There are some amazing situations happening on the roads every day of the year. Apparently you were the only eye witness to that accident you describe, but I would think skid marks, or the lack of them, would be enough to allow the cops to determine exactly what happened.
I don't know when it all started but at some point in time cars were being made to deliberately crumble so that the engine does not end up in the driver's seat in a head on crash. I'm sure it does on some occasions, but most of the time that three or four feet of front end is enough to absorb the shock of hitting a brick wall, or bridge abutment. I'm sure that folding front end has saved many lives and cost insurance companies a lot of claim money. And, as you point out, the force of momentum could possibly allow for the heavy engine to bounce a time or two. That's all part of the safety features built into a car. Then, there is this lady I know who admonished her son to be sure and wear his seat belt when driving. The police report she read after he crashed and killed himself said it was the seat belt that did him in. If he didn't wear it, he would have simply been thrown out of the car.
I dunno ... if inflation and salaries worked as you described them, by now everyone would be in poverty. The cost of living has gone up a few hundred percent over my lifetime and I"m not in the poor house. Not yet, anyway.
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When driving OTR, I saw many more accidents than when I was down in a car. Partly because I'm sitting up higher so can see long distances, which is good, helps you avoid situations, and partly because you must stay attentive at all times. It is very easy to flip a semi over on its side, and sometimes the wind does it for you, hi hi.
Now that all the trucks have dash-cams in them, there are tons of accidents posted on-line by truckers. A few by cars with dash-cams also. It is almost unbelievable the number of idiots out there on the roadways.
One I saw just the other day. A guy in a pickup truck was weaving in and out of traffic, and a couple of truckers decided to block him in by taking up both lanes. The truck that was far back had all of his weaving on camera, and then after that truck passed the blocking truck and they were all in the clear, this pickup truck pulls around the trucks and gets in front of the truck with the dash-cam, and purposely locks up his brakes. Needless to say, his truck was totaled, hi hi. The back of the truck was smashed up past the back wheels of the pickup on the pickup, and the guy tried to speed off afterward. He didn't get very far because hit back tires were rubbing the wheel wells and probably cut one of the tires too. That trucker pulled off the road and just waited for the cops to get there. I'm sure he gave them a copy of the video too, because they arrested the dude, hi hi.
In later years, after FWD cars were on the road, the number of them that would spin around in the road was utterly amazing.
If they cut to short and get hit on the rear side, almost any car will spin around. But these FWD jobbies seem to do it from a gust of wind or if they try to move back out of the way too quick. Apparently FWD is very easy to oversteer?
Try living on 89 dollars a month like I have to do! If this isn't poverty, I don't know what is.
Now that all the trucks have dash-cams in them, there are tons of accidents posted on-line by truckers. A few by cars with dash-cams also. It is almost unbelievable the number of idiots out there on the roadways.
One I saw just the other day. A guy in a pickup truck was weaving in and out of traffic, and a couple of truckers decided to block him in by taking up both lanes. The truck that was far back had all of his weaving on camera, and then after that truck passed the blocking truck and they were all in the clear, this pickup truck pulls around the trucks and gets in front of the truck with the dash-cam, and purposely locks up his brakes. Needless to say, his truck was totaled, hi hi. The back of the truck was smashed up past the back wheels of the pickup on the pickup, and the guy tried to speed off afterward. He didn't get very far because hit back tires were rubbing the wheel wells and probably cut one of the tires too. That trucker pulled off the road and just waited for the cops to get there. I'm sure he gave them a copy of the video too, because they arrested the dude, hi hi.
In later years, after FWD cars were on the road, the number of them that would spin around in the road was utterly amazing.
If they cut to short and get hit on the rear side, almost any car will spin around. But these FWD jobbies seem to do it from a gust of wind or if they try to move back out of the way too quick. Apparently FWD is very easy to oversteer?
Try living on 89 dollars a month like I have to do! If this isn't poverty, I don't know what is.
Re: Major Announcement
In 2022 the official poverty level income for a single person was $13,590; for two people it's $18,310. That's total income and not what is left over after expenses. I don't need to know the exact numbers for your situation in order to know you are impoverished.
In my humble opinion the greatest invention applied to automobiles in my lifetime is that rear view camera they have mounted above the rear license plate. It certainly isn't a panoramic view, but it clearly shows what is low and out of sight when backing up. The dash cams are useful in many cases as are the body cams police often wear. However, as you point out those cameras don't prevent any craziness. People simply do stupid things for stupid reasons. I don't have any cameras on my person or my 2009 Saturn, but recently I was gifted a drone with a camera. Reading the instructions shows they are way more complicated than I ever expected and take a lot of special conditions to get through the learning curve. I'm not going to be able to get any practice in until it warms up a bit and the parking lot at the swimming pool is empty. LOL I don't know what I will be able to do with that drone other than inspect the roof of my house. But it is a fad type toy and will keep me amused for a few days once I get into it.
In my humble opinion the greatest invention applied to automobiles in my lifetime is that rear view camera they have mounted above the rear license plate. It certainly isn't a panoramic view, but it clearly shows what is low and out of sight when backing up. The dash cams are useful in many cases as are the body cams police often wear. However, as you point out those cameras don't prevent any craziness. People simply do stupid things for stupid reasons. I don't have any cameras on my person or my 2009 Saturn, but recently I was gifted a drone with a camera. Reading the instructions shows they are way more complicated than I ever expected and take a lot of special conditions to get through the learning curve. I'm not going to be able to get any practice in until it warms up a bit and the parking lot at the swimming pool is empty. LOL I don't know what I will be able to do with that drone other than inspect the roof of my house. But it is a fad type toy and will keep me amused for a few days once I get into it.
