Mental Floss has a good article up on what relay mail boxes are and how they function. I admit to having moments of disappointment when I'm looking for a blue mail box and see the familiar shape, only to find out it's a relay box instead. The dark green boxes are for postal worker use only. They are most often seen in cities where a lot of the mail is delivered on foot. Their placement is determined by a special algorithm. They work as storage containers for the mail carriers as they are making their rounds. Here, they can pick up more mail to deliver or drop off mail to go back to the post office that will be picked up later by a worker in a truck. They can also be clever flower pots, as seen in the photo.
The algorithm article is interesting, and after Page 0.34, way beyond my mathematical comprehension. Thanks for the post!
Posted by: Cynthia | January 18, 2016 at 12:36 PM
If there was a Relay box on my street, I would *Totally* be all over that flower box idea! LOL! Usually when you see them, they're looking rather forlorn and a little worse for wear.
Posted by: CMN | January 19, 2016 at 09:40 AM
WOW! I never saw a mail box -- relay or otherwise -- with a flower box on it. So cool! Thanks for sharing that.
Posted by: Pamela | January 20, 2016 at 06:27 PM
I saw one of those relay boxes while visiting Disney World's Hollywood Studios park with my wife a couple of years ago. It is (was?) in part of the park that's set up to look like a movie set with lots of fake building fronts and street signs and such. I don't recall ever seeing one anywhere else--and definitely not one with flowers!
Posted by: Kevin | January 20, 2016 at 09:52 PM
I don't know if was having seen this post, or just that I was walking down a street rarely taken, but I saw a relay box yesterday! I had never noticed one before.
Posted by: Victoria | January 22, 2016 at 09:16 AM
Very cool. I hope to see a relay mail box some day.
Posted by: Lori | April 26, 2016 at 12:27 AM