Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

I've lived in my apartment for five years. Suddenly I'm getting standard (advertising) mail addressed to the previous tenant. This made sense when I first moved in, but why now all of a sudden and is there anything I can do about it?

Asked by Scott over 9 years ago

I'm not sure why you have recently started getting standard mail addressed to a tenant from 5 years ago. It's possible that name and address was on somebody's mailing list which was then sold to other companies/organizations. One option is to put the mail back in the mailstream or mailbox and write "person doesn't live here" on the envelope. A conscientious letter carrier would make note of it and only deliver mail addressed to you (the current tenant). Another option is to just discard/recycle the unwanted mail. Most standard mail doesn't get returned to the sender if unwanted by the recipient. We put it into a big recycle bin at work and I think it gets shipped off to a processing or recycling facility. The rate a mailer pays for standard mail usually doesn't include any type of address or return service to notify them of outdated names on their mailing lists.

519 Votes

Today I accidently dropped a bunch of mail in the Express Priority Blue Box. This was mail for my job so it is important documents. Will this mail be sorted correctly and reach its destination in a timely manner? Or will this be severely delayed?

Asked by Lisa Needs help please! over 9 years ago

Lisa, in my experience your mail should be processed normally so you need not worry. I don't often collect mail from the blue boxes as part of my assignment but if I saw regular mail in the Express Priority Blue Box I'd just put it with other outgoing mail in my postal vehicle and it'd be treated normally. I've never heard of outgoing mail being delayed by this. Thank you for your question.

519 Votes

Hello-
Recently I mailed a letter but right after discovered I forgot to put the address label on,but did have my own as return address. That was last week,mailed from another zip code,30 miles away. So how long should it take to mail it back to me?

Asked by David W Beale almost 10 years ago

Regarding the letter which you mailed without a destination address but had your return address, I don't know how long it should take to be returned to you. If handled properly my guess would be about one week. I've seen these in the mail before. It would have a rubber stamp marking which says "returned for better address" or "insufficient address" and then delivered to your return address. Unfortunately, non-deliverable mail is sometimes put on the back burner if staffing levels are low and mail needs to be handled specially. That's why I'm hesitant to say how long it will be before your letter is returned.

518 Votes

The mailman scratched the label inside my mailbox (in a centralized mailbox) and assigned it to a different townhome, I can't find my mail anymore, what can I do? (I left a note inside the mailbox with my correct address tough)

Asked by Isaac about 10 years ago

I have no idea why a letter carrier would do that without proper notice to you and how would the other resident have a key to that mailbox since you have it? Do you have a key to the correct mailbox or a newer mailbox with your correct address. I am a bit confused about your question. Is the mail for the different townhome now being delivered to the mailbox where your mail originally went? I'd recommend contacting the post office from where your mail is delivered or go to usps.com to email them with your question or call: 1-800-275-8777. They will probably contact your local post office to get some type of info as to why this happened. I'm not sure a property manager at the the townhome complex could help but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

518 Votes

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What do you do if a dog is about to bite you?

Asked by Savvy over 9 years ago

The USPS is always warning us to steer clear of dogs and don't pet them even if the owner says "my dog doesn't bite". There are some dogs on the route I deliver which I trust to come up to me. I don't pet them but sometimes they will come up to my leg. For the most part i don't get involved with dogs. If we think a dog will bite us we are taught to use our satchel (if we are using one) as a shield between us and the dog. Another item we carry is "Back Off" Dog Repellent which we can spray at the face of a dog if we are bitten or about to be bit by a dog. The dog will usually back off and get disoriented. I have never been bit except for a nip on my legs which I didn't report to my supervisor. There are many dogs on the route which I deliver but most owners are very responible in not letting them out off-leash.

518 Votes

I wanted to add my business to my rural delivery box vs a po box. I was given the driver's cell number and told that if it was o.k. with him, I should then submit an updated card. Was she drunk or do drivers decide who qualifies to receive mail?

