I don’t recall any of that info about outgoing mail in the literature or instructions for installing the locking mailbox. So now just getting a slightly larger than normal letter mailed has become a problem… nearly impossible if there’s not an able-bodied person around to run to a post office or mailbox. There are no big blue mailboxes within a 5 mile radius of our house. (Though UPS will!) There are two disabled residents in our household (one being me) both don’t drive and have mobility issues. So the time-sensitive stack of papers I put in outgoing mail didn’t get picked up, and I didn’t know why until the mail person responded to my note! And now small packages we’re waiting for surely won’t be delivered USPS never comes up our driveway to the house for any reason. Secondly, that slot where outgoing mail is supposed to be clipped to IS TOO SMALL for anything more than one or two plain letters. The mail deliverer had a key to that! Same goes for apartment complexes. The neighborhoods I’ve lived in previously had ONE locking box for like 10-12 houses. First, the mailman not having access to our locked mailbox was news to me! I’ve never heard of that before. They wrote back on my note saying (1) they don’t have access to the main chamber, and (2) outgoing mail is supposed to be placed under the clip on the lid of tiny upper outgoing slot. I kept putting outgoing mail inside the main chamber, putting up the red flag, and the mail deliverer would not take our outgoing mail! I wrote a note asking the deliverer to please take the outgoing mail and stuck it to the mailbox.

We recently installed a Mail Boss locking mailbox for our single family residence. For this reason, we recommend depositing your outgoing mail in a USPS blue box or other secure location. Thieves target “flagged” mailboxes because they often include bill payments with account information and checks which they can wash and reuse fraudulently. Red flags are used to signal to the postman that there is outgoing mail, but these red flags also signal to mail thieves that there is a wealth of material ripe for the plucking. Since the outgoing mail must be available to the letter carrier, the door is not locked. The mail may be held by a clip or sit inside the door (credit jerome). Generally, outgoing mail is handled by placing it in a separate compartment near the incoming mail door. While a well-built locking mailbox like the MailBoss security locking mailbox can provide security for your incoming mail, no USPS approved locking mailbox protects your outgoing mail. Depending on the model and style of the mailbox, the key-locked door may be in the front, rear, or both. With a locking mailbox, the homeowner removes their mail with a key by unlocking the mail-removal door and retrieving their mail. Otherwise, the mailbox can be easily pried open in seconds with a screwdriver or other household items. Additionally, a secure locking mailbox should feature an anti-pry mechanism such as the Mail Boss anti-pry latch to prevent leveraged entry. For larger, commercial size boxes, the mailbox must be designed to prevent reaching through the incoming mail slot. For true mail security, the incoming mail slot should be too small for prying hands to reach in and fish out your mail. Once your mail is in a secure locking mailbox, the incoming mail is protected from would-be mail and identity thieves. This door is not locked, and is usually big enough to accept all your mail and small parcels, but should not be large enough to allow a fishing hand to reach in. The postal officer deposits your mail through an incoming mail door or slot. Most USPS approved residential curbside locking mailboxes work in the same basic way as an unlocked curbside mailbox. In fact, letter carriers are not allowed to carry a key for residential mailboxes. Many people ask us if their postal carrier will need a key if they buy a locking mailbox.

What you should know about locking mailboxes, and how they work

Usps master mailbox keys