MATTHEWS, N.C. — You’ve likely used -- or at the very least seen -- a blue United States Postal Service collection box. Customers can use them to drop off mail to avoid going to the post office, or when the post office is closed.
But some people in Matthews noticed collection boxes were taped up, and wanted to know why. They asked if USPS planned to replace these boxes.
THE SOURCES
WHAT WE FOUND
In an email to our Verify team, USPS confirmed that “in specific locations where a blue box is a repeated crime target and/or mail density is very low, collection boxes may have to be removed entirely when access is not meaningfully diminished due to nearby access points."
A USPS employee did confirm that both of these drop-off boxes at the Matthews post office were vandalized. That's why they are taped up.
USPS said if you’re missing your blue collection bin, alternate mail deposit locations are often in the immediate area and can be found by visiting the USPS website.