Last edited by yogi on 29 Jan 2023, 19:00, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Major Announcement
They purposely set those poverty levels at just a few bucks above what the low tier of social security is set at. This is why we could never get a freeze on our property taxes.
When companies began installing dash cams in trucks, it saved a lot of truckers from losing their jobs. But when I worked, if you were in an accident, you can normally kiss your job goodbye.
I've had a couple of toy helicopters, none of them worked very well. But have never had a drone. I normally only used those tiny helicopters inside the house, usually where there was nothing to get broken, hi hi. The small toy ones are much harder to control that the larger hobby craft type of RC helicopters.
When companies began installing dash cams in trucks, it saved a lot of truckers from losing their jobs. But when I worked, if you were in an accident, you can normally kiss your job goodbye.
I've had a couple of toy helicopters, none of them worked very well. But have never had a drone. I normally only used those tiny helicopters inside the house, usually where there was nothing to get broken, hi hi. The small toy ones are much harder to control that the larger hobby craft type of RC helicopters.
Re: Major Announcement
In 2022 a worker with 11 years of coverage receives a special minimum Social Security benefit of $546 a year, while a worker with 30 years of coverage gets a special minimum benefit of $11,409 a year. That high end of the low SSA tier is 2 Grand below the poverty level. It is possible to work and earn up to $16,000 while on SSA benefits without penalty.
My son-in-law loves truck driving. He was a draftsman and ice skating instructor for many years until he discovered how much he likes the independence of truck driving. He had many commercial driving jobs including school buses, plus he went to school to learn how to drive semi's. I'm not sure how long he was in school but it seemed like several weeks before he was allowed to take the test. He passed the first time. It wasn't too easy at the time for him to find a job because most companies wanted experienced drivers. But, alas, he found a company to hire him - Chicago is a big place with lots of opportunities. His0 second time out down in Texas involved being in an accident. It was minor by all standards, but they terminated him and put his name in some kind of registry so that nobody else would hire him. That didn't sound legal to me but apparently it is the way things are done. He found another job delivering locally and not driving a tractor trailer. He should qualify for retirement in a few years and is now back to driving school buses.
My wife is a tech toy junkie. LOL She is the main reason I got a smartphone and a few other gadgets. While she is attracted to such things, the finer details of running a smartphone, tablet, and laptop all have proven to be too much for her. Fortunately she has a good tech support guy in house. So, when she saw the ad for a drone, that ended up being a Christmas present for me. I am very skeptical, however. The drone is quite an impressive machine but it ships with an extra set of plastic blades. If I'm smart I probably should order a few more extra sets before I actually try to fly this thing.
My son-in-law loves truck driving. He was a draftsman and ice skating instructor for many years until he discovered how much he likes the independence of truck driving. He had many commercial driving jobs including school buses, plus he went to school to learn how to drive semi's. I'm not sure how long he was in school but it seemed like several weeks before he was allowed to take the test. He passed the first time. It wasn't too easy at the time for him to find a job because most companies wanted experienced drivers. But, alas, he found a company to hire him - Chicago is a big place with lots of opportunities. His0 second time out down in Texas involved being in an accident. It was minor by all standards, but they terminated him and put his name in some kind of registry so that nobody else would hire him. That didn't sound legal to me but apparently it is the way things are done. He found another job delivering locally and not driving a tractor trailer. He should qualify for retirement in a few years and is now back to driving school buses.
My wife is a tech toy junkie. LOL She is the main reason I got a smartphone and a few other gadgets. While she is attracted to such things, the finer details of running a smartphone, tablet, and laptop all have proven to be too much for her. Fortunately she has a good tech support guy in house. So, when she saw the ad for a drone, that ended up being a Christmas present for me. I am very skeptical, however. The drone is quite an impressive machine but it ships with an extra set of plastic blades. If I'm smart I probably should order a few more extra sets before I actually try to fly this thing.
Re: Major Announcement
I never intended to be an OTR truck driver!
It all started with my taking our company rig to Florida to pick up greenery when our normal driver was out sick for a month.
It seemed silly to come all the way home with only about 1/2 a trailer load, after driving down empty. Besides, I hated driving when empty due to winds and poor handling.
On or about my second trip coming back, after talking to a couple of our suppliers, they said they did have clients I would pass on the way home, perhaps only about 5 miles out of my way. So they called those clients to see if they would like their usual order delivered this time for only around 80 bucks for one, and 100 bucks for the other who accepted the offer.
This worked out great for me, and I made a few extra bucks I wouldn't normally make.
On my fourth trip down, our supplier asked me if I would swing by Monsanto and pick up some pallets of goods for him. I was licensed for HazMat but didn't have the placards on the truck, so had to go buy those and put them on the back of the truck before I went up to Monsanto. When Monsanto learned where I was headed, they offered me two more stops on the way down, and each of those was 200 bucks. I couldn't pass that up for anything. The only aggravating thing was they loaded the first stop behind the second stop, so that first stop took about an hour longer than expected.
While I was getting Wonder Plants set up, I was asked to haul sand and gravel for Siemers, as a favor by the man I bought the building from. I couldn't turn him down, and ended up hauling several local area loads for Siemers, and then one other sand and gravel company, a couple of loads for them. And this is how I wound up hauling two government loads for North American Van Lines Electronics Transport division. Both of those loads were escorted and were 18 hour runs from St. Louis to Kit Carson Colorado, then I had to Bobtail it up to Denver to pick up a load of meat scraps for BowWow Dog food in Rolla, then bobtail it back home again.
