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Drop box will return to post office
PO box
This portion of sidewalk outside the Oakdale Post Office on California Avenue is now devoid of the familiar blue drop box mailboxes that used to be available there for customers to drive up and drop off mail. Local postal officials said they will be returning, but there is no firm date to have them installed and back in operation. Kristi Mayfield/The Leader

Something has been missing from Oakdale … and almost everyone has noticed.

For the past couple of weeks, that trusty blue box that so many folks have dropped their mail in for years – without having to leave their vehicles at the Post Office on California Avenue – has been missing, much to the dismay of many.

“I have had people ask me what kind of protest they should start to get the boxes back,” admitted Mohammad Bhuiyan, United States Postal Service Supervisor for the Oakdale Post Office. “We have had business owners call and complain because they utilized the drop box after hours when the post office lobby was closed and now they have to wait until we open to do business.”

Bhuiyan appreciates their concern, noting that while people can drive to the nearby Riverbank or Escalon post offices to use the drop boxes there, it is not very convenient for many of them that live and do business in Oakdale. He went on to explain that the USPS has been evaluating ways to “streamline efficiencies and promote cost effectiveness” so they have been looking at various ways in which to do so at post offices across America, including removing drop boxes at certain locations.

He also shared that although they did remove the drop box, a replacement drop box will be headed to the Oakdale Post Office soon. Though Bhuiyan doesn’t have an exact date for the return of the drop box, he knows that postal customers are anxiously anticipating its return.

He said the return could be as soon as next week or a few weeks down the road, but he is confident that Oakdale will get one of its blue drop boxes back soon and added that he appreciates the patience and understanding of those in the Cowboy Capital at this time.

In the meantime, those that need to drop something off after hours, the closest drop boxes are at the Riverbank Post Office, 6501 Third St., Riverbank, or the Escalon Post Office, 1854 Coley Ave., Escalon.

Oakdale also has a UPS Store at 1449 E. F St., Ste. 101E and a FedEx ShipCenter at 1570 E. F St., Ste. A, where you can drop off mail for USPS as the postal service does daily pickups at those locations.