You’re gonna need a bigger mailbox

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) thinks you might need a bigger mailbox. As for why, it’s for exactly the reason you’d expect: Due to the explosion of online shopping, your old letterbox is probably too small for the volume and type of mail you now receive. 

Each year, the Postal Service designates the third week of May as “Mailbox Improvement Week,” during which it encourages customers with box-on-post delivery to “examine and, where necessary, improve the appearance of their mailboxes.” 

In past years, the agency has used the event to remind patrons to replace rusted hinges, remount loose posts, and ensure that their mailbox is conveniently located with a house number clearly indicated on the outside. But this year, it’s also urging postal patrons to consider upgrading to one of the new, larger-capacity “jumbo” boxes. “Today’s newer mailboxes are wider and taller to accommodate delivery of items you’ve ordered online and reduce the need for notices left and trips to the post office to retrieve a package,” USPS said in a release.