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.
Thanks for your question. We do sometimes get requests from attorneys or collection agencies or process servers which ask us to verify if a certain name received mail at a certain address. I don't know what the form is called but I believe this is legal as long as the proper procedures are followed by the requesting party. They will also ask if they have moved and, if so, what is the new address for the person in question. I receive these forms not too often. If I do get this written request, I just tell the registry clerk or supervisor what the status is of that name because I pretty much know all the names of people who receive mail on my postal route. As far as I know it's usually for a legal matter or debt recovery issue.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=The%20mailman%20just%20knocked%20on%20our%20door%20and%20asked%20my%20name%20and%20I%20said%20yes%20that%27s%20me.%20He%20did%20not%20give%20me%20anything%20he%20only%20said%20the%20form%20he%20was%20holding%20was%20for%20him%20to%20report%20something%20and%20he%20left.%20Now%20I%27m%20worried%20what%20it%20was%20he%20needed%20to%20report%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15978)
I am going to have to pass on answering this question with any authority because I don't know the union contract when it comes to this subject. It's also possible that a local agreement governs what is done. It makes sense to me that an unassigned regular can hold down a vacant route until it is put up for bid. They also shouldn't be bumped off that route unless it's the non-scheduled day for that route. In that situation the comp person would usually do the route on the day they are supposed to. If there is no available routes to do on a comp persons group of 5 routes there is usually another route for them to cover. The above is just based on what I've seen done at the PO where I work. I can't even say that my info is accurate. We usually treat hold downs to mean that the carrier holding it down has many of the rights as the regular carrier on the route, but not necessarily all. This is where it gets confusing to me about bumping rights.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Can%20a%20unassigned%20regular%20with%20a%20hold%20down%20bump%20a%20comp%20person%20off%20his%20tour%20on%20a%20route%20that%20is%20vacant%20until%20it%20goes%20up%20for%20bid..%20Not%20fair%20and%20where%20does%20the%20comp%20person%20go%20if%20no%20open%20route%20on%20comp%20tour&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16006)
I was looking at the USPS website about Priority Mail Express and it says that there is a guaranteed delivery date but it's not available in all areas to be exactly the next day. We used to deliver Express Mail on Sunday but that may be only available in certain places. If you sent the item out on Friday it was possibly past the deadline for Saturday delivery and the destination PO may not offer Sunday Priority Mail express delivery. In this case the item you mailed will be delivered Monday. There is a decent amount of information about Priority Mail Express on USPS.com. Be sure to read the disclaimers as it pertains to service being available 365 days per year.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Hello%20I%20have%20a%20question%20for%20you%2C%20if%20I%20played%20for%20the%20flat%20rate%20overnight%20shipping%20with%20usps%2C%20why%20does%20the%20tracking%20number%20tell%20me%20that%20I%20won%27t%20get%20it%20for%20two%20days%3F%20I%20sent%20it%20out%20on%20Friday%20they%20said%20it%20won%27t%20get%20there%20until%20Monday.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15668)
Andrew, you may want to email the vendor of the postcards to see the size of the white box. It looks like it would fit in the white box but I can't say for sure as I don't know standard address label sizes. I recommend doing this before ordering the cards because I don't know if they issue refunds. I see there is an area where your card customization needs to be double checked since there are no changes once the order is placed.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Follow%20up%20question%20i%20was%20the%20guy%20who%20asked%20about%20the%20eddm%20would%20i%20a%20regular%20size%20label%20fit%20where%20it%20says%20local%20postal%20customer%20do%20you%20think%20it%20fit%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16219)
CPR Trainer
Is it possible to perform CPR on animals?
Certified Nurse Aide
Are there social cliques (like "cool kids") in old folks homes?
Border Patrol Agent
What's the most creative way you saw cartels getting drugs across the border?
I must first start with my disclaimer that we are poorly trained in what the regulations or SOP are when it comes to certain situations that come up. I can't say what is legal or not regarding your question. I do think it is inappropriate for the postal worker to ask you anything about returning mail.
You don't need to explain to any USPS employee why you are returning the mail. It is none of our business. As long as it is an unopened, first-class letter, you should be able to just write "refused" on it and have it returned. Personally I would just discard any unwanted mail. I've received debt collection letters in the past and have just ignored them and not returned them. There are certain classes of mail where we won't return to the sender because the sender has paid a pre-sorted standard rate (which is lower than the first-class rate). In that case, we just recycle any unwanted mail.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%20return%20harrassing%20mail%20and%20postal%20worker%20sends%20it%20back%20to%20me%20asking.%20%20Is%20this%20legal%3F%20%20My%20mail%20is%20mine%20and%20can%20return%20any%20mail%20i%20believe%20is%20hsrrasment%20from%20some%20esp%20if%20i%20hae%20already%20dealt%20withnthat%20company.%20%20Do%20o%20have%20to%20explain%20this%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15255)
They really shouldn't be taking your mail into their unit or house or apt if you don't shared the same living space with them and they aren't responsible about giving it to you. It may not be easy but you could politely ask the landlord and girlfriend and son to maybe leave your mail in the box or slip it under your door if that's accessible or appropriate. I agree it's not good for you to need to be concerned if someone is taking your mail and giving it to you at their convenience. I know it's not the answer you'd like to hear, but a PO Box rental would solve this issue. The drawback is that it costs money and is probably less convenient than getting mail at your residence. The USPS would probably not get involved in separating out your mail and putting in to a different mail receptacle unless the unit was officially designated an apt for mail receiving purposes. I don't know how one would go about doing this or the complexity of it. We have a database of authorized addresses that we go by to deliver the mail and if there aren't multiple units designated in the same dwelling, all of the mail would normally be put together.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=My%20landlord%20%26%20I%20have%20the%20same%20mailbox%20%26%20for%20some%20reason%20his%20girlfriend%20%26%20son%20continue%20to%20take%20my%20mail%20into%20the%20house%20%26%20when%20I%20ask%20about%20the%20landlord%20says%20no%20your%20mail%20isn%27t%20in%20my%20house%20%26%2010-15%20mins%20later%20he%20appears%20with%20my%20mail&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16080)
The main reasons for a mail route to change for a city carrier is because a route/assignment has come up for bid (Another carrier has retired/transferred/bid to another route) and one carrier decides to bid for the available route so they'd leave their current route. That is the most common reason. It's possible you could have the same carrier for many years or a route may be so large or undesirable that it's like a revolving door as to who delivers your mail. One other reason for a new carrier is if the office restructures the routes and different streets go to different letter carriers. Where I work I've only seen this a couple of times in 15 years. This would be more common if there was a lot of new construction in a town. Assignments or routes are awarded to the carrier with the highest seniority who desire it. That is how the bidding system works. Thanks for submitting your question.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%20notice%20I%20have%20a%20different%20mail%20carrier..%20How%20often%20does%20a%20route%20change%20for%20city%20mail%20carriers%3F%20Why%20would%20it%20change%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15198)
-OR-
Login with Facebook (max 20 characters - letters, numbers, and underscores only. Note that your username is private, and you have the option to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
(A valid e-mail address is required. Your e-mail will not be shared with anyone.)
(min 5 characters)
By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to Jobstr.com’s Terms and Privacy Policy.
-OR-
Register with Facebook(Don't worry: you'll be able to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
Browse Jobs
Host a Q&A
Search
Submit Your Question
Host a Q&A
Last 7
