Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

Can you leave a street you are delivering mail on to use the restroom in a emergency and then return to that street and continue where you left off....?

Asked by Deborah Sala over 10 years ago

Definitely. It's never been an issue as far as I know to take a bathroom break as needed even if it means leaving the street you are delivering mail on to go use a lavatory at a public business. That's what I usually do. I'll leave my route and go to a gas station or the public library that are near my route as needed. It doesn't have to be an emergency.

611 Votes

Hello I have a question for you, if I played for the flat rate overnight shipping with usps, why does the tracking number tell me that I won't get it for two days? I sent it out on Friday they said it won't get there until Monday.

Asked by Rashelle thompson over 10 years ago

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.

611 Votes

I did a coa for October 9 to stop mail at old place and start mail at new place for same date. My question is why did I get a no vacant slip in mailbox on October 6? And does that mean my mail will be forwarded to new address or on hold at post offic

Asked by Sandy over 10 years ago

I am not sure why this happened and what will happen to your mail for the 3 days you mentioned. It should have been delivered until 10/8 as far as I know. After that, the forwarding should commence to your new address and will probably be a few more days before any forwarded mail arrives there. It's possible your "old" post office is holding the mail until 10/9 to forward it but I can't say for sure. I don't know if you have time to go to the PO to ask them why this happened and it's possible that by the time you find out it will almost be 10/9 and the mail will have been forwarded.

611 Votes

Is it possible for a mail carrier to overlook mail that is supposed to be delivered to you?

Asked by Ariel over 10 years ago

Definitely. Most of the time we deliver the mail that you are supposed to receive, but it's possible that the mail for you has been missorted and will show up later on the delivery route and the letter carrier doesn't backtrack the same day to bring it to you. You should get the mail the next delivery day. If the mail was misdelivered to another address it could be days (if at all) for you to receive the mail you are supposed to. The reason is because if mail is misdelivered its up to the errant recipient to put the mail back in a mailbox to be correctly delivered. They may do it right away, in a few days, or not at all.

611 Votes

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when can a mail carrier place your mail on hold without giving you notice

Asked by jennifer about 11 years ago

I don't know the policy on this as I've never thought to put someone's mail on hold without their authorization. I suppose this could come about if their mailbox was full and the carrier couldn't deliver any more mail to that address. In that case maybe a letter carrier would hold any future mail at the PO for a certain amount of time and then possibly return that mail to the sender with the endorsements "mailbox full". A letter carrier can also hold the mail at the PO if your mailbox is inaccessible due to snow. They will usually deliver all of the accumulated mail within a couple of days of the mailbox becoming accessible. We had that situation occur at our PO this past winter when snow prevented some of the driving (mounted) route carriers from being able to drive up to a mailbox without getting out of their LLV.

611 Votes

Hello. I live in a apartment community and have recently been asked by my manager "why does my son get his xfinity bill at your address and why don't he have his mail go to his own address?" Basically, can postman tell mgr. who gets mail at your box?

Asked by Jonay253 over 10 years ago

I don't think the letter carrier (postman) should be commenting at all to anyone who gets mail in your box. Not that it matters, but it seems quite normal to have a bill sent to another address. Maybe you pay his XFinity bill for him. Either way that doesn't matter with regards to your question. If this comes up again, I would politely tell the manager that it's not his business who receives mail at your address. If you happen to see the letter carrier, you could mention that he shouldn't be giving out that information and as long as you, the tenant, are accepting mail for your son (or whomever) then it should be delivered accordingly by the USPS employee. I am not familiar with any circumstances that allows us to verbally confirm who gets mail at an address.

610 Votes

Are you supposed to carry an ink pen so letters that require one can be, and you can carry on with your day, or is it the recipients responsibility to have an ink pen?

Asked by Gayle over 10 years ago

Are you referring to having a pen for a signature of accountable mail like a certified or registered item? I would say we are supposed to carry a pen because we sometimes have to leave a notice that we attempted a delivery but were not able to leave the item for whatever reason. With the current mail data collection device items can be signed for directly on an electronic screen with a stylus or fingernail. No pen is required unless the sender has requested a return receipt to be signed. Basically it is good practice to carry a pen at all times while delivering the mail.

610 Votes

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Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

Can you leave a street you are delivering mail on to use the restroom in a emergency and then return to that street and continue where you left off....?

Hello I have a question for you, if I played for the flat rate overnight shipping with usps, why does the tracking number tell me that I won't get it for two days? I sent it out on Friday they said it won't get there until Monday.

I did a coa for October 9 to stop mail at old place and start mail at new place for same date. My question is why did I get a no vacant slip in mailbox on October 6? And does that mean my mail will be forwarded to new address or on hold at post offic

Is it possible for a mail carrier to overlook mail that is supposed to be delivered to you?

Also on Jobstr...

when can a mail carrier place your mail on hold without giving you notice

Hello. I live in a apartment community and have recently been asked by my manager "why does my son get his xfinity bill at your address and why don't he have his mail go to his own address?" Basically, can postman tell mgr. who gets mail at your box?

Are you supposed to carry an ink pen so letters that require one can be, and you can carry on with your day, or is it the recipients responsibility to have an ink pen?

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

Can you leave a street you are delivering mail on to use the restroom in a emergency and then return to that street and continue where you left off....?

Hello I have a question for you, if I played for the flat rate overnight shipping with usps, why does the tracking number tell me that I won't get it for two days? I sent it out on Friday they said it won't get there until Monday.

I did a coa for October 9 to stop mail at old place and start mail at new place for same date. My question is why did I get a no vacant slip in mailbox on October 6? And does that mean my mail will be forwarded to new address or on hold at post offic

Is it possible for a mail carrier to overlook mail that is supposed to be delivered to you?

Also on Jobstr...

when can a mail carrier place your mail on hold without giving you notice

Hello. I live in a apartment community and have recently been asked by my manager "why does my son get his xfinity bill at your address and why don't he have his mail go to his own address?" Basically, can postman tell mgr. who gets mail at your box?

Are you supposed to carry an ink pen so letters that require one can be, and you can carry on with your day, or is it the recipients responsibility to have an ink pen?

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