receptacles in exterior walls of buildings may be authorized provided they are not installed directly on the street or public sidewalk. Wherever possible, at least 15 feet should be kept between the boxes and the street or sidewalk, and the location should be clearly visible from one or more apartment windows. A canopy must be provided, designed and located to afford maximum protection from the weather, including driving rains. In addition, adequate night lighting must be installed. (iii) In vertical-type installations: (a) Receptacles must be placed so that the center of the barrel of the master lock of the upper tier will be no more than 56 inches from the floor. The center of the barrel of the master lock of the lower tier will be no less than 30 inches from the floor. (b) No more than two tiers may be installed. They should be arranged so as to permit the installation of the largest number of boxes with the smallest number of master locks. The minimum number of boxes to which one master lock may be attached is three. (c) Boxes must be arranged in groups, as many in each group as is consistent with safety, but normally never less than eight. Where the number of apartments is less than eight or where telephone units are installed with the receptacles, a lesser number may be grouped. (iv) In horizontal-type installations, the distance from the finished floor to the tenant locks on the top tier of boxes should be no more than 66 inches; and to the bottom of the lowest tier of boxes no less than 30 inches. (2) Access to rear loading of horizontal-type receptacles. Access to rear loading installations shall be provided by a door fitted with an inside Arrow lock opening into a room having at least 3 feet of unobstructed work space from the rear of the units to the wall. The room must be adequately ventilated and lighted. The rear of the unit must have a screen or cover of plywood or other suitable material to prevent the removal of mail from adjacent boxes and to prevent mail from falling out the back. This cover must be securely fastened and easily opened by the carrier. (3) Installation with telephone units. (i) When necessary or desirable to install mail receptacles in conjunction with a standard size telephone unit, verticaltype receptacles may be placed in 2 tiers, or they may be installed in groups or batteries of less than 8 if required for the proper arrangement of the groups in the 2 tiers. This does not apply where the telephone unit is installed independently of mail receptacles. Although there is no objection to combining these two services, the mail receptacles must be separated from the telephone or electrical unit. Electric pushbuttons may be placed in the frame of the installation, connecting with wires outside the mail receptables, provided the pushbuttons can be removed from the outside and the wire connection with such pushbuttons can be repaired without removing the receptacles. (ii) Telephone units combined with mail receptacle units must be constructed so that access to the telephone unit is not dependent on entering the mail receptacle, and the latter must not be accessible when the telephone unit is opened. (d) Directories. (1) In all apartment houses having 15 or more receptacles, a complete directory of all persons receiving mail must be maintained. When an apartment house is divided into units with separate entrances and 15 or more receptacles are installed to the unit, a separate directory must be provided for each unit. In addition, if mail is not generally addressed to specific units, a directory must be kept at the main unit of the building, listing all persons receiving mail in the various units. (2) Directories must be alphabetical by surname and must be maintained and kept corrected to date. The receptacle number and apartment number should always be the same, and the apartment number should appear on the right of the name on the directory. If, for any cause, the apartment number is different from the number of the receptacle, the receptacle number should appear on the left of the name in the directory. The same arrangement shall be followed where the apartments and receptacles are either lettered or lettered and numbered. (3) The directory must be of legible type, in a suitable frame for protection purpose, and attached to the wall immediately above or to the side of the mail receptacles where it can be easily read. Where mailrooms are used, the directory should be removable for the convenience of the carrier. If an attendant, such as telephone operator, doorman, or elevator conductor, is on duty between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. and mail is delivered either to apartment house receptacles or in bulk for distribution by employees of the building, the directory may be kept in the custody of the employee on duty in the building so that it may be available to the carrier or special delivery messenger on request. (e) Maintenance and repair. (1) The owners or managers of buildings must keep receptacles in good repair. When an inside letterbox Arrow lock is no longer needed, the building management must immediately notify the postmaster so that a postal employee can be detailed to supervise removal of the lock from the master door for return to the post office. Owners and managers of buildings must return to the postmaster any inside letter-box arrow locks that become defective or that are no longer needed. (2) Carriers will report on Form 3521, "Carrier's Report on House Numbers and Mail Receptacles", all apartment houses that are being remodeled and all mail boxes that are not locked or are out of repair. Delivering employees and postmasters will see that all inside letter-box arrow locks are recovered when buildings are torn down or remodeled. (3) Upon receipt of a report of lack of repair or irregularity in the operation of apartment house mail receptacles, postmasters will have prompt