A man and his mailbox: How a dispute over rural mail delivery became a federal case

On a cold December afternoon, standing next to the empty wood frame where his mailbox used to be, Chuck Klein tried to explain why he’s spent so much time the past few years sending emails to government officials, writing letters to a president and a congressman, working with a private investigator and a lawyer, and, finally, suing the U.S. Postal Service.

“This is where it was,” Klein said, motioning to a mailbox-sized hole in the frame. “This is where we want the box to be.”

It’s as simple as that, Klein said. He wants his mailbox back.

But after years of arguing with the Postal Service, the seemingly minor bureaucratic dispute over the fate of Klein’s beige stainless steel mailbox has become something more. It is now, quite literally, a federal case that challenges the mission and obligations of an institution as old as the nation itself.

A man and his mailbox: How a dispute over rural mail delivery became a federal case

Chuck Klein says postal workers must deliver mail to his property, but the service says it’s unsafe. The case may impact rural delivery nationwide.