A question about mailboxes
This is not exactly a Montreal question, but I don’t know where else to post about it.
In my neighbourhood, mailboxes are all about the same size. Mine is about 5 inches wide, designed to accommodate a standard #10 business envelope with a little clearance. So are almost all the ones I’ve noticed around here (since thinking about this matter).
A lot of the mail I still get comes in bigger envelopes now. My RQ tax assessment and my Visa bill both arrived today in envelopes 6 inches wide. I knew I had mail just now because I could hear the letter carrier struggling to put the envelopes into a mailbox not wide enough for them.
What, I am asking, was the point of shifting from an envelope meant for letter-size paper folded twice to an envelope meant for folding it once? You don’t save paper. You only create a chronic minor hassle on the receiver’s end for many people, and no doubt an ongoing problem for letter carriers trying to deliver mail without tearing or damaging it.
Is there some benefit to the bigger envelopes that I’m not getting?
Update: I guess this is just me. Nobody else minds having their mail necessarily bent or folded? Everyone else has a huge mailbox?
MarcG 11:57 on 2020-06-09 Permalink
Just a guess, but maybe flatter, taller envelopes are easier to manage in a carrier’s mailbag.
MarcG 12:02 on 2020-06-09 Permalink
I feel like I’ve misunderstood your question. Are you talking about the width of the envelope (“Mine is about 5 inches wide”) or the height (“an envelope meant for letter-size paper folded twice to an envelope meant for folding it once”)?
Kate 12:35 on 2020-06-09 Permalink
The standard business envelope, the #10, is typically 4 1/8″ x 9½”.
Many outfits have shifted to a 6″ x 9½” envelope, which is the size I’m kvetching about.
MarcG 14:24 on 2020-06-09 Permalink
Aren’t 2 dimensional objects generally expressed as WxH? If so, I think my original guess might be valid. It also saves them a fold, which maybe saves them some peanuts when doing a run of millions?
Kate 16:49 on 2020-06-09 Permalink
Sheets of paper are WxH, like 8½x11 or 11×17, but envelopes seem to be specced differently.
Blork 21:35 on 2020-06-09 Permalink
Speculating, but I suspect the larger (and flatter if there are multiple pages inside) are easier to process and carry.
Bryan 22:51 on 2020-06-09 Permalink
Alternative theory: this newer size is less labour-intensive in terms of folding and envelope stuffing. The pages are just folded once in half rather than the typical trifold, which takes some guess work. So, large-volume mailings can be done faster and cheaper.
Alison Cummins 22:58 on 2020-06-09 Permalink
Bryan,
Pretty sure large mailings are not folded or stuffed by hand.
https://www.pitneybowes.com/ca/en/shipping-and-mailing/inserting/relay-mid-high-volume-inserting-systems.html
mare 16:14 on 2020-06-10 Permalink
Bigger envelopes are thinner when there are more than one sheet. (6 versus 8 layers, for two sheets)
Thinner envelopes take up less space in shipping/sorting boxes, and in letter carriers’ bags.
More square envelopes might be easier to rotate to the same orientation.
Because of one or more of these reasons the large-volume rates might be lower.
[pure speculation, I’ve never worked in the mail industry]