I have never seen this kind of public notice, but that doesn’t mean governments haven’t sent them out.
The Kalamazoo County Road Commission is recommending that you shake your mailbox. That is, if you have a mailbox on a post next to the street, make sure it is secure in the ground before the snow flies.
I don’t have such a mailbox, but they got my attention.
In a recent press release, the commission said that most mailboxes that are damaged in the winter are not hit by snowplows, but they are damaged when snow is pushed against them by snowplows and the mailboxes are not solidly anchored in the ground.
Hence the phrase, Shake Your Mailbox.
See if it’s loose. A firmly planted mailbox stands a better chance to remain standing against the onslaught of snow kicked up by city and county plows.
Makes sense.
Saturday, October 20, was Shake Your Mailbox Day. Yes, there’s a Shake Your Mailbox Day. But I think it’s a good idea to check out your mailbox right now.
By the way, government, including the Kalamazoo County Road Commission, does not take responsibility for mailboxes damaged as a result of snowplowing operations, but KCRC will take a claim into consideration if it is clear that damage was caused by direct contact from one of their snowplows.
