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.
Asking me and other letter carriers will likely get you 2 different answers. I think it's great to get the smartpost and surePost parcels to deliver alongside our regular mail. I view it as more business for the USPS, my employer. If my employer can get more business that would hopefully translate as better for the workers. I don't find it an annoyance whatsoever and know it's part of my job. If the volume of parcels gets too high I would possibly take longer to complete my route which translates into overtime pay which would be beneficial. The volume of parcels that I deliver is not overwhelming except around the holiday season. Amazon uses the USPS as well as other delivery companies to complete their delivery fulfillment. There are some coworkers who don't want to do any extra work and complain about everything so the extra parcels would annoy them. I feel they are close-minded and lazy. In so many cases I don't see the importance of US Mail nowadays with regards to financial statements and bills. That has been able to be done electronically for so many years now. Parcels are what our business should be happy to be delivering. Don't ever feel bad about ordering too much online. I know I wouldn't.
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You are the first person to ever say the term "dark net markets" to me. I don't most of my fellow letter carriers know anything about this unless they are involved in that dealing which I would hope they aren't. We are trained very little at work about drugs in the mail. I've never come across anything suspicious re: drugs or I am just oblivious.
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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.
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Generally that would be correct. If the PO is closed due to poor weather conditions it would usually mean our whole retail and delivery operations have been suspended. I don't know if there are still processing operations going on at the mail plants. It isn't too common for us to suspend delivery for an entire day, but in blizzards or states of emergency, it could be necessary for us to do so.
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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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Hello CP2015, I'm not sure what POCs are but I'll guess and say those are the amt of possible deliveries you have each day which sounds like a lot to me. It isn't easy to work outside in the summer when the sun is pounding down on you. While I prefer the heat vs the extreme cold, the summer can be taxing on your body. I'd recommend wearing a wide-brimmed hat to keep the sun off your eyes, face, and neck. I also recommend drinking as much water as you can even before you get thirsty. It sweats off of you pretty quickly so the more you stay hydrated the better you should feel. In terms of actually burning, I suppose you could apply sunscreen liberally with an SPF of 40+. Stay safe and thanks for writing.
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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.
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