Winter snow mailbox damage

Whenever we have a winter with lots of snow we end up with many calls regarding damaged mailboxes. Nothing is more frustrating than to find that your mailbox has been damaged when you check your mail. This is a very unfortunate result of winters with lots of snow. The city of Minneota is responsible for any damage to a mailbox that is caused by our trucks coming into direct contact with the mailbox.

That means that the blade of the plow must hit the box. However, what is actually causing almost all of the damage is snow being rolled onto the boulevards by the plow as it passes by your yard. With heavy snows (either wet or dry) a snowplow can be rolling hundreds of pounds of snow onto every foot of the boulevard. When you also add the speed at which the plow driver must drive to move the snow you can then picture a large amount of snow smacking the side of your thin metal mailbox. Sadly, the snow always wins.

Whenever a mailbox is damaged by the snow the city is not responsible for the damage. This is one reason why rural residents install the mailbox on swing poles so that they “give” when hit by snow. Another option is to buy a heavy-duty Rubbermaid box as they seem to take a hit a lot better than a thin tin mailbox.

If you have any other questions please contact the city at 507-872-6144.