investigation made and direct what repairs must be made by and at the expense of the owners or managers. So that there will be no question as to the disposition or treatment of mail, repairs must be made only when a representative of the post office is present. It is unlawful for other than postal employees to open receptacles and expose mail. (4) Failure to keep boxes locked or in proper repair as directed by postmasters is sufficient justification for withholding delivery of mail therein and requiring the occupants of the apartments to call for their mail at the post office or carrier delivery unit serving the area if this action is believed advisable for safety reasons. When such action is contemplated, a reasonable notice of approximately 30 days will be given in writing to the patrons and the owner or manager of the apartment building. (5) When mail, deposited by a carrier in an apartment house mail receptacle, is reported lost or stolen or when there is indication that the mail has been wilfully or maliciously damaged, defaced, or destroyed, the postmaster shall immediately report the circumstances to the local postal inspector or the postal inspector in charge. (6) The United States Penal Code prescribes for the wrongful possession of mail locks and the wilful or malicious injury or destruction of letter boxes and the theft of mail therefrom. Manufacturers are authorized to place on each installation of apartment houses mail receptacles the words "U.S. Mail” and a warning notice of these provisions of law. Manufacturers are also authorized to place inconspicuously on each installation their name and words "Approved by the Postmaster General", when the designs have been approved by the Post Office Department. (f) Manufacturers and distributors. Following is a list of manufacturers and distributors of one or more designs of apartment house mail receptacles approved by the Post Office Department, with trade names of boxes: (1) Vertical type. Accessories Manufacturers, Ltd., 595 St. Remi Auth Electric Co., Inc., 34-20 45th Street, Cutler Mail Chute Co., 76 Anderson Avenue, Dura Steel Products Co., Post Office Box 54175, Los Angeles, Calif., 90054. Florence Mfg. Co., Inc., 848-864 North Larrabee Street, Chicago, Ill., 60610. Jensen Industries, 1946 East 46th Street, Los Angeles, Calif., 90058. Leigh Products, Inc., Coopersville, Mich., 49404. Perma-Bilt Steel Products Co., 8324 Graham Avenue, Los Angeles, Calif., 90001. S. H. Couch Co., Inc., 3 Arlington Street, Boston, Mass., 02171. (2) Horizontal type. American Device Mfg. Co., Steeleville, Ill., 62288. Auth Electric Co., Inc., 34-20 45th Street, Florence Manufacturing Co., Inc., 848-864 North Larrabee Street, Chicago, Ill., 60610. [26 F.R. 11579, Dec. 6, 1961, as amended at 27 F.R. 6498, July 10, 1962, 27 F.R. 6978, July 24, 1962, 30 F.R. 2314, Feb. 20, 1965, 30 F.R. 7393, June 4, 1965, 30 F.R. 11031, Aug. 26, 1965, 30 F.R. 14374, Nov. 17, 1965] Rural (a) Establishment. stations are established and maintained in communities where a considerable number of people would be seriously inconvenienced if required to transact postal business with rural or star route carriers only, and where it is determined inadvisable to establish post offices. (b) Functions. Rural stations dispatch, receive and deliver mail, issue money orders, register mail, and sell stamps. (c) Hours. Rural stations are open during ordinary business hours each weekday, except holidays. (d) Treatment of mail. Mail addressed to a rural station will be retained there to be called for, unless the addressee is a patron of a rural route starting from the station, or of an adjoining route, in which case the mail will be delivered to the patron's box by the carrier. [26 F.R. 11581, Dec. 6, 1961] § 46.2 Delivery routes. (a) Establishment. A petition signed by the heads of families desiring establishment of a rural route should be submitted to the postmaster of the post office from which delivery service is desired, or to the Post Office Department. Form 4027, Petition for Change in Rural Delivery, may be obtained from the postmaster for this purpose. the postmaster will report the facts to the Regional Director with his recommendation for a change in the route to withdraw it from impassable or unsuitable roads. (e) Multiple routes. In rural areas, a patron living on a road traveled by two or more rural carriers may select the carrier by whom he prefers to have his mail delivered and collected, in which case only the designated carrier will handle his mail: Unless such selection is made by the patron, each carrier passing the box will deliver mail to it and collect from it any mail that he can expedite in dispatch or delivery, provided the box is on the right-hand side of the road as traveled by the carrier. In suburban or congested areas, the postmaster will designate the route that will provide service. (f) Star route delivery. Patrons living on or near a star route, where the contract calls for box delivery and collection service, and not within one-fourth mile of any post office, may have their mail deposited on the line of the starcarrier route in a box erected so that the carrier may deliver and collect mail without dismounting from his vehicle. Persons residing on roads traveled by both rural and star route carriers may qualify as patrons of either or both routes. If one box is used for both routes, it must be an approved standard rural route box. [28 F.R. 1999, Mar. 1, 1963] (a) Availability. (1) Rural carrier service is provided to persons who erect approved boxes on the line of travel of the rural carriers, except those residing within city delivery limits. (2) Door delivery service will be provided to apartment houses and other multiple dwellings which use or qualify to use apartment house mail receptacles as provided in § 45.6 of this chapter. (b) To residence. Rural carriers will deliver registered, certified, numbered insured, COD, and