After that I drove for ALD, Inc. aka ALDI where I racked up the most miles. They have stores all across the country, so I got to travel to many different states during that time.
Although I could drive the old trucks I was familiar with, whenever I got a newer truck to drive, I had to learn how each of them worked, and the way they are today, I doubt I could drive one at all. Way to complicated for me, hi hi.
On the same order, you should take a look at how farming tractors and implements work these days. Amazing, self-piloting, and controlled using GPS coordinates and special programming for each field.
It all started with my taking our company rig to Florida to pick up greenery when our normal driver was out sick for a month.
It seemed silly to come all the way home with only about 1/2 a trailer load, after driving down empty. Besides, I hated driving when empty due to winds and poor handling.
On or about my second trip coming back, after talking to a couple of our suppliers, they said they did have clients I would pass on the way home, perhaps only about 5 miles out of my way. So they called those clients to see if they would like their usual order delivered this time for only around 80 bucks for one, and 100 bucks for the other who accepted the offer.
This worked out great for me, and I made a few extra bucks I wouldn't normally make.
On my fourth trip down, our supplier asked me if I would swing by Monsanto and pick up some pallets of goods for him. I was licensed for HazMat but didn't have the placards on the truck, so had to go buy those and put them on the back of the truck before I went up to Monsanto. When Monsanto learned where I was headed, they offered me two more stops on the way down, and each of those was 200 bucks. I couldn't pass that up for anything. The only aggravating thing was they loaded the first stop behind the second stop, so that first stop took about an hour longer than expected.
While I was getting Wonder Plants set up, I was asked to haul sand and gravel for Siemers, as a favor by the man I bought the building from. I couldn't turn him down, and ended up hauling several local area loads for Siemers, and then one other sand and gravel company, a couple of loads for them. And this is how I wound up hauling two government loads for North American Van Lines Electronics Transport division. Both of those loads were escorted and were 18 hour runs from St. Louis to Kit Carson Colorado, then I had to Bobtail it up to Denver to pick up a load of meat scraps for BowWow Dog food in Rolla, then bobtail it back home again.
After that I drove for ALD, Inc. aka ALDI where I racked up the most miles. They have stores all across the country, so I got to travel to many different states during that time.
Although I could drive the old trucks I was familiar with, whenever I got a newer truck to drive, I had to learn how each of them worked, and the way they are today, I doubt I could drive one at all. Way to complicated for me, hi hi.
On the same order, you should take a look at how farming tractors and implements work these days. Amazing, self-piloting, and controlled using GPS coordinates and special programming for each field.
Re: Major Announcement
Truck drives seem to be very prolific. I've known several over the years I worked and they all seemed to love their jobs. The only exception was a guy I knew who worked for FedEx. He made a great salary but could only take the grueling hours for about six months. He quit after that and took a three month vacation to try and get back to normal. I lost track of him about that time and don't know if he is in a loony bin or rehabilitated himself. LOL
Farming seems like a natural environment for automated equipment. Even OTR driving is repetitive enough and predictable to take advantage of GPS and self-driving vehicles. I understand Amazon started to deliver packages by drone but did not get a real good response from its customers. I have food delivered by DoorDash and they leave it on the front porch just as a drone would do. To me I don't see why it would matter who or what drops off my packages. Getting from the delivery vehicle to my porch, however, could be a serious problem for any pedestrians in its path.
Farming seems like a natural environment for automated equipment. Even OTR driving is repetitive enough and predictable to take advantage of GPS and self-driving vehicles. I understand Amazon started to deliver packages by drone but did not get a real good response from its customers. I have food delivered by DoorDash and they leave it on the front porch just as a drone would do. To me I don't see why it would matter who or what drops off my packages. Getting from the delivery vehicle to my porch, however, could be a serious problem for any pedestrians in its path.
Re: Major Announcement
FedEx is probably the worst of the worst of the package services to work for.
Perhaps that is why so many of them are Hispanic and can't read or write in English, hi hi.
UPS is a much better company to work for, but they really push those drivers hard too.
While many quit working for FedEx, it seems the UPS drivers stay on for years.
Then many will move on to Express Agency type of trucks and deliveries. Higher pay, easier work, hi hi.
I think I talked once about the closed Drop Box for UPS drones. This way no one could steal the packages, and they were out of the weather too. Why it didn't take off like expected is anyone's guess. I guess the drawback was you had to either have enough UPS deliveries to warrant them placing a drop box, or you had to buy or rent a drop box. The drone could open and close the top lid to place the item, and the bottom would open for the sliding sleeve inside the box to pull down to retrieve your package. Sure seemed like a great idea to me.
Driving OTR is really quite boring, which is why they all have CB radios to ratchet jaw on. The law does not allow us to have a radio playing music turned up loud and consider it a distraction. And now with GPS and computer controlled log books, I don't think I would want to be driving OTR anymore. Too many hassles if you know what I mean.
Perhaps that is why so many of them are Hispanic and can't read or write in English, hi hi.
UPS is a much better company to work for, but they really push those drivers hard too.
While many quit working for FedEx, it seems the UPS drivers stay on for years.
Then many will move on to Express Agency type of trucks and deliveries. Higher pay, easier work, hi hi.
I think I talked once about the closed Drop Box for UPS drones. This way no one could steal the packages, and they were out of the weather too. Why it didn't take off like expected is anyone's guess. I guess the drawback was you had to either have enough UPS deliveries to warrant them placing a drop box, or you had to buy or rent a drop box. The drone could open and close the top lid to place the item, and the bottom would open for the sliding sleeve inside the box to pull down to retrieve your package. Sure seemed like a great idea to me.
