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Nov 26, 2006 5:23 pm US/Eastern
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Mailboxes Become Casualty Of Internet Age
RUTHERFORD, N.J. (CBS/AP) ―
It's the case of the missing mailboxes, only they're not really missing -- just a casualty of an age when more and more messages are sent electronically rather than by way of the post office.
According to the U.S. Postal Service, more than 2,300 mailboxes have been removed from its North Jersey district in the last year, leaving about 4,300 still standing. Nationwide, 28,000 mailboxes were removed last year, with about 267,000 remaining.
Over the last two months, about 30 mailboxes have been moved in Rutherford, East Rutherford, Lyndhurst, Carlstadt, Moonachie and Wood-Ridge. Fourteen have been removed in Passaic, and as many as 30 could be removed in Paterson, according to postal officials.
"The primary driver is the market," USPS spokesman George Flood told The Herald News of West Paterson. "The people just aren't mailing like they used to."
Private shipping services like UPS and FedEx have also put a dent in the amount of mail sent through the post office. First-class mail decreased by more than 5 percent between 2001 and 2005, according to Flood.
Postal officials said boxes are removed when they receive little mail because it is inefficient to send a postal carrier to empty one if it has fewer than 25 pieces of mail per day.
In addition, the boxes have to be painted every year and are frequently subjected to vandalism, said Brian DelColle, postmaster for several Bergen County communities.
That's small consolation for people like Victoria Helstoski, a Rutherford resident who grew accustomed to depositing her bills in a mailbox on the sidewalk near her home. Now, she is forced to drive to the post office.
"I wish they'd make it easier, not less convenient," Helstoski, 78, said.
Flood said the USPS plans to leave mailboxes that are located near senior centers, civic centers and hospitals.
The mailboxes, which cost $360 each, are not destroyed once they are removed, according to Flood. Instead, they are stored and then used to replace boxes that have been damaged.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)