There are many factors to consider when you are ready to purchase horizontal 4C commercial mailboxes for your apartment complex, community, or office building. Among them are indoor versus outdoor delivery, mailbox type, your business, and more. Here are some of the chief factors you’ll need to consider when choosing the right commercial mailboxes for you.
How Many Customers Are You Serving?
Before deciding on a mailbox type, you will need to take a tally of how many customer compartments you’ll need. This will tell you not only the number of doors you’ll need, but also whether you will need to add parcel lockers, where you can install your mailboxes, and how much space will be required. (At least one parcel locker is required for every ten customer compartments, in the case of centralized USPS delivery.)
Are You Getting USPS or Private Delivery?
Once you know how many customers you’ll be serving, the next step is to determine whether you’ll need USPS delivery directly to your mailboxes or private delivery, in which you or an employee will receive mail and distribute it to tenants.
Private delivery is often used when there are not many customers being served, or in some institutions such as university campuses. In other cases, USPS delivery will likely save employee time.
Mailboxes will be labeled as USPS-approved or for private delivery. USPS-approved mailboxes must be purchased when seeking USPS delivery, as these horizontal units are designed with special USPS requirements in mind.
How Can You Work With The Space You Have?
Taking inventory of your available space will help you determine where you can install your centralized mailbox system. There are recessed, horizontal 4C models designed for installation into walls and outdoor kiosks, which can save valuable space, and freestanding models that can simply be installed against a wall in an indoor setting such as a clubhouse, mailroom, or lobby. If seeking outdoor delivery, pedestal mailboxes are available, though these are currently being phased out in favor of freestanding 4C mailboxes.
All 4C mailboxes can be installed side by side, and if additional parcel lockers are needed to meet the 1:10 requirement, they can be purchased and installed beside customer units. A centralized mail center can be designed in this manner to meet all customer delivery needs.
What Customizations Will You Need?
Horizontal mailboxes come in a variety of colors and several different styles meant to match your complex or community. Door numbers can also be ordered and can come in the form of placards or engravings.
Do You Need 4C or 4B+ Mailboxes?
4C mailboxes, which are constructed with the USPS requirements outlined in USPS-STD-4C, are phasing out the older 4B mailboxes with more square compartments. 4C mailboxes have flatter, more horizontal compartments than their older 4B counterparts, and are required for USPS delivery when performing a new centralized delivery system installation and/or when doing major renovations to the area of installation.
4B+ mailboxes are designed to meet the requirements of USPS-STD-4B+ and to replace other 4B mailboxes of the same type, provided there are no changes to the installation area and they are not part of any new construction projects. These mailboxes have improved lock security over the old 4B units.
If you have any questions regarding which type of mailbox is the best for your apartment complex, office building, or community, contact us at National Mailboxes today.
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