Driving OTR is really quite boring, which is why they all have CB radios to ratchet jaw on. The law does not allow us to have a radio playing music turned up loud and consider it a distraction. And now with GPS and computer controlled log books, I don't think I would want to be driving OTR anymore. Too many hassles if you know what I mean.
Re: Major Announcement
It would take some changes in thinking, especially by the Teamsters Union, but I think a lot of the OTR trucking can be automated. The interstate highways could easily accommodate self-driving trucks and if necessary there could be terminals located at strategic points to switch from robots to human drivers in the big city traffic routes. That might make interstate trucking a bit more efficient and lest costly by reducing the number of drivers needed. It probably would be safer too, but then truckers are generally safe drivers to begin with.
The guy I know who quit working for FedEx happened to be Hispanic, but he worked somewhere out on the east coast. I don't get to see too many of the deliveries, but most of the UPS, FedEx and Prime drivers around here hare WASP-ish. The USPS however is very diversified. Oddly enough the USPS has a very high turnover while those other guys are more steady. I even recognize a few of them. I don't know about drop boxes. They might be a good idea in some places. Here I believe it is Amazon that takes a picture of their package that they leave on your porch and then e-mail it to you as proof of delivery. Those other guys send automatic e-mails too after they scan the package they dropped off. I like that because I know almost exactly when my goods are being delivered right to my front door. It would be very simple for a drone to replace that human. I can see a UPS truck parked at the end of the street and then a dozen drones taking off to deliver packages. It might not save a lot of time, but it certainly would use up a lot less gas. Then again, I suppose it costs something to charge up those drones too.
The guy I know who quit working for FedEx happened to be Hispanic, but he worked somewhere out on the east coast. I don't get to see too many of the deliveries, but most of the UPS, FedEx and Prime drivers around here hare WASP-ish. The USPS however is very diversified. Oddly enough the USPS has a very high turnover while those other guys are more steady. I even recognize a few of them. I don't know about drop boxes. They might be a good idea in some places. Here I believe it is Amazon that takes a picture of their package that they leave on your porch and then e-mail it to you as proof of delivery. Those other guys send automatic e-mails too after they scan the package they dropped off. I like that because I know almost exactly when my goods are being delivered right to my front door. It would be very simple for a drone to replace that human. I can see a UPS truck parked at the end of the street and then a dozen drones taking off to deliver packages. It might not save a lot of time, but it certainly would use up a lot less gas. Then again, I suppose it costs something to charge up those drones too.
Re: Major Announcement
I got picked on a lot by the Union drivers who found out I was a non-union driver, which is one reason I avoided the normal truck stops if at all possible. Driving for ALDI was a plus because they normally used the smaller fueling stations that normally did not have a restaurant or shower facilities at them. All of them did have nice clean bathrooms where you could wash up and take care of other business. ALDI paid for the fuel when I used the places on their lists, otherwise I had to pay and collect the money back later, usually via a check which took about a week or two to get.
When you consider the weight a semi is pulling, and how much horsepower that takes, think about how big and how many batteries it will take to make a 400 mile daily run, and how long it would take to charge those batteries back up again.
I know Tesla is working on Semi's and plan to release a few soon, but their total cargo capacity is greatly reduced.
My thoughts on the matter is, it might be wiser to have 4 autonomous straight trucks instead of one larger semi. Seems it would work out better, and probably faster too, besides being cheaper in the long run.
We don't use our front door, the porch is enclosed to make an art room, but never completed.
There is no sidewalk to the front door, and big sign that says "All Deliveries to Rear Door Please"
At the edge of my driveway, is a sign on a lamp post that says the same thing.
There is a covered area at my back door to leave packages.
It is over 100 feet through grass to get to my front door, which cannot be seen from the street, nor from my driveway, as it is around a corner. It is only 8 feet from the blacktop driveway to my covered back door area.
UPS ALWAYS delivers to my back door, and never once left a package at my front door.
But FedEX has never delivered to my back door, and just tossed my delivery at the bottom of the steps leading up to my front door. They have to pass TWO signs, plus the sign on the door, which is why I say FedEx drivers cannot read English.
Why would they walk 100 feet when they only have to walk 8 feet to deliver to the right door?
And of course, it is ALWAYS pouring down rain when FedEx makes a delivery they leave on the front lawn, hidden from sight.
I've a company I order from, who only uses FedEx, so they get very few orders from me.
They are supposed to put on the package for me "BACK DOOR DELIVERY ONLY!"
They do that for me now, but FedEx still dumps it in the front yard, and I'm usually unable to get it myself.
When you consider the weight a semi is pulling, and how much horsepower that takes, think about how big and how many batteries it will take to make a 400 mile daily run, and how long it would take to charge those batteries back up again.
I know Tesla is working on Semi's and plan to release a few soon, but their total cargo capacity is greatly reduced.
My thoughts on the matter is, it might be wiser to have 4 autonomous straight trucks instead of one larger semi. Seems it would work out better, and probably faster too, besides being cheaper in the long run.
We don't use our front door, the porch is enclosed to make an art room, but never completed.
There is no sidewalk to the front door, and big sign that says "All Deliveries to Rear Door Please"
At the edge of my driveway, is a sign on a lamp post that says the same thing.
There is a covered area at my back door to leave packages.
It is over 100 feet through grass to get to my front door, which cannot be seen from the street, nor from my driveway, as it is around a corner. It is only 8 feet from the blacktop driveway to my covered back door area.
UPS ALWAYS delivers to my back door, and never once left a package at my front door.
