A major change is coming to mailboxes

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is encouraging Americans to upgrade to a new larger capacity mailbox. 

The new mailboxes are wider and taller - which means they are better equipped to accommodate packages ordered online, USPS said. 

The new dimensions are in the graphic below, and make mailboxes about a fifth bigger.

'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,' the USPS said. 

A bigger mailbox can cut package damage - caused when mailmen stuff them into boxes that are too small. 

It can also cut  package theft, which is more likely to happen whan they are too big and are left on the floor or a porch instead. 

In fact, package theft carried out by so-called 'porch pirates' is booming. An estimated 119 million boxes were swiped from front porches in 2023, according to Capital One - the equivalent of one out of every 200 package deliveries. 

Collectively, Americans lost $13.4 billion to the crime last year, it found, with the average stolen package worth $112.30.

New larger capacity mailboxes are designed to accommodate the delivery of larger packages and reduce the need for notices and trips to the post office to retrieve orders. 

The dimensions of the 'next generation' mailboxes are approximately 13.63 inches wide, 7.75 inches tall on the sides, 12 inches tall at the center and 16.5 inches deep.

The mailbox fits on most standard posts, but USPS urges Americans to review their installation guidelines before installing a new mailbox.

They can hold multiple packages, plus regular letters, cards and magazines. 

Major retailers including Home Depot, Walmart and Lowe's sell the package-friendly mailboxes, USPS said.

While prices will vary depending on the retailer, Walmart sells mailboxes from Architectural Mailboxes costing between $46.77 and $86.43. 

As part of its annual Mailbox Improvement Week, which takes place every third week of May, USPS is also urging homeowners to inspect and repair their mailboxes.

'Repairing suburban and rural mailboxes improves the appearance of communities and makes delivering and receiving mail safe for our carriers and customers,' the service said in a statement. 

'The Postal Service makes this annual request because of the wear and tear that occurs to mailboxes every year.'

USPS is also urging Americans to sign up for Informed Delivery in order to help prevent package theft. 

The free service allows you to sign up for text or email notifications, schedule delivery alerts, request redelivery and enter delivery instructions. 

It comes after USPS announced stamp prices are due to increase again in July under new proposals designed to combat losses from falling mail volume. 

The price of a First-Class 'Forever' stamp will rise 5 cents from 68 cents to 73 cents, under a notice filed by the US Postal Service. 

It marks the fifth proposed price rise in just two years - and the 19th change since 2000. 

In the last few years, the agency has accelerated price hikes, with stamp prices soaring 36 percent since 2019. 

It last raised them by two cents as recently as January, just a few months after a three cents rise in July last year.

The changes, like several others since 2021, are part of the financially beleaguered service's 10-year plan to raise prices and slow down some delivery times in a bid to try and avoid $160 billion in projected losses over a decade. 

Like other postal services across the world, it is facing headwinds as fewer people send physical mail.

In 2023, USPS handled 116.1 billion pieces of mail, compared to a peak of over 213 billion in 2006. 

In a statement, USPS said the 'price adjustments are needed to achieve the financial stability' sought in the 10-year 'Delivering for America' plan, announced by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in 2021.

'USPS prices remain among the most affordable in the world,' it added.