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.
It doesn't make sense why a USPS letter carrier would put a question mark on one of the envelopes that is identical to the first one. It's common for people to get multiple letters from the same company. I would only put a question mark on the envelope if I wasn't sure if the name on the envelope was correct for the address it is to be delivered to. In your example, I don't think I'd put a question mark on either piece of mail. Also, if other mail to your address has your name on it, I don't see any reason for the question mark. If it only happens once or twice I wouldn't think about it. If it happens each month and it concerns you, you could cal the local PO and talk to the delivery supervisor to see if they have any insight.
From what you described there should be no problem in your landlord eventually receiving the check. It's possible that the letter carrier took the envelope thinking it was outgoing mail. Since it had a stamp on it and the landlord as a receiving address, they will likely get the check in a couple of delivery days. If a letter carrier sees an unstamped envelope in a mailbox they will often take it as outgoing mail without looking at the destination address. Thanks for your question.
I don't have an answer as to what the procedure is if the carrier can't deliver the mail because someone is parked in the loading zone of a building. I agree that the carrier should not be harassing anybody re: this. As far as I know they do have the right to not deliver the mail if there is no safe place for them to park their delivery vehicle. They could mention to the tenants or bldng/office managers as to the reason there may not have been delivery on a previous day, but I believe this can be done in a civil/professional manner. Is the building staff not enforcing the loading zone policy? I rarely deliver mail to an office building but I can see how it may be aggravating when a designated loading zone or short term parking policy isn't adhered to. Either way, nobody deserves harassment in my opinion.
If someone writes the wrong address but a letter carrier recognizes the name as to where the letter should go, it may be delivered correctly. If we can't figure out where the letter should go and there is a valid return address on the letter, we may send the letter back endorsed "Attempted, not Known" referring to the incorrect address that was written on the envelope.
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Please go to www.usps.com for information on how to apply for a job with the USPS. On the main USPS website, there is a section on the right hand side regarding employment and careers with the USPS. I don't recommend any online sites that ask you to pay for applying. If they are providing material for how to succeed or prepare for the exam, that may be valuable, but the USPS doesn't charge to take the exam as far as I know.
I don't know what is technically the protocol for a carrier reminding themselves that a house is on hold. You make a good point. Most of our carriers have hold notes or cards they sequence in with the mail nearby so when they arrive at the house on hold, they would know to skip it. The note or card is then brought back to the PO for use the next day. I just memorize it from when I prepare the mail in the PO in the AM, but I would usually have no more than 10-15 houses at once who are on hold and their mail usually is left behind at the PO so there would be nothing to deliver even if I forgot the house was on hold.
Yes, it's a regular work day for the USPS on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I'm not sure how busy of a day it is, but the online shopping business has been a boom for us so the days following Thanksgiving through Christmas are usually an endless flow of packages to deliver.
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