The United States Postal Service (USPS) encourages Americans to upgrade to a new, higher capacity mailbox.
The new mailboxes are wider and taller, meaning they are better equipped to accommodate packages ordered online, USPS said.
The new dimensions are shown in the graphic below and make the mailboxes approximately one-fifth larger.
“Today’s newer mailboxes are wider and taller to accommodate delivery of items you have ordered online and reduce the need to leave notices and trips to the post office to retrieve a package.” the USPS said.
A larger mailbox can reduce damage to packages that occurs when mail carriers stuff them into boxes that are too small.
It can also reduce package theft, which is more likely to occur when they are oversized and left on the ground or on the porch.
The dimensions of the ‘next generation’ mailboxes are approximately 13.63 inches wide, 7.75 inches high on the sides, 12 inches high in the center, and 16.5 inches deep.
In fact, package theft carried out by so-called ‘porch pirates’ is on the rise. An estimated 119 million boxes were stolen from front porches in 2023, according to Capital One, the equivalent of one in every 200 package deliveries.
Collectively, Americans lost $13.4 billion to crime last year, according to the study, and the average stolen package is worth $112.30.
The new larger capacity mailboxes are designed to accommodate the delivery of larger packages and reduce the need for notices and trips to the post office to retrieve orders.
The dimensions of the ‘next generation’ mailboxes are approximately 13.63 inches wide, 7.75 inches high on the sides, 12 inches high in the center, and 16.5 inches deep.
Mailbox fits on most standard posts, but USPS urges Americans to check their installation guidelines before installing a new mailbox.
They can contain several packages, in addition to normal letters, cards and magazines.
Major retailers, including Home Depot, Walmart and Lowe’s, sell package-friendly mailboxes, USPS said.
While prices will vary by retailer, Walmart sells Architectural Mailboxes that cost between $46.77 and $86.43.
As part of its annual Mailbox Improvement Week, held every third week in May, USPS also encourages homeowners to inspect and repair their mailboxes.
“Repairing suburban and rural mailboxes improves the appearance of communities and makes delivering and receiving mail safe for our carriers and customers,” the service said in a statement.
“The Postal Service makes this request annually due to the wear and tear that occurs on mailboxes each year.”
USPS also encourages Americans to sign up for Informed Delivery to help prevent package theft.
The free service allows you to sign up for text or email notifications, schedule delivery alerts, request a new delivery, and enter delivery instructions.
It comes after USPS announced that stamp prices will increase again in July under new proposals designed to combat losses from falling mail volume.
The price of a ‘Forever’ first-class stamp will increase 5 cents, from 68 cents to 73 cents, according to a notice filed by the United States Postal Service.
This is the fifth proposed price increase in just two years and the 19th change since 2000.
In recent years, the agency has accelerated price increases, with stamp prices soaring 36 percent since 2019.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) encourages Americans to upgrade to a new, higher capacity mailbox.
The new larger capacity mailboxes are designed to accommodate the delivery of larger packages and reduce the need for notices and trips to the post office to retrieve orders.
The last time it raised them by two cents was in January, just a few months after a three-cent increase in July of last year.
The changes, like several others since 2021, are part of the financially beleaguered service’s 10-year plan to raise prices and slow some delivery times in a bid to try to avoid $160 billion in projected losses over a decade.
Like other postal services around the world, it faces headwinds as fewer and fewer people send physical mail.
In 2023, USPS handled 116.1 billion mail shipments, compared to a peak of more than 213 billion in 2006.
In a statement, USPS said that “price adjustments are necessary to achieve the financial stability” sought in the 10-year “Delivering for America” plan announced by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in 2021.
“USPS prices continue to be among the most affordable in the world,” he added.