Handling UPS/FEDEX/DHL/USPS Delivers

[Mbn4211]

I, like many of you, order items from coffee to tractor parts online and have them delivered to our residences. Most of us have rural mailboxes out on the highway/road but our homes are sometimes a significant distance away. I have an electric gate which is operated by a remote (like a garage door opener) that allows access to our home. Obviously, I don't want to give a remote to every delivery company for security and cost reasons but I still want to receive and feel safe about these orders. In the past, the delivery 'guys' have dropped the package over the fence or place in a clear plastic bag and hung the package on the fence; neither are very secure from theft or the weather. I thought about building a 'box' of some kind at the mailbox or gate for these deliveries but before "reinventing the wheel" I wanted to know how others have handled this situation. What are some creative ideas for handling this dilemma?

 

[dave1949]

Secure Parcel Delivery Box - D:Box from Leofixings.com - YouTube

 

[idaho2]

I've seen a 55 gal barrel turned on it's side and nicely painted on a stand.

idaho2

 

[sandyc]

I use a plastic "deck" box with a sign saying "DELIVERIES". It's about 4 feet long three feet wide and three feet tall. UPS, USPS, FEDEX all know where it is. Makes their life easier in rain and snow if no one is around. Cost me $90 but we have been using it for almost 10 years!

 

[KYErik]

I've seen a 55 gal barrel turned on it's side and nicely painted on a stand.

idaho2

I like this idea- make a hinged square door in the end of the barrel and leave the door slightly ajar. Install a self locking latch on the door and make a small note (please close door firmly after dropping off the package) this way the package is locked up. One potential issue is when the second delivery person shows up the same day and the box is still locked...

 

[gwdixon]

I have a locked gate similar to the OP.

On the gate fencepost is mounted one of the large-sized metal mailboxes. On it is stenciled "Not USPS" and under is "UPS, FedEX, DHL".

A small padlock is left inside the mailbox. 95% of my boxes will fit in and are always locked. The others are dropped over the gate where my 3 dogs provide an alarm/deterrent system. The gate is also wired with an electric fence charger wire.

If you get a lot of very large boxes this is not a perfect solution but I've never had anything stolen.

 

[scoutcub]

I use a plastic "deck" box with a sign saying "DELIVERIES". It's about 4 feet long three feet wide and three feet tall. UPS, USPS, FEDEX all know where it is. Makes their life easier in rain and snow if no one is around. Cost me $90 but we have been using it for almost 10 years!

I like this idea. Waterproof storage. I woud keep a tarp/large piece of plastic inside it in the event of the package being larger than the deck box.

 

[jeffinsgf]

My neighbor has a commercial one similar to the one in the video that dave1949 linked.

 

[sseelhoff]

We ended up hiring a guy to sign for our stuff and keep an eye on things.

 

[dmccarty]

I thought we would have to build a box for package deliveries when we bought the place and put up a gate across the road but most days someone is home for deliveries. Our road is a dead end so we don't have much traffic and most people backup before getting too near our gate so the box has not been needed. I was going to build a great big box that would hold almost any package that would be delivered. The plan was to attach the box to the gate so it would be hard to just take the box.

We have had some very large boxes delivered. Sometimes I wonder what the packer was thinking when they used a huge box to ship a a few items. :confused3: Then there were packages that would not fit in a box and barely fit on the truck like the pole saw I ordered from Amazon. :laughing::laughing::laughing: The packer spent quite a bit of time getting a box to fit around the head of the pole saw. I was impressed with the effort. But that pole saw would not fit in the delivery box I had planned for the gate. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan