Rural Mail Delivery

NancyMehl · Jan 22, 2008

In my current WIP, I've created a small rural town in Kansas. They have a small post office where people have to go to pick up their mail. They are about forty miles from a larger city of about 4,000 people.

My question: How do they get their mail? Does someone from the post office drive out there every day to bring it? Would they be from the larger city's post office?

And specifically - what would happen if someone from Denver sent an overnight package on a Friday? Would the little post office in the rural town receive it on Saturday? Or would it more likely be Monday?

Thanks.

Nancy

Fern · Jan 22, 2008

In a small town people go to the post office to get their mail. It isn't delivered door to door unless you live out on a route.

The mail would be delivered to the post office each day by the "Mail Truck". They would not be from the larger post office in the next town, but would most likely be the same truck that picks up and delivers from the bigger post office in the next town. They'd pick up mail at the same time they drop off.

If someone overnighted a package from Denver on a Friday, it probably would arrive at your little post office on Saturday. But, most small town post offices are only open to the publid until noon on Saturday IF AT ALL. Some just have the lobby open on Saturday.

What you could do is pick out a "real" Kansas town somewhere in the vicinity of where you've made your town. . . get a zip code and call any post office and say "If I overnight a package from this zip code to this zip code, when might I expect arrival. Also ask what is the earliest time of day you can expect to get "guaranteed" delivery. They carefully word it where they aren't locked into certain times of delivery unless they are absolutely sure it will arrive by then. That might give you a little leeway in when it actually gets into the hands of the receiving person.

Shwebb · Jan 22, 2008

Heh. Sounds a little bit like where I live in SE Ohio, although it's about 25 miles to the nearest larger town. In our village, we don't have mail delivery--we are required to have a PO box. And until six years ago, they were also making us pay for the rental of it!

And if someone tries to mail us something with our physical address on it but not the PO box, some of the postal workers will send it back. Grrrrr.

How small, exactly, is the town? Our town does stay open on Saturdays from 9am to 11:30 am, so it's conceivable we'd get a package overnight. But if it's from the USPS, I never hold my breath over it.

johnnysannie · Jan 22, 2008

Fern said:
In a small town people go to the post office to get their mail. It isn't delivered door to door unless you live out on a route.

The mail would be delivered to the post office each day by the "Mail Truck". They would not be from the larger post office in the next town, but would most likely be the same truck that picks up and delivers from the bigger post office in the next town. They'd pick up mail at the same time they drop off.

If someone overnighted a package from Denver on a Friday, it probably would arrive at your little post office on Saturday. But, most small town post offices are only open to the publid until noon on Saturday IF AT ALL. Some just have the lobby open on Saturday.

What you could do is pick out a "real" Kansas town somewhere in the vicinity of where you've made your town. . . get a zip code and call any post office and say "If I overnight a package from this zip code to this zip code, when might I expect arrival. Also ask what is the earliest time of day you can expect to get "guaranteed" delivery. They carefully word it where they aren't locked into certain times of delivery unless they are absolutely sure it will arrive by then. That might give you a little leeway in when it actually gets into the hands of the receiving person.

Fern has a sound suggestion but you could also do the same thing using the USPS website!

NancyMehl · Jan 22, 2008

Thanks for the suggestions.

Shelly: Winter Break is made up of around 600 people. The woman who runs the post office is quirky - at best. Maybe I'll just blame it on her!

Thanks, guys.

Nancy

HeronW · Jan 22, 2008

very small towns may have several options: depending on the size there may be daily, or alternate day delivery, people may go to the PO and pick up on their own.

I've read of one small place where the post is delivered by horse with the deliverer going cross country--it's easier than with a car. Correspondingly the mailboxes are set at about 4.5' high--easier to reach.

An overnight package would arrive when the local PO is open, again depending on need and avaiability of a postal person who may be multitasking with other jobs in a small town.

I had a cousin in a 2 cow town in Georgia 35 years ago who did mail, ran the gas station, and the general store.

If the recipient knows a special package is coming, they could alert the postmaster and get it on 'off hours'.

Kathie Freeman · Jan 24, 2008

I may be mistaken, but I always understood that the Rural Free Delivery act of 1907 guaranteed door-to-door delivery of mail to all residents, regardless of location. That being said, if someone were expecting an important package, they might go to the local po to pick it up. Also, I don't know if this is the case in all areas, but mail in our part of the country is no longer sent directly from one town to another, or even within the city. All mail from Fresno is routed first to Oakland, sorted, and sent back, so a package from one part of Fresno (the VA hospital) takes a week to 10 days to get to another part of Fresno (our house). Great system, huh?

Rural Mail Delivery

NancyMehl

She Who Resonates...

Fern

practical experience, FTW

Shwebb

She's the creepy-looking dude

johnnysannie

NancyMehl

She Who Resonates...

HeronW

Down Under Fan

Kathie Freeman

That Crazy Cat Lady