Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

Daughter of a deceased employee submitted an employee generated mlna with letter attached indicating father had past. I did mlna on the mail, then 2 days a fwd was put thru. Do l now fwd or mlna and will that mlna come back in dps or to office.

Asked by jvitto48 about 11 years ago

I would forward any mail you receive from this point forward since you now have a valid COA for that former employee who is now deceased. Any mail that was previously put through with the MLNA may not come back at all and was returned to the sender. If the mail happens to come back to your office I would then forward it. This is all just my opinion. I'd ask the clerk who handles forwards in your office or a supervisor, but they may also just give an opinion without knowing if there is a correct procedure.

696 Votes

Thank you so much for a speedy answer. Thank you for answering all these questions! One other question I would have is, what do you do when a house does not have a mailbox?

Asked by Dee about 10 years ago

My pleasure to answer yours and others questions, Dee! It's easy to respond quickly as I don't get an overwhelming number of questions. I also don't like to have a backlog of emails either. Anyhow, to answer your question the correct thing to do is to not deliver the mail and have it returned to the sender with the endorsement "No Mail Receptacle". I don't come across this situation very often. I sometimes fill in on another route and there is one house with no mailbox. I just rubber band the mail and leave it on their bench by a front door. I think if it was on my postal route I'd request the customer install a mailbox to have mail delivery service.

696 Votes

It seems that all the big blue mailboxes on the street that we put our mail into have been replaced with new ones. They look just like the old ones but there is less space for the envelopes to go through into the box. Why?

Asked by Roberta almost 11 years ago

I actually have no idea regarding the blue collection boxes being replaced with ones that have thinner slots. Possibly it is harder to steal out of it with a thinner slot buy I'm purely speculating. I don't know that theft from these boxes is much of an issue in most areas. Your question is the first I'm hearing about different size slot collection boxes. If anything I just hear of there being less collection boxes in general due to the decline in First-Class Mail being sent.

696 Votes

When do the mailman comes back to work since next Friday is Christmas

Asked by Kenya over 10 years ago

We will be operating as normal on 12/26/15 Saturday. Have a Merry Christmas!

695 Votes

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Are mail carriers allowed to have tattoos and/or piercings?

Asked by Rose about 11 years ago

Yes, I've heard of nothing to the contrary and I know that many of the younger letter carriers have tattoos and piercings.

695 Votes

thank you. that's what i hoped. i said some things after i walked away(about 20 feet). no threats were made and nobody was touched. are you allowed to have phone plugs in your ears and the radio going in your truck where you can't hear people?

Asked by tn mom almost 11 years ago

I don't like to quote too many rules here on jobstr with regards to what a letter carrier can and can't do. One of the main reasons is that many rules are barely told to us, if at all, and the enforcement of any rules seem so inconsistent even within a particular office. In our office we are told not to have both ears plugged with earphones while delivering mail (driving or walking). I use earphones but only have one ear plugged in. I wouldn't be surprised if some of my co-workers have them both plugged in, because "rules" are for other people, not them. I also think we are allowed to play a radio in our vehicles, but it shouldn't be that loud where you can't hear what's going on around you. That is rude and a safety concern as far as I see it. I'm glad that no threats were made and nobody was touched. I won't stick up for my fellow employees who have any type of bad attitude or poor work ethic or don't follow some basic courtesy rules.

695 Votes

I'm a CCA in Ohio that survived the winter (YAY!) and this will be my first summer working for the USPS. Do you have any tips for surviving the heat?

Asked by Bradan over 11 years ago

Bradan, Congratulations on surviving the winter! That can't have been fun at all. I'm just glad it's over also. As much as the heat isn't fun, I prefer it over the cold. I know there are others who feel quite differently about that. As far as tips go, my main tips are: 1) Drink plenty of water or some other liquids. I've heard different schools of thought whether or not Gatorade is good. My joke is that on the internet you can find anybody to support your opinion. I would guess that it works but there is a very high sugar content. The key is to stay hydrated.

2) Wear a hat to block the sun off your head and face. I wear a cowboy-type hat which works well. I fold the edges up by the ear so it doesn't look so funny but there is a tradeoff in that I'm exposing more of my face to the sun. I'm not sure what the official name of the hat is. You could also wear a white mesh pith helmet. Baseball caps will help as well but not cover too much of your face or neck for sun exposure. I also wear sunglasses most of the time.

3) Wear as light clothes as possible. I usually wear shorts in the warm weather and a short-sleeve uniform shirt with a t-shirt underneath.

Those are the basic tips that I can think of. Make sure to ask or take a cue from your fellow carriers, as I'm far from being an expert on this. On the very hot and humid days I consume water without even thinking about it, usually bringing about 2 liters with me plus some orange juice to drink with lunch.

Good luck to you. During July and August there is so much extra work to do because of our fellow workers going on vacation. We never seem to have enough help. I'm sure that story is repeated in many Post Offices nationwide.

695 Votes

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Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

Daughter of a deceased employee submitted an employee generated mlna with letter attached indicating father had past. I did mlna on the mail, then 2 days a fwd was put thru. Do l now fwd or mlna and will that mlna come back in dps or to office.

Thank you so much for a speedy answer. Thank you for answering all these questions! One other question I would have is, what do you do when a house does not have a mailbox?

It seems that all the big blue mailboxes on the street that we put our mail into have been replaced with new ones. They look just like the old ones but there is less space for the envelopes to go through into the box. Why?

When do the mailman comes back to work since next Friday is Christmas

Also on Jobstr...

Are mail carriers allowed to have tattoos and/or piercings?

thank you. that's what i hoped. i said some things after i walked away(about 20 feet). no threats were made and nobody was touched. are you allowed to have phone plugs in your ears and the radio going in your truck where you can't hear people?

I'm a CCA in Ohio that survived the winter (YAY!) and this will be my first summer working for the USPS. Do you have any tips for surviving the heat?

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

Daughter of a deceased employee submitted an employee generated mlna with letter attached indicating father had past. I did mlna on the mail, then 2 days a fwd was put thru. Do l now fwd or mlna and will that mlna come back in dps or to office.

Thank you so much for a speedy answer. Thank you for answering all these questions! One other question I would have is, what do you do when a house does not have a mailbox?

It seems that all the big blue mailboxes on the street that we put our mail into have been replaced with new ones. They look just like the old ones but there is less space for the envelopes to go through into the box. Why?

When do the mailman comes back to work since next Friday is Christmas

Also on Jobstr...

Are mail carriers allowed to have tattoos and/or piercings?

thank you. that's what i hoped. i said some things after i walked away(about 20 feet). no threats were made and nobody was touched. are you allowed to have phone plugs in your ears and the radio going in your truck where you can't hear people?

I'm a CCA in Ohio that survived the winter (YAY!) and this will be my first summer working for the USPS. Do you have any tips for surviving the heat?

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