But FedEX has never delivered to my back door, and just tossed my delivery at the bottom of the steps leading up to my front door. They have to pass TWO signs, plus the sign on the door, which is why I say FedEx drivers cannot read English.
Why would they walk 100 feet when they only have to walk 8 feet to deliver to the right door?
And of course, it is ALWAYS pouring down rain when FedEx makes a delivery they leave on the front lawn, hidden from sight.
I've a company I order from, who only uses FedEx, so they get very few orders from me.
They are supposed to put on the package for me "BACK DOOR DELIVERY ONLY!"
They do that for me now, but FedEx still dumps it in the front yard, and I'm usually unable to get it myself.
Re: Major Announcement
You have mentioned that FedEx scenario in the past and it always makes me wonder why they are consistently delivering packages to the wrong location on your property. I'm pretty sure your signs have no influence on them because the only instructions they follow are what is printed on the delivery label. But, obviously, they have some other instructions and/or training that says front door delivery only. You could be right about the delivery people not being literate in the English language, but that can easily be remedied by replacing the text with the FedEx logo and some arrows pointing to the preferred delivery location. Perhaps a No Trespassing sign on the way to the front door would help too, especially if a picture of a shotgun accompanied the sign. But, even that might not work. They are all trained to be robots and follow the same routine at every stop. They are not paid to be logical or nice to their customers. Their only instruction is to deliver 300 packages each day no matter how long it takes them. 
Re: Major Announcement
When I was making flower deliveries, I got chewed out a few times for delivering to the front door at larger mansions. But since the flower arrangements were usually a gift, it was proper to go to the front door. But after a while, we learned which folks were sticklers about back door deliveries. A few of these mansions we delivered to actually had receiving docks for all deliveries and someone there to accept them as well.
After we were computerized, all delivery tags had any special instructions added right to them, and often the person ordering the flowers, because they were a gift, did not know the family wanted them to go to the back door or dock.
Because I spend all day in my garage office, there were a few times when I ordered things to be delivered, I put on the address after the number REAR. When I did that, they came straight to my office, hi hi.
Way back, when I lived in my grandparents old house in Des Peres, and when I first moved to Creve Coeur, I had two mailboxes, one normal size for USPS, and one slightly larger than commercial size for package deliveries. It was still a branded USPS mailbox, so the UPS guy told me, they are not allowed to use it, but if I replaced it with a box that is not an approved USPS box, then they could. So that is what I did in Creve Coeur. But it was behind the mailboxes, but clearly visible from the driveway. It had big letters on the door that said UPS, and under that "for United - Parcel Service" on two lines. The box itself was a Coleman Ice Chest, but mounted on it's side with the lid opening downward. This worked out great for years, and saved the UPS driver a few steps each time. I finally took down the commercial sized mailbox and put a planter box there, because I never knew if the postman stuck something in that mailbox or not, hi hi. A couple of times when I wasn't home and the mailman had a large box, he put it in the UPS box for me, rather than leave it on the porch. I always knew if that box was opened, because I had a small nylon ribbon that would drop down if the door was opened. It was behind the door when the door was open so you didn't see it, and it wasn't large to be conspicuous, just enough if you know to look for it.
After we were computerized, all delivery tags had any special instructions added right to them, and often the person ordering the flowers, because they were a gift, did not know the family wanted them to go to the back door or dock.
Because I spend all day in my garage office, there were a few times when I ordered things to be delivered, I put on the address after the number REAR. When I did that, they came straight to my office, hi hi.
Way back, when I lived in my grandparents old house in Des Peres, and when I first moved to Creve Coeur, I had two mailboxes, one normal size for USPS, and one slightly larger than commercial size for package deliveries. It was still a branded USPS mailbox, so the UPS guy told me, they are not allowed to use it, but if I replaced it with a box that is not an approved USPS box, then they could. So that is what I did in Creve Coeur. But it was behind the mailboxes, but clearly visible from the driveway. It had big letters on the door that said UPS, and under that "for United - Parcel Service" on two lines. The box itself was a Coleman Ice Chest, but mounted on it's side with the lid opening downward. This worked out great for years, and saved the UPS driver a few steps each time. I finally took down the commercial sized mailbox and put a planter box there, because I never knew if the postman stuck something in that mailbox or not, hi hi. A couple of times when I wasn't home and the mailman had a large box, he put it in the UPS box for me, rather than leave it on the porch. I always knew if that box was opened, because I had a small nylon ribbon that would drop down if the door was opened. It was behind the door when the door was open so you didn't see it, and it wasn't large to be conspicuous, just enough if you know to look for it.
Re: Major Announcement
A mansion with a receiving dock. Wow. I have to let that sink in for a while. What kind of residence has a receiving dock?
I know that only the USPS can use those mail boxes on a post. It's a very odd situation. Technically they don't own the box as I thought they did, but they do have exclusive rights to it once it is in place. I've seen a few boxes adjacent to the USPS one that look like foot lockers, but apparently they are for parcel deliveries. Around here such a thing would just be an invitation for any passerby to steal what's in the box. Apparently porch pirates are fairly common in O'Fallon, or so I would believe by reading some of the posts in our community newsletter.
We have received other people's merchandise, and that was not a mistake. The address was our address but the order was intended for somebody else. I tried to return one of those to WalMart one time but was told to keep the contents or to donate it to some charity. They don't have a way to accept returned goods that were not ordered, so they told me. The really odd one was a package with our neighbor's name on it but our address. I can see why it was delivered to us but I don't understand how the shipper managed to mess up the delivery label. I'm sure it has to do with a computer somewhere. LOL The USPS people, however, frequently leave mail at the wrong address in spite of the label being correct.
