Some rural residents in Warren County have trouble getting packages delivered to their homes. Instead of a box at their door, they might find a note in their mailbox, telling them to pick up their package at the Warrenton Post Office.

Those residents have a couple of options to avoid having to make the trip, said Mike Cooke of the U.S. Postal Service.

Cooke, the USPS media contact for the St. Louis region, said often the difficulty for carriers is that a residence is too far from the road to walk, and there’s no place to turn the vehicle around if they use the driveway.

Drivers are instructed to avoid any situation in which they need to back up their trucks.

“Our vehicles don’t have windows on the back side, which is necessary to prevent people from breaking them,” Cooke explained. “We can’t see behind us very well.”

That could put anyone standing behind the vehicle at risk, as well as the carriers, he said. Having to back out onto a busy street creates a hazard.

“We want (carriers) to go home in the same condition they showed up in,” he said.

Cooke added that there also can be other challenges, such as loose dogs, that keep carriers in their vehicles.

So how can rural customers make sure they get their packages delivered? Cooke advised homeowners to do one of two things: Install a bigger mailbox that can hold packages, or provide a way for mail trucks to turn around.

“They make some mailboxes that are quite large now,” he said.

If possible, residents can pour an extra gravel space along their driveway for a quick three-point turn.

“Give us a spot where we can turn around and leave their driveway,” Cooke said.