Do you remember the last two curiosity questions I had posted on the postal vehicles? The one about why one side of the postal vehicles’ roof is always rusted and the other one about why some of them have steering wheels on one side while the others have it on the other side?

Well, hearing the responses from you all on the second one, we might be closer to solving the first one.

For the second, we have logically concluded that the steering wheel is on the “wrong” side only if the vehicle is meant to deliver mail door to door. That makes sense. The mailboxes are on the right and the driver does not have to get out every single time (not to talk about seat belt on and off). The ones that had steering wheel on the “right” side clearly was being used to transfer mail between post offices or purposes as such.

This morning, while having tea in the patio, I tried to see if the roof rusting matched a pattern I was wondering about.

LO AND BEHOLD!! IT DID!!!

Look at the picture. There are three vehicles that have no rusting on the roof. Look closely at those vehicles – they are the different looking vans that are NOT used for door to door delivery. And look at the door to door delivery vehicles. Each one of them have that pattern.

So, this HAS to do something with the requirements on a vehicle for door to door delivery. I know they do not have any HVAC. The windows are always open for constantly flinging the mail or putting the mail in the mailbox. I have even seen table fans in these vehicles to cool down the drivers.

So, what is it about windows being always open that might have something to do with the rusting?

This is where I am starting to think that Nick Kules might be on to something… that the way the drainage on the roof is designed might have something to do. Could it be that there are ridges so that after a little rainfall or water accumulation, the water does not drip down the window and potentially wet the mail? And that is why the stagnated water rusts out the roof?

Then why not on the driver’s side also?

I HAVE to crack this problem.

Need you all to pitch in with your combined imagination and analytical powers.