it all the time."
Mays tells us he's filed numerous complaints with FedEx with no results.
"That's what I want, I want FedEx to respond and do something about it," he said.
"I didn't think it would come to this, but it is definitely something that needs to happen," Biskup added.
KDKA-TV learned that FedEx's ground contractor rules instruct drivers to leave packages at the door or secure locations. We reached out to FedEx, and they provided us with the following statement:
"Providing customers with outstanding service is our top priority. This includes making sure our customers receive packages safely and securely. We apologize for any inconvenience and local management is addressing these concerns."
Shortly after, Mays sent us a message saying a FedEx truck was traveling up the street, dropping packages at the front doors. Mays said management called him and promised to fix the problem.
"I just want them to do their job," he said. "I was a delivery guy when I was a kid before I joined the service. If I had left stuff at the mailbox, I would've been fired immediately."
Mays said the FedEx management also told him they've offered the drivers smaller vehicles if they're worried about navigating their private road in the full-sized trucks.
Also worth noting: the Mailbox Restriction Law prohibits anyone besides the United States Postal Service from putting things in or on USPS mailboxes.