You did the right thing by making delivery instructions part of the address. I have seen forms on websites that have a space for special instructions or a message if it's a gift. The problem there is that most sites do not have such a form and I often wonder if the delivery guy pays attention to it anyways. As I mentioned earlier, they are trained to deliver to the front door.
I know that only the USPS can use those mail boxes on a post. It's a very odd situation. Technically they don't own the box as I thought they did, but they do have exclusive rights to it once it is in place. I've seen a few boxes adjacent to the USPS one that look like foot lockers, but apparently they are for parcel deliveries. Around here such a thing would just be an invitation for any passerby to steal what's in the box. Apparently porch pirates are fairly common in O'Fallon, or so I would believe by reading some of the posts in our community newsletter.
We have received other people's merchandise, and that was not a mistake. The address was our address but the order was intended for somebody else. I tried to return one of those to WalMart one time but was told to keep the contents or to donate it to some charity. They don't have a way to accept returned goods that were not ordered, so they told me. The really odd one was a package with our neighbor's name on it but our address. I can see why it was delivered to us but I don't understand how the shipper managed to mess up the delivery label. I'm sure it has to do with a computer somewhere. LOL The USPS people, however, frequently leave mail at the wrong address in spite of the label being correct.
You did the right thing by making delivery instructions part of the address. I have seen forms on websites that have a space for special instructions or a message if it's a gift. The problem there is that most sites do not have such a form and I often wonder if the delivery guy pays attention to it anyways. As I mentioned earlier, they are trained to deliver to the front door.
Re: Major Announcement
Many old mansions had small loading docks in the back, and most of them doubled as an elevated back porch as well.
I delivered to a house once who had a four car garage, and the leftmost garage door, if you opened it, it had a dock high metal bench about 5 feet wide by 7 or 8 feet long, on a scissors type of lifting system.
And a couple of gas stations where I might deliver a pallet with oil drums on it or floor cleaning powder or soap, had this huge 1 inch thick plywood sheet they clamped to a car lift, and it had a folding metal plate they could open so it landed right in the back of the truck. If they didn't have that, trucks used for delivering barrels have a lift-gate which you could flip down and onto their car lift.
Lots of strange things out there in the delivery world, hi hi.
We had one extra heavy whooppie at the greenhouses that was dock high, just for unloading tractor trailers onto.
Whoopie, a 4-wheeled wagon we used to haul potted plants in flats from one greenhouse to another, among other things.
When Mr. Ogle was alive, he had a UPS box for deliveries. When UPS put something in it and closed the lid, it locked.
UPS did not have keys to these boxes, or so they said. Maybe the drivers don't, but I'm sure the warehouse they keep them in sure did. Apparently there is a rental fee on them also, because after Mr. Ogle passed away, UPS picked up the box, and it looked mighty heavy.
Oh, we always get mail for the wrong house, either one across the street or next door.
But most of what we get is for a house on the other side of town with our Number and Street Name truncated.
If they don't put DRIVE or LANE on the letter or package, it comes to us almost always.
There is also a CIRCLE and WALK, but not with our exact Number on those two.
We now get a whole lot of packages that were shipped via UPS, but the UPS delivery sticker is to our local Post Office, then the Post Office delivers it to us. You may have received things with this Double UPS/USPS sticker on them?
I delivered to a house once who had a four car garage, and the leftmost garage door, if you opened it, it had a dock high metal bench about 5 feet wide by 7 or 8 feet long, on a scissors type of lifting system.
And a couple of gas stations where I might deliver a pallet with oil drums on it or floor cleaning powder or soap, had this huge 1 inch thick plywood sheet they clamped to a car lift, and it had a folding metal plate they could open so it landed right in the back of the truck. If they didn't have that, trucks used for delivering barrels have a lift-gate which you could flip down and onto their car lift.
Lots of strange things out there in the delivery world, hi hi.
We had one extra heavy whooppie at the greenhouses that was dock high, just for unloading tractor trailers onto.
Whoopie, a 4-wheeled wagon we used to haul potted plants in flats from one greenhouse to another, among other things.
When Mr. Ogle was alive, he had a UPS box for deliveries. When UPS put something in it and closed the lid, it locked.
UPS did not have keys to these boxes, or so they said. Maybe the drivers don't, but I'm sure the warehouse they keep them in sure did. Apparently there is a rental fee on them also, because after Mr. Ogle passed away, UPS picked up the box, and it looked mighty heavy.
Oh, we always get mail for the wrong house, either one across the street or next door.
But most of what we get is for a house on the other side of town with our Number and Street Name truncated.
If they don't put DRIVE or LANE on the letter or package, it comes to us almost always.
There is also a CIRCLE and WALK, but not with our exact Number on those two.
We now get a whole lot of packages that were shipped via UPS, but the UPS delivery sticker is to our local Post Office, then the Post Office delivers it to us. You may have received things with this Double UPS/USPS sticker on them?
Re: Major Announcement
I thought I answered this post yesterday, but maybe it was just a thought and no action. I must be on the verge of dementia because I don't recall the circumstances. I DO recall reading your post and wanting to reply.
