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.
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.
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I can't say why your letter carrier does what you are mentioning. It's unfortunate that you have an issue with her. By saying that she is still delivering mail, I assume you mean that she still is working for the USPS as a letter carrier but not physically delivering mail to your residence because your mail is being forwarded to a PO Box. A vacant card is appropriate to be put in your mailbox so that anybody who is delivering mail on a route that includes your address would know not to leave any mail in it. It's also unfortunate that you have to now go to a PO Box to retrieve your mail plus pay a rental fee. Is it possible that the letter carrier is checking the mailbox to make sure no mail has been accidentally left there by someone else? I doubt that is the case because it seems like you and her were in a conflict and that she probably isn't going out of her way to help you. While I'm only hearing one side of this conflict (yours), I can certainly say there are some bad workers for the USPS and nothing would surprise me about the actions of some letter carriers.
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I don't think I've ever had as detailed a question as yours Isabella. Unfortunately I don't have an answer for you and am not going to research your question as interesting as it is. I don't know postal delivery regulations and I find that when they exist they are adhered to arbitrarily. I understand your concern about leaving outgoing mail (including valuable checks) in an unsecured mailbox outside your office. For the most part we go in to businesses to deliver their mail and take any outgoing mail. There are some offices that have curbside boxes or multi-unit cluster boxes. I don't know that your office qualifies for indoor delivery (though I don't now what those requirements would be). You could call USPS consumer affairs but I don't know how much they can help. It'd be nice if you could at least find out the regulations and know if you are being fed misinformation or you truly don't "qualify" for delivery into your building.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=The%20mail%20at%20the%20company%20where%20I%20work%20is%20delivered%20to%20a%20curbside%20mailbox.%20%20It%20is%20a%20free-standing%20building%3B%20not%20a%20complex%20or%20high-rise%2C%20nor%20do%20we%20share%20the%20building%20with%20anyone%20else.%20%20I%20requested%20that%20our%20mail%20be%20picked%20up%20and%20delivered%20inside%20the%20business%2C%20but%20was%20told%20that%20can%20only%20happen%20if%20I%20have%20a%20physical%20disability%20that%20prevents%20me%20from%20retrieving%20mail%20from%20the%20mailbox.%20%20In%20my%2030%2B%20years%20of%20working%2C%20I%20have%20never%20known%20this%20to%20happen.%20%20It%20has%20always%20been%20delivered%20inside%20the%20building.%20%20We%20had%20a%20temporary%20carrier%20%28while%20our%20usual%20carrier%20was%20out%20sick%29%20that%20DID%20bring%20the%20mail%20inside.%20%20She%20stated%20that%20she%20documented%20our%20request%20at%20the%20post%20office%20and%20that%20our%20regular%20carrier%20would%20continue%20to%20deliver%20inside%20the%20business%20when%20he%20returned.%20%20This%20did%20not%20happen%2C%20and%20after%20speaking%20with%20him%2C%20he%20is%20unwilling%20to%20deliver%20the%20mail%20inside%2C%20citing%20the%20disability%20reason.%20%20We%20send%20and%20receive%20millions%20of%20dollars%20in%20checks%20each%20month.%20%20The%20mail%20is%20delivered%20to%20a%20locked%20portion%20of%20the%20mailbox%2C%20but%20the%20outgoing%20mail%20portion%20does%20not%20lock.%20%20Leaving%20the%20checks%20in%20the%20mailbox%20for%20pickup%20makes%20us%20very%20uncomfortable%20and%20yet%20at%20the%20moment%2C%20our%20only%20alternative%20seems%20to%20be%20to%20drive%20to%20the%20post%20office%20every%20day.%20%20What%20are%20the%20actual%20USPS%20regulations%20about%20delivering%20mail%20to%20businesses%2C%20and%20if%20it%20CAN%20be%20delivered%20inside%2C%20who%20do%20I%20contact%20since%20I%E2%80%99ve%20had%20no%20luck%20with%20the%20local%20post%20office%20or%20our%20mail%20carrier%3F%20%20Thank%20you%21&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16964)
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.
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I don't think that the letter carrier should be giving the mail to the woman who moved out just because he knows her personally. If the woman didn't put in a proper change of address request with the USPS, then it is appropriate for the mail to be returned to sender with an endorsement by the USPS saying "unable to forward" or "moved, left no address". I wouldn't get involved with anyone's mail based on my relationship of knowing them. Fortunately, it's rare that I'm ever asked to do anything that is questionable regarding the mail. As far as your question goes, I don't know that the mailman is allowed to do what he is doing, but it doesn't seem right.
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I don't know the answer to this question but I would generally think we can't do profiling based on what we see and then refer that to the USPSIS. There may be a branch of the USPS that does legally do such observation and data collecting but I know nothing about it nor have ever been approached about being involved in such activity. What you're asking about seems somewhat discriminatory so I would likely never want to be involved in any type of racial profiling.
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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.
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