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 possible you've been lied to as your name suggests which I find to be very bad. Unfortunately I can't confirm if this is the case or not. I don't know of any rules either way as to why the postman would automatically return any mail that doesn't have the hostels name included in the address. It is pretty common for people to receive mail or packages at a hotel or some type of short-term stay facility. A woman who I work next to has a Comfort Inn that is part of her delivery route. I'm pretty sure she delivers any mail with the hotel's street address on it. It's then up to the hotel to notify the recipient that mail has arrived and then return any mail which may be for someone who is no longer there. I think that the letter carrier will accept any returned mail from the hotel and mark it "refused" or "attempted, not known" and it should go back to the sender. You ask "is this possible?" It certainly is possible as nothing surprises me about what happens at the USPS because the consistency of service among the employees and offices is not good in my opinion. I think we should deliver the mail as addressed (especially to a hotel, hostel, Airbnb, etc) and not worry about the names on the mail and let the receiving office decide whether to keep it, return it, or discard. Individual mail cannot be forwarded from a hotel or any business. In the future, if you want something mailed to a hostel, I'd recommend putting both your name and the name of the property you are staying at.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=A%20Hostel%20I%20was%20staying%20at%20said%20the%20postman%20automatically%20returns%20to%20sender%20%28without%20delivering%20it%29%20%20anything%20not%20addressed%20to%20the%20Hostel%20directly.%20Is%20this%20possible%3F%20or%20would%20the%20Hostel%20have%20to%20manually%20return%20it%20themselves%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16702)
Lara, today I had a similar situation today with one of the customers I deliver to. They showed me their USPS Infromed Delivery email and an item shown wasn't in their actual mail. It was a specific letter they were waiting for. I don't know what to do if the letter doesn't show up. Your question seems to also ask about not getting any delivery whatsoever on Saturday. That shouldn't happen. We deliver on Mon-Sat excluding national holidays. I know some offices are having a staff shortage, but that's not a great explanation. I have little faith In the quality of work done by some coworkers and supervisors. Many have an "I don't care" attitude. This is nothing new but seemingly more prevalent lately.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%20know%20what%20mail%20is%20coming%20via%20informed%20delivery%20on%20USPS%20website.%20What%20happens%20when%20I%20don%27t%20receive%20it%3F%20It%20seems%20as%20though%20the%20mailman%20didn%27t%20even%20show%20up%20today%2C%20and%20it%27s%20Saturday.%20Mail%20should%20come%20on%20Saturday%21%20Do%20you%20have%20any%20explanation%20for%20this%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/18767)
In my opinion you can ask a letter carrier anything you want but you may get a whole variety of replies that run the gamut from helpful to not being interested. I don't know any rules on what they can and can't help you with but the letter carrier should always protect the confidentiality of the customer and any mail they receive. That is pretty sacred. To give you a personal answer, nobody has ever approached me about getting leads about anything except maybe real estate agents. To be fair, I wouldn't be interested in helping anybody get potential leads for anything. I feel it is entirely unprofessional to do. A real estate agent may say to me I'll give you a referral commission if I know of anybody selling their house. I may accept their business card but not do anything else. To sum up, I don't know what you can and can't ask a letter carrier, but I feel it's unprofessional and possibly unethical to assist salespeople working in the area.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=What%20draws%20the%20line%20with%20that%20I%20can%20and%20can%27t%20ask%20the%20mail-carrier%3F%20%20More%20specifically%2C%20%20I%20wanted%20to%20ask%20them%20about%20potential%20lawn-care%20leads%20on%20their%20route.%20Im%20a%20college%20student%20starting%20small-time%20gig%20in%20a%20competitive%20market.Is%20this%20Exploitation%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/17503)
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.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Carrier%20injured%20been%20on%20partial%20duty%20for%20Two%20years%20has%20been%20deemed%20unable%20to%20carry%20by%20doctor.%20When%20must%20she%20vacate%20the%20route.%20As%20of%20now%20she%20is%20casing%20for%2040%20min%20in%20the%20morning%20so%20I%20am%20not%20made%20full%20time.%20Frustrated%20cca&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/17290)
Stand-Up Comedian
What's your worst bombing story?
Claims Adjuster
Do you ever feel bad for the people whose claims you deny?
Navy Officer (Former)
Why do so many people miss the military after they get out?
I think there's an excellent chance that he will receive a letter if you adress it to the post office in the city where that letter carrier works, saying "Attention: (Letter Carrier ______)" on the top line of the address. Either the clerk or the supervisor/postmaster that handles internal mail should give the letter to the letter carrier. It's possible that an office my frown on having personal mail sent to a letter carrier in an office but I don't think it should be an issue as long as it's not a frequent occurrence. I've never come across this situation so I can't say for sure it will work, but I think it should. Thank you for your question.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%20would%20like%20to%20write%20a%20letter%20to%20a%20mailman%20in%20anothet%20city.%20I%20know%20which%20office%20he%20works%20in...If%20I%20address%20it%20to%20him%20with%20the%20office%20address%20will%20he%20receive%20it%3F%20Or%20is%20there%20a%20certain%20way%20I%20can%20address%20it%20so%20they%20know%20it%27s%20for%20an%20employee%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/17596)
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.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Thank%20you%20for%20your%20response%21%20I%20already%20contacted%20the%20property%20manager%20and%20he%20told%20me%20to%20contact%20USPS%2C%20which%20I%20did%20over%20the%201-800...%20and%20they%20asked%20me%20to%20call%20the%20local%20Post%20office%2C%20I%20called%20and%20the%20lady%20just%20put%20me%20on%20hold%20and%20then%20hanged%20up.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16441)
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)
-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
