Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

Are letters opened by the Postal Inspection Service -- and determined to be harmless -- then forwarded to the intended recipient? Is it hard to obtain a warrant to seize and examine First Class mail? Or is it easily obtained?

Asked by Teddy about 9 years ago

I don't know anything about who opens first class letters deemed suspicious by the USPSIS and the difficulty in obtaining a search warrant to do so. I'm guessing it's not something my local PO gets too involved in. I would think if the item is deemed harmless that it would continue on to be delivered to the recipient. I've never had any dealings with the USPSIS with regards to intercepting or seizing any mail that I deliver. We don't seem them too often at the postal facility where I work.

403 Votes

Can mail be forwarded to an address out of state if the person is not physically living in a residence in that state, due to health issues. Secondly, would that affect the persons medical benefits or tax issues in any capacity when filing taxes, etc

Asked by JVITTO48 almost 9 years ago

I can answer your question in two parts. The first question you have is about whether or not mail can be forwarded to an address out of state even if the person isn't living in a residence in that state. Mail can be forwarded anywhere that the USPS delivers to as long as there is a proper change of addresss authorization/request submitted to the USPS. The easiest way to do this is at USPS.com .

As far as affecting and medical benefits and tax issues, I'm not qualified to give you an official answer. It probably depends on the source of the medical benefits. Some state public health assistance programs like Medicaid may require the recipient to live in that state. It doesn't necessarily mean their mail can't go somewhere else. I don't know about tax issues either. It shouldn't matter when filing a federal tax return, but I'm not sure about different state tax laws. There are probably 50 different answers to that.

402 Votes

Carrier injured been on partial duty for Two years has been deemed unable to carry by doctor. When must she vacate the route. As of now she is casing for 40 min in the morning so I am not made full time. Frustrated cca

Asked by Bronco mail almost 9 years ago

Bronco, I can't give you any definitive answer on this because I don't have knowledge of workers comp/OJI rules with respect to delivering a route or holding a route. I think because it was an OJI, the carrier's route is protected indefinitely unless they voluntarily give it up or retire on disability. This is a comment made with no reference to documentation so I don't know that I'm correct. I know being a CCA is not very desirable but if you have patience then eventually you will become a full-time regular. The size and seniority of your office makes a big difference in how quickly you will become regular. Your union (NALC) rep may know a little more about this subject but I make no promises about that either. Furthermore, they will correctly want to protect that route for the injured carrier as much as they are allowed to. This is probably not the answer you wanted to hear but it's my best guess. Patience is a virtue.

402 Votes

Can someone put a note on a commercial mail box instructing the mail carrier to put their mail in a different box

Asked by michele over 9 years ago

I don't know what at you mean by a commercial mailbox, but generally the mail should be delivered as it's addressed unless their is a valid change of address order filed with the USPS. I have never come across that request or situation but I probably wouldn't follow those instructions, though another letter carrier may. We generally don't like special requests like that because we aren't supposed to honor them and who knows if a replacement carrier would do that when the regular carrier is not working. I like to keep thing a simple and straightforward and that seems to work well.

401 Votes

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Thank you for your response! I already contacted the property manager and he told me to contact USPS, which I did over the 1-800... and they asked me to call the local Post office, I called and the lady just put me on hold and then hanged up.

Asked by Isaac over 9 years ago

You're welcome Isaac. I'm sorry you didn't have a good experience with your local PO. I would recommend trying again as it's possible that the call was accidentally disconnected. Some offices are quite shorthanded but that doesn't excuse them for not just taking down some info, talking to your letter carrier when they have a chance and then getting back to you. You have a right to get your mail at a secure location in the centralized mailbox unit and I'm not sure what the reason for this foul up is since I don't have all of the facts.

400 Votes

Hoping you can solve a debate for me & wife. Her friend's hubby is a carrier & brings home "extra coupons" for her & my wife. Claims they are undeliverable & will go to "dead mail" & just going to be shredded & Postmaster approves. I say it's illegal

Asked by CaliDad over 9 years ago

It is true that we send all non-deliverable mail which was sent as Presorted Standard rate (and not requested to be returned to the sender) to be recycled or shredded as far as I know. I don't know if it's illegal or not to take extra coupons to give to customers who request them, but I wouldn't get involved in doing that. Nobody has ever really asked me either to do that for them. I have taken Dunkin' Donuts coupons out of the circulars which were extras or non-deliverable. I know this doesn't settle your dispute. I am more disgusted by co-workers who feel that these weekly circulars are sometimes not that important and may not deliver them or make sure that everyone gets one. My attitude is that a mailer is paying for them to be delivered and that's our job whether or not the customers want them. Some other coworkers probably take home coupons that otherwise would be recycled. Again, they probably shouldn't, but never heard any repercussions for doing so. Thanks for your question.