Asked by capecod about 10 years ago

I don't know anything about cards that need to be submitted so that mail can be received at rural mailboxes, but I'm also not familiar with rural route procedures in general. I don't see why mail that has a valid address regardless of the name of the resident/business which is on the mail wouldn't be delivered unless the recipient refuses it. I have no authority as a city letter carrier to decide who qualifies to receive mail. I deliver mail to an address unless it's a previous resident or an unknown name which the current resident doesn't know or want to accept. It's very normal to have someone run a business from their home. I think it was proper of you to check with your local PO to ask about this but I wouldn't have thought you would receive the answer you did. If you wanted to, you could tape a small note inside of your mailbox saying "accepting mail for (name of business)". That would remove any doubt in the mind of a rural carrier whether or not the business name is valid at your address. To answer the first part of your q, I hope the postal worker wasn't drunk, just giving you wrong info.

518 Votes

Is there turth in the fact that a mailman needs to deliver the man no matter what (bad weather, disaster, difficult mailboxes, etc.). If so why do mailman sometimes refuse to deliver mail? Why do they request for you to pick it up, if delivery is job

Asked by Curious mail questioner almost 10 years ago

It's not true that we deliver in all conditions no matter what. If a letter carrier thinks it is too dangerous to deliver mail to an address they can refuse to do so no just need to tell the supervisor when they return to the post office. It's rare that I'd not deliver mail, but some of my co-workers may not try as hard to deliver the mail. It's usually better to try and get the mail delivered. This way we don't have to bring it back another day with even more mail. I'm not sure why they request mail to be picked up. If there is road construction it is sometimes difficult to get to houses, or roads could be flooded, or snowed out. We are supposed to attempt delivery each day to each address. Our unofficial motto has to do with delivering mail in all comditions, but that is a bit more folklore than reality.

518 Votes

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Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I've lived in my apartment for five years. Suddenly I'm getting standard (advertising) mail addressed to the previous tenant. This made sense when I first moved in, but why now all of a sudden and is there anything I can do about it?

Today I accidently dropped a bunch of mail in the Express Priority Blue Box. This was mail for my job so it is important documents. Will this mail be sorted correctly and reach its destination in a timely manner? Or will this be severely delayed?

Hello-
Recently I mailed a letter but right after discovered I forgot to put the address label on,but did have my own as return address. That was last week,mailed from another zip code,30 miles away. So how long should it take to mail it back to me?

The mailman scratched the label inside my mailbox (in a centralized mailbox) and assigned it to a different townhome, I can't find my mail anymore, what can I do? (I left a note inside the mailbox with my correct address tough)

Also on Jobstr...

What do you do if a dog is about to bite you?

I wanted to add my business to my rural delivery box vs a po box. I was given the driver's cell number and told that if it was o.k. with him, I should then submit an updated card. Was she drunk or do drivers decide who qualifies to receive mail?

Is there turth in the fact that a mailman needs to deliver the man no matter what (bad weather, disaster, difficult mailboxes, etc.). If so why do mailman sometimes refuse to deliver mail? Why do they request for you to pick it up, if delivery is job

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I've lived in my apartment for five years. Suddenly I'm getting standard (advertising) mail addressed to the previous tenant. This made sense when I first moved in, but why now all of a sudden and is there anything I can do about it?

Today I accidently dropped a bunch of mail in the Express Priority Blue Box. This was mail for my job so it is important documents. Will this mail be sorted correctly and reach its destination in a timely manner? Or will this be severely delayed?

Hello-Recently I mailed a letter but right after discovered I forgot to put the address label on,but did have my own as return address. That was last week,mailed from another zip code,30 miles away. So how long should it take to mail it back to me?

The mailman scratched the label inside my mailbox (in a centralized mailbox) and assigned it to a different townhome, I can't find my mail anymore, what can I do? (I left a note inside the mailbox with my correct address tough)

Also on Jobstr...

What do you do if a dog is about to bite you?

I wanted to add my business to my rural delivery box vs a po box. I was given the driver's cell number and told that if it was o.k. with him, I should then submit an updated card. Was she drunk or do drivers decide who qualifies to receive mail?

Is there turth in the fact that a mailman needs to deliver the man no matter what (bad weather, disaster, difficult mailboxes, etc.). If so why do mailman sometimes refuse to deliver mail? Why do they request for you to pick it up, if delivery is job

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Hello-
Recently I mailed a letter but right after discovered I forgot to put the address label on,but did have my own as return address. That was last week,mailed from another zip code,30 miles away. So how long should it take to mail it back to me?