One day a neighbor came knocking on my door to deliver a piece of mail left at his house. He lives only a couple doors down the street but this was the first time I recall seeing him or talking to him. The mail was a bill from Chase credit cart. Normally if mail is misdelivered one of two things (maybe three) happen. If the intended address is more than 100 paces away, the mail goes back into the box for the postman to pick up and deliver to the correct address. If the intended address is under 100 paces the neighbor would generally just walk over to correct mailbox and put it inside. The third scenario would be for the recipient to just ignore it and perhaps even toss it, which may happen more often than I suspect. In any case, this neighbor decided to hand deliver the bill because he had already opened it up thinking it was for him. He too has a Chase credit card and was expecting a statement. He probably had a minor stroke when he saw the balance on my bill which is what prompted him to hand deliver it. That, plus the fact that he opened MY mail. Well, I took it all in stride and didn't care that he opened it up, but I did tell him that the rule is for the person who opens the mail has to pay the bill. He laughed. I was only half joking. So, anyway, this happened about a month or more ago. Haven't seen him since.
I get an e-mail every day from the USPS with pictures of the mail they are about to deliver. It's a service they started way back when it was popular to send anthrax coated mail through the USPS system. I don't know where the pictures are taken because every so often I get the mail a couple days later than the e-mail suggests. I suspect it's done wherever they automatically sort the mail, and not all post offices offer this service. It's a way to be alerted to what mail (and packages) I should be getting. If I don't get the mail the local postmaster wants to know about it.
One day a neighbor came knocking on my door to deliver a piece of mail left at his house. He lives only a couple doors down the street but this was the first time I recall seeing him or talking to him. The mail was a bill from Chase credit cart. Normally if mail is misdelivered one of two things (maybe three) happen. If the intended address is more than 100 paces away, the mail goes back into the box for the postman to pick up and deliver to the correct address. If the intended address is under 100 paces the neighbor would generally just walk over to correct mailbox and put it inside. The third scenario would be for the recipient to just ignore it and perhaps even toss it, which may happen more often than I suspect. In any case, this neighbor decided to hand deliver the bill because he had already opened it up thinking it was for him. He too has a Chase credit card and was expecting a statement. He probably had a minor stroke when he saw the balance on my bill which is what prompted him to hand deliver it. That, plus the fact that he opened MY mail. Well, I took it all in stride and didn't care that he opened it up, but I did tell him that the rule is for the person who opens the mail has to pay the bill. He laughed. I was only half joking. So, anyway, this happened about a month or more ago. Haven't seen him since.
I get an e-mail every day from the USPS with pictures of the mail they are about to deliver. It's a service they started way back when it was popular to send anthrax coated mail through the USPS system. I don't know where the pictures are taken because every so often I get the mail a couple days later than the e-mail suggests. I suspect it's done wherever they automatically sort the mail, and not all post offices offer this service. It's a way to be alerted to what mail (and packages) I should be getting. If I don't get the mail the local postmaster wants to know about it.
Re: Major Announcement
I was a day late responding, and it may have sounded like the one a couple of days earlier.
The son of one of my neighbors, the corner house to the east, had to appear in Federal Court. He got a summons to appear, but didn't know exactly why, he had never done anything wrong, and much less something to get the attention of the Federal Government. Or so he thought!
The son worked some early job, and when he got home from work around 4 in the afternoon, he grabbed the mail on the way into the house. There was a letter for his neighbor one door down from him. He went over, rang the bell, and when no one answered, as he was returning home, he stuck the letter in their mailbox.
The problem is, the camera's on the bank picked up his opening the mailbox and putting something inside. And being the do-gooder bank video monitor person, decided to turn it in.
Although he was cleared by the preliminary court attorney who heard what happened, he still had to wait for the judge to give him a good scolding and told him never to open someones mailbox.
The boys dad was furious when he found out what the ordeal was about. Said the Feds never did anything about kids putting cherry bombs in his mailbox and making it look like a spread eagle, hi hi.
I've never had a picture of my mail before ever, that's a new one on me!
The son of one of my neighbors, the corner house to the east, had to appear in Federal Court. He got a summons to appear, but didn't know exactly why, he had never done anything wrong, and much less something to get the attention of the Federal Government. Or so he thought!
The son worked some early job, and when he got home from work around 4 in the afternoon, he grabbed the mail on the way into the house. There was a letter for his neighbor one door down from him. He went over, rang the bell, and when no one answered, as he was returning home, he stuck the letter in their mailbox.
The problem is, the camera's on the bank picked up his opening the mailbox and putting something inside. And being the do-gooder bank video monitor person, decided to turn it in.
Although he was cleared by the preliminary court attorney who heard what happened, he still had to wait for the judge to give him a good scolding and told him never to open someones mailbox.
The boys dad was furious when he found out what the ordeal was about. Said the Feds never did anything about kids putting cherry bombs in his mailbox and making it look like a spread eagle, hi hi.
I've never had a picture of my mail before ever, that's a new one on me!
Re: Major Announcement
Here you go ... https://www.usps.com/manage/informed-delivery.htmI've never had a picture of my mail before ever, that's a new one on me!
I haven't been able to find an exact law describing the status of a mailbox. I read an article about it which put it in layman's terms, but never saw the written law quoted. One of the points I derived from that article is that the post office does not own the mail box, but they do have exclusive rights to access it once it is installed. I suppose that means the neighbors are not allowed to open my mailbox for any reason. A lot of folks are paranoid these days, and that might be particularly true when it comes to mail boxes. The above service to which I gave you the link is a result of anthrax laced mail being sent to certain politicians. That all happened around 2001, but even today, 22 years later, people are still hyper about it all. Thus I'm not surprised one bit that the bank person turned in the video. I am surprised the son was not informed ahead of time regarding what he was being accused of doing. Something is not right about that.
I also think I could have sued the pants off my neighbor for opening MY mail. To me it was trivial and very understandable, but as you described in your narrative there are some strict rules when it comes to handling mail.