special delivery mail to the patron's residence if it is not more than one-half mile from the route and if there is a passable road leading to it. Unnumbered insured mail will be delivered the same as ordinary mail. (c) Parcel delivery. When an ordinary parcel which is too large to be delivered into the patron's box is received, the carrier will leave a notice on Form 3570, Notice of Attempt to Deliver Mail, in the box requesting that the patron indicate thereon the date on which he will meet the carrier to receive the parcel. If the addressee has filed a written order that the Post Office Department and the carriers are relieved of all responsibility in case of loss or depredation when large parcels are placed outside boxes, the carrier will deliver large parcels outside the box. Where a patron lives within hailing distance of a route, the carrier will make a reasonable effort to hail the patron so that he may come to the mail box to receive the parcel before it is left outside the box. (d) Contagious disease. A rural carrier will deliver mail to the box of a patron where a quarantined disease exists, when this can be done without exposure to contagion; but no mail will be collected from such box while the quarantine is in force. (e) Withdrawal of service. Service will not be withdrawn from any box without specific authority from the Regional Director. [26 F.R. 11581, Dec. 6, 1961, as amended at 28 F.R. 1999, Mar. 3, 1963, 30 F.R. 13217, Oct. 16, 1965] § 46.4 Payment of postage. (a) Acceptance of mail. (1) A rural carrier will accept any mailable matter provided the postage is fully prepaid or money equal to the required postage is furnished, unless the purpose of handing mail to the carrier for deposit into one office is to "boycott" another office or deprive it of legitimate revenue. During the month of December, however, patrons are required to affix stamps to all greeting cards and letter mail. (2) When a rural carrier finds unstamped mail in a patron's box and the requisite amount of money for postage, he will normally collect the mail and money and affix the necessary postage. Mail will be expedited throughout the year if patrons keep a supply of stamps on hand and regularly affix stamps to all first- and third-class mail. The carrier has for sale stamps, stamped envelopes, and postal cards. For convenience and safety, patrons who leave mail and money in rural mail boxes to be collected by the carrier should either wrap the money, place it in a coin-holding receptacle, or attach it to the mail by means of a clip or other suitable fastener. (b) Postage uncertain. When matter is given to a rural carrier for mailing and he is unable to determine the postage, he will accept from the sender an amount sufficient to insure full payment of postage and return to the sender on the next trip any excess amount collected. (c) Insufficient postage. When mailable matter is deposited in a box and the required postage has not been paid or sufficient money left for the purchase of stamps, the rural carrier will, when the identity of the sender is known, place in the box a notice that such matter cannot be dispatched until the necessary postage is paid. If the identity of the sender is unknown, the matter will be taken to the post office and treated as unpaid mail. (See §§ 21.4, 24.4, 25.4, and Part 37 of this chapter.) (d) Unpaid mailable matter in box. When a rural carrier finds in a rural box mailable matter on which postage has not been paid, addressed to or intended for the person in whose box it is deposited, the carrier will take such matter to the post office to be held for postage. [26 F.R. 11581, Dec. 6, 1961] Rural boxes. § 46.5 (iii) Deviations. In general, boxes may be constructed in any size between the maximum and minimum outside dimensions specified on the drawings provided the height, width, and length proportions and the general shape are maintained. (iv) Drawings. Construction standards and drawings for guidance in the manufacture of rural mailboxes may be obtained by writing the Assistant Postmaster General, Bureau of Operations, Washington, D.C., 20260. (3) Approval requirements. To secure approval of rural boxes, the follow ing must be submitted to the Bureau of Operations. (i) Not less than two complete boxes of each style made of the exact materials, construction, coatings, paint, etc., to be identical in every way with the boxes intended to be marketed. (Two boxes will be damaged during testing.) (ii) The identification of all parts of the box, by material, alloy, heat treatment, and (for non-metallic parts) physical properties. (iii) The complete composition, formula, and trade name and designation, of all paints and nonmetallics. (iv) A sample showing the marking required by subparagraph (4) of this paragraph. (v) A copy of the instructions required by section .52k of the standards. (vi) Color samples showing all color schemes expected to be used. (vii) The boxes must be wrapped in the packaging proposed for shipping them. Written notification of approval or disapproval, including reasons for disapproval, will be issued. All boxes submitted will be returned, including those damaged during testing; unless the Department is authorized, in writing, to retain them. (4) Marking. All boxes shall have the following inscription legibly embossed into the door of the box (after approval of the box): "U.S. Mail" and "Approved by the Postmaster General". The name of the supplier and the month and year of manufacture shall also be noted on the box, either by embossing in small letters on the rear of the box, or by a permanent conspicuous marking on one inside wall of the box. This marking may be accomplished by embossing, stencilling, stamping, or a permanent-type decal. The address of the supplier may be included, if desired. (5) The following list includes manufacturers of rural mail boxes whose samples have been approved by the Department. |