MailmanDave
17 Years Experience
Long Island, NY
Male, 43
I am a City Letter Carrier for the US Postal Service in NY. I've been a city letter carrier for over 17 years and it is the best job I've ever had. I mostly work 5 days per week (sometimes includes a Saturday) and often have the opportunity for overtime, which is usually voluntary. The route I deliver has about 350 homes and I walk to each of their doors to deliver the mail. Please keep in mind that I don't have authority to speak for the USPS, so all opinions are solely mine, not my employer.
When a route goes up for bid due to a vacancy, it is usually first offered in the office or city (if there are multiple stations combined into one bidding unit). If nobody bids that assignment and there are no unassigned regular letter carriers in the bidding unit, the assignment might be posted as available through the eReassign system. This is the way that letter carriers can move between districts.
Sure, sometimes a carrier may forget that they have a package for an address and come back later to deliver it. It's also quite possible that some Priority Mail arrived at the PO after a letter carrier has left to deliver their route. In that case, another (or even your own) may be around later to deliver the priority Mail, but it is sometimes just left for the next delivery day if it arrived too late at the PO to send someone out or they may not even have to be delivered that day.
I'm not sure why a mailman would want to refuse delivery to a rural mailbox if the lid is open. Most of the ones I see just have flip down lids which aren't secure or they have no lids at all and may have broken off over the years. I don't know the exact rules of what condition a rural mailbox must be in to receive mail. I suppose if the carrier felt the mail wasn't secure they could refuse delivery until the condition of the rural mailbox is rectified. I've never refused to deliver mail due to an open mailbox, but then again, I'd rather deliver the mail then have to bring it back to the PO and re-attempt delivery on a subsequent day. Thanks for your question.
I don't know what will happen if you don't fix the mailbox by tomorrow morning and go out of town. It's possible that the mail will still be delivered to your mailbox if it's on the ground near where it was before it got hit. Two other possibilities are that the mail will be held at the PO for a few days in hopes that you will repair it or the mail would be returned to the sender marked "No Mail Receptacle". The latter is very unlikely since it just happened today. If possible, contact your local PO and advise them what happened and that it will be fixed once you get back in town. Another option would be to go our website at www.usps.com and put in a hold request for your mail and that you will pick it up on your return. I know that may be difficult depending on your work schedule. I'm also not sure how far in advance a "hold mail request" must be submitted online. I can accept them via paper for the same day or next day. The reason I don't have a definite answer for this is because different POs and different employees handle each situation that's not always consistent with what should be done. I'm sorry about your mailbox being hit.
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It depends on who your letter carrier is. Some will give it to you ahead of time and others will want to place it in the mailbox so they know you have legitimate access to your mailbox. As long as I knew the individual resided at the address associated with the package or they could prove it with identification, I would hand them the package. In my career I've never had a problem. Please remember that not every letter carrier behaves the same way. Thank you for the question.
I can't say for sure if we come later on Fridays or not. It usually depends on the staffing and mail volume as to what time we deliver the mail. At the PO where I work, Friday is usually like most other weekdays for mail delivery time. On Saturday, the mail may come earlier because postal routes may have closed busineses so they can start the residential delivery sooner.
I am not sure I can exactly answer your question properly. If the mail has already been sent, I don't know of any way to change the apt. number to the correct one. You can contact the sender so if they mail you anything in the future that they should address it with your correct apt. number. Since it seems like the mail has already been sent, you could leave a note on the mailbox of the apt. to where the mail was sent or you could could contact the post office to tell them there may be a piece of mail incorrectly addressed to another apt. # and that it should go to the mailbox that belongs to you. I don't know if either scenario will help as it probably depends on the willingness of your "neighbor" or the personnel at the USPS to assist you. I hope you get the mail you are waiting for.
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