Mail Trucks, Parked Cars, Sidewalks

In the last several weeks we've had some mail delivery issues.  One day there was no mail.  The next a notice that the mailbox had been blocked.  Then yesterday this notice was in our mailbox:

We're on a street where it's almost impossible to park without blocking one mailbox or another based on these guidelines. We've lived here 40 years. Once in the past we had a similar problem.  During that time we learned that postal trucks are NOT supposed to drive over the sidewalk to deliver the mail.  We have a sidewalk in front of our house.  Once that was established there haven't been any issues until now.

I looked on line and found this from a 2011 article in The Postal Record by the International Association of Mail Carriers' director of education, Jamie Lumm:

"It seems a little silly to have to say this, but driving on public sidewalks is unsafe. Furthermore, in most juris- dictions, it’s against the law. Sidewalks are made for pedestrians, not for motor vehicles. This applies where there is no curb, a gradual rolling type curb, or the more traditional squared-off curb. . .
Dismounted or park-and-loop deliv- eries take longer, as carriers have to properly park and secure their vehicle with each dismount. Nevertheless, driving on the sidewalk is inherently unsafe and it should be stopped.
The local union should insist that carriers be instructed not to drive on sidewalks. Instead, they should be directed to dismount to make such deliveries. Where there are many such deliveries in a row, consideration should be given to converting the section to park-and-loop delivery if the boxes cannot be moved to a location where they can safely be serviced from the vehicle.  . .
It is likely that some carriers will object to dismounting, claiming that they have done it that way for years and had no safety problems. Others may complain that this will add a lot of unnecessary time to their routes. Stewards should remind them that they are paid by the hour to do their job safely, which means obeying traffic laws. If the added time for dismounting puts them into overtime, they can submit a Form 3996 requesting auxiliary assistance. If they have a lot of dismounted deliveries, they may qualify for a special inspection and a route cut."

I had been trying to call the post office, but the line kept being busy.  When I finally got through, I explained the situation to the supervisor who checked our route and said there was a new mail carrier and she'll let him know that cars blocking a mailbox is not an issue where there is a sidewalk.  Problem solved.  I think.  If so, that was pretty easy.

No one here complains when the mail truck does have room to drive up over the sidewalk to deliver the mail.  But if there isn't enough room to pull the truck up to the mailbox, we expect the carrier to get out and put it into the mailbox.  Not far from here, the mail is delivered to people's doorsteps.  And then there are other places where mail is delivered to a set of many mailboxes all in one place.