400 Votes

I had concrete poured for a new driveway. I had the end of the driveway taped off with caution tape and cones. Our mail carrier cut across the lawn and left footprints in the wet cement. Would the post office be responsible for the cost to fix it?

Asked by Cleveland Rick over 8 years ago

First I'd like to say that it's unfortunate that you letter carrier accidentally stepped into the concrete you just had poured for a new driveway. I have done this myself but only with a recently resealed driveway and the result was just I tracked some sealant around the bottom of my shoes for a short while. I can't answer your question as to whether or not the USPS would be responsible for the cost to fix the driveway that was damaged by the letter carrier. I'd recommend calling or even visiting your local PO and speak with a delivery supervisor or the postmaster and tell them what happened. Bring a photo that you may have taken of the damage or have it on your mobile device. I wouldn't hold out much hope that the claims process is easy or that the person you speak with even knows about it. I'm guessing you may have to be a bit persistent or go up a chain of command to get someone who is knowledgeable about the USPS liability, if any. We are required to cut across lawns to deliver the mail when it's feasible to do so. For this reason I can see how a letter carrier may not realize that a new driveway has been poured as we often have our head down getting the mail ready for delivery at the next house. I just don't know if the USPS has any responsibility to fix your driveway. I can't imagine it's too inexpensive to have the concrete cut out and repoured.

400 Votes

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Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

Are letters opened by the Postal Inspection Service -- and determined to be harmless -- then forwarded to the intended recipient? Is it hard to obtain a warrant to seize and examine First Class mail? Or is it easily obtained?

Can mail be forwarded to an address out of state if the person is not physically living in a residence in that state, due to health issues. Secondly, would that affect the persons medical benefits or tax issues in any capacity when filing taxes, etc

Carrier injured been on partial duty for Two years has been deemed unable to carry by doctor. When must she vacate the route. As of now she is casing for 40 min in the morning so I am not made full time. Frustrated cca

Can someone put a note on a commercial mail box instructing the mail carrier to put their mail in a different box

Also on Jobstr...

Thank you for your response! I already contacted the property manager and he told me to contact USPS, which I did over the 1-800... and they asked me to call the local Post office, I called and the lady just put me on hold and then hanged up.

Hoping you can solve a debate for me & wife. Her friend's hubby is a carrier & brings home "extra coupons" for her & my wife. Claims they are undeliverable & will go to "dead mail" & just going to be shredded & Postmaster approves. I say it's illegal

I had concrete poured for a new driveway. I had the end of the driveway taped off with caution tape and cones. Our mail carrier cut across the lawn and left footprints in the wet cement. Would the post office be responsible for the cost to fix it?

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

Are letters opened by the Postal Inspection Service -- and determined to be harmless -- then forwarded to the intended recipient? Is it hard to obtain a warrant to seize and examine First Class mail? Or is it easily obtained?

Can mail be forwarded to an address out of state if the person is not physically living in a residence in that state, due to health issues. Secondly, would that affect the persons medical benefits or tax issues in any capacity when filing taxes, etc

Carrier injured been on partial duty for Two years has been deemed unable to carry by doctor. When must she vacate the route. As of now she is casing for 40 min in the morning so I am not made full time. Frustrated cca

Can someone put a note on a commercial mail box instructing the mail carrier to put their mail in a different box

Also on Jobstr...

Thank you for your response! I already contacted the property manager and he told me to contact USPS, which I did over the 1-800... and they asked me to call the local Post office, I called and the lady just put me on hold and then hanged up.

Hoping you can solve a debate for me & wife. Her friend's hubby is a carrier & brings home "extra coupons" for her & my wife. Claims they are undeliverable & will go to "dead mail" & just going to be shredded & Postmaster approves. I say it's illegal

I had concrete poured for a new driveway. I had the end of the driveway taped off with caution tape and cones. Our mail carrier cut across the lawn and left footprints in the wet cement. Would the post office be responsible for the cost to fix it?

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