Porch pirates via USPS :-( Use signature confirmation?

Yes, all my Christmas cards last year. I spoke to my relatives who insisted on sending cash or gift cards to specifically not do that to my mailbox. After they found $100 in cash from my mother and $150 from a sister the next year, I haven't gotten a handwritten addressed Christmas card since. I have no idea of the true value but, I'd say they easily stole $400 of cash and cards out of my mailbox last Christmas.

Video cameras just get stolen too! Both of my 'game' cameras are long gone.

When the rent house burned to the ground and the former the male resident went to prison, things got better for a while. However, I do have a bible thumper recently divorced neighbor who is a local welfare spot for her kids and their friends. Generally, they just smoke dope and play loud obnoxious music so, it is likely they took them if not some random drive-by but, I don't want to stereotype and accuse people with NO EVIDENCE.

Unfortunately, my mail carrier was not at work that day and the substitute violated the rules. The USPS closed out my case though saying it was 'delivered' per GPS.

Unfortunately, we can't pick neighbors or relatives so all you can do is work with the options you have. With my normal USPS mail carrier, I have a great relationship and they know the area. When they are out, you may or may not get someone who cares or someone who may make bad decisions because of time pressure to get packages delivered and get off the 'clock' as they are hourly and will get canned if they don't make the rounds 'fast enough'.

 

This carrier left a long knife box in the mailbox on the street out of sight of the house in plain view for every passer-by.

This is clearly out of policy per my normal local carrier. Out here in East Texas, substitute carriers are under great stress to deliver packages as fast as possible. In my case, I was expected to drive 157 miles and make 52 stops in 3 hours! In the S-10 chassis mail truck I was issued, at about 50MPH the rear end would sway back and forth without traffic passing me on the highway! This was a rural route so, the normal carrier used their own vehicle and I used the mail truck as they wouldn't pay me mileage. We parted company after being reprimanded for slow deliveries and complimented for zero claims, good seatbelt use, proper parking when required, turning the truck to view oncoming traffic, and all the other things that were in my review. I decided my life wasn't worth 3 hours pay for the day and getting chewed out for not driving fast enough or being blamed for the radiator boiling over in a rural area and having to nurse it somewhere for more water because I couldn't match a 20-year employee who had driven the same route for years. A friend got stuck while raining on a rural road with deep ruts and standing water and got reamed as well.

So, with hiring freezes and a lack of following policy, mail trucks out here are being followed and packages are being stolen. As long as the GPS says the carrier hit the mailbox "it's not their problem".

Does it get much better than a street mailbox without a clear view from the house that has a box sticking out of it? I should note I have no fence or gate or dog or other obstruction that prevents a mail carrier or UPS or FedEx from driving or walking up to my house. Normally, I see the mail truck while out in the yard and get it but, this day unfortunately I was away when the mail came and came home to an empty mailbox - no sales flyers, no credit card or car insurance offers, nothing.

 

My normal carrier is great! I was burned by their substitute.