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Comment by johnmurch | Hacker News Reader

I always wondered by UPS/FedEx don't have keys to the outside or every apt building have "drop boxes" - large empty boxes that UPS/FedEx could put in a package, lock it with the key, then drop the key in the mailbox of the person who needs it.

Thinking a bit more - I wonder if lockitron could solve this allowing "carriers" to enter, drop off package or put groceries away (for the most part) - cold items in freezer, perishable items in fridge, etc.

Super interest - also how a retail spans years with various connections/products and integrates into your life.

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Canada Post's community mailboxes have oversized slots for packages, which work on exactly the model you propose. I gather it works reasonably well.

On the other hand, I have absolutely no desire to have random delivery staff wandering in and out of my apartment. If that means I have to shop for my own groceries, rather than having them delivered, then that's what I'll do. This also has the benefit that I can pick my own produce, rather than relying on someone who works for Peapod or similar, who likely gets paid rather poor wages, and who, to pick one particularly memorable example, has no particular interest in seeing to it that I get fresh, firm, ripe bell peppers instead of sallow, sunken, half-gone-over ones.

But the oversized slots don't actually fit all oversized items.

And depending on how Amazon, Dell, etc. packages the boxes, it can be bigger than it needs to be or multiple items are put in one box requiring you to go pick up at the nearest post office anyway.

"Oversized" only by comparison with the regular mail slots in the postbox, not by comparison with actual packages. It wouldn't be a bad idea to add a few much larger slots, perhaps in a second housing alongside or below the existing one.

Main problem is that no one is allowed to put stuff in a USPS mailbox except the USPS. So our condo complex does have this setup for mail packages that are too big to fit in our locked mailbox, but UPS/FedEx can't use it.

USPS is doing a lot of last-mile fulfillment for the private couriers, so that maybe be one way around it.

Speaking of which, when did UPS start just dropping off packages with USPS rather than trying to deliver them themselves? Came by once at 1:00 (naturally at work) and then off to USPS. I was really surprised when this happened the other week, and it seems like a bit of a misuse of the postal service. Frankly, I think if couriers just changed to doing a lot of their delivery after normal work hours it would fix a lot of this. Swing shift delivery - it works.

Almost all my Amazon packages come by USPS now, it used to be fairly evenly split between USPS and UPS. Not sure how it happened, but I prefer it.

As far as misuse of USPS, if the postal service is getting paid for it, not only is it not misuse, it's revenue they need.

then drop the key in the mailbox of the person who needs it.

Usually apartment mailboxes are locked, so that only USPS and the box owner can access them. There is no slot accessible to drop the key in.

I used to live in a set of townhouses that did exactly your "drop box" idea. It worked really well, and I thought that it was quite common.

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