Re: Major Announcement
There are both Federal Laws and State Laws regarding mailboxes.
In 1934, Congress enacted a law known as the “mailbox restriction” that prohibits anyone from placing mailable matter without postage into any mailbox. This law, 18 U.S.C. This law refers to both Public and Private Mailboxes.
Here in TN, here is one of the laws about mailboxes:
Universal Citation: TN Code § 39-14-412 (2021)
It is an offense for any person to knowingly damage, destroy, remove or otherwise tamper with a residential mailbox or other container such person knows or reasonably should know is used for the receipt or deposit of United States mail. Any person convicted of violating this subsection (a) shall be sentenced to not less than twenty-five (25) hours of public service work.
From the USPS
Can a flyer/envelope be put it in someone else's mailbox without being mailed? What if a stamp was placed on it?
No. Per Sect. 508.3.1.3 of the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM):
"No part of a mail receptacle may be used to deliver any matter not bearing postage, including items or matter placed upon, supported by, attached to, hung from, or inserted into a mail receptacle. Any mailable matter not bearing postage and found as described above is subject to the same postage as would be paid if it were carried by mail."
Putting Items Into a Mailbox
Only authorized USPS letter carriers may insert mail into a residential mailbox. The USPS Domestic Mail Manual is very clear that mailboxes are not to be used for anything other than official mail with postage attached, so you can't go around the neighborhood delivering flyers. It's prohibited to place anything on or around the mailbox, too, so you can't use them for placing stickers. Willfully violating these rules is the federal offense of "mailbox restriction," with fines as high as $5,000 per occurrence.
In 1934, Congress enacted a law known as the “mailbox restriction” that prohibits anyone from placing mailable matter without postage into any mailbox. This law, 18 U.S.C. This law refers to both Public and Private Mailboxes.
Here in TN, here is one of the laws about mailboxes:
Universal Citation: TN Code § 39-14-412 (2021)
It is an offense for any person to knowingly damage, destroy, remove or otherwise tamper with a residential mailbox or other container such person knows or reasonably should know is used for the receipt or deposit of United States mail. Any person convicted of violating this subsection (a) shall be sentenced to not less than twenty-five (25) hours of public service work.
From the USPS
Can a flyer/envelope be put it in someone else's mailbox without being mailed? What if a stamp was placed on it?
No. Per Sect. 508.3.1.3 of the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM):
"No part of a mail receptacle may be used to deliver any matter not bearing postage, including items or matter placed upon, supported by, attached to, hung from, or inserted into a mail receptacle. Any mailable matter not bearing postage and found as described above is subject to the same postage as would be paid if it were carried by mail."
Putting Items Into a Mailbox
Only authorized USPS letter carriers may insert mail into a residential mailbox. The USPS Domestic Mail Manual is very clear that mailboxes are not to be used for anything other than official mail with postage attached, so you can't go around the neighborhood delivering flyers. It's prohibited to place anything on or around the mailbox, too, so you can't use them for placing stickers. Willfully violating these rules is the federal offense of "mailbox restriction," with fines as high as $5,000 per occurrence.
Re: Major Announcement
Oh ohhhh ... looks like we re in big trouble with the law.
After reading your citations of postal laws I am thinking we did something illegal by attaching address stickers onto the box. That might be justifiable, but, in addition to that wife has several magnetic wraps she places on the mail box for seasonal decorations. None of that has postage applied.
I believe I understand what those laws you quoted are saying. Nobody but the USPS people can place or remove mail from those boxes. And, nothing without postage can be placed inside either by me or by my neighbors. I have wondered in the past if I needed postage to return mail that was dropped off to the wrong address. I believe in my distant past I found out it required postage to return mail because the "addressee is unknown" and it has to be re-delivered to the sender.
All I know is that those "forever" stamps are now costing 63 cents each. Back when they first converted over to forever stamps I bought a bunch and mentioned to the clerk that I might come back to buy a few thousand since they last forever. He didn't laugh, but did suggest I do not do that.
After reading your citations of postal laws I am thinking we did something illegal by attaching address stickers onto the box. That might be justifiable, but, in addition to that wife has several magnetic wraps she places on the mail box for seasonal decorations. None of that has postage applied.
I believe I understand what those laws you quoted are saying. Nobody but the USPS people can place or remove mail from those boxes. And, nothing without postage can be placed inside either by me or by my neighbors. I have wondered in the past if I needed postage to return mail that was dropped off to the wrong address. I believe in my distant past I found out it required postage to return mail because the "addressee is unknown" and it has to be re-delivered to the sender.
All I know is that those "forever" stamps are now costing 63 cents each. Back when they first converted over to forever stamps I bought a bunch and mentioned to the clerk that I might come back to buy a few thousand since they last forever. He didn't laugh, but did suggest I do not do that.
Re: Major Announcement
You can decorate your mailbox, no law against that.
But you cannot hang advertising flyers on folks mailboxes, which many places still do.
They figure it is legal if they don't put it inside the mailbox, but it's not.
I'm still using some old stamps from the 1950's, sending out my bill payments, trying to use up the many stamps I had, all sorted in envelopes. I'm just about out, finally, but still have a few 1 cent and 3 cent stamps you have to lick, hi hi.
But you cannot hang advertising flyers on folks mailboxes, which many places still do.
They figure it is legal if they don't put it inside the mailbox, but it's not.
I'm still using some old stamps from the 1950's, sending out my bill payments, trying to use up the many stamps I had, all sorted in envelopes. I'm just about out, finally, but still have a few 1 cent and 3 cent stamps you have to lick, hi hi.