Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

Hi I wanted to know, if I placed a letter with just a name and no stamp into someone's mailbox would the mailman take it, or leave it?

Asked by Gina kennard over 9 years ago

I think many letter carriers would just leave it because they may notice right away that there is no address on it or stamp. I can't speak for all letter carriers because there are many of us who don't pay attention and just take what's in the mailbox as outgoing mail. I don't think this good for them to do but some of my co-workers are clueless or are possibly paying attention to their smart phone vs. paying attention to the task at hand. To be honest, the mailbox should only be used for US Mail. My advice would be to not leave this letter in someone's mailbox to guard against the above scenario happening. To sum up my answer in one word: maybe.

413 Votes

I sent an easter card from Sacramento CA to Eatonton GA Monday April 3 and it has not arrived yet. Should I worry?

Asked by Camille over 8 years ago

A letter mailed on a Monday from CA to GA should be received in about 3 days. If there is severe weather or other transportation issues that keep the mail from moving, its possible it could take longer. I wouldn't be too concerned that the Easter Card hasn't arrived. I hope it will arrive in a couple of more days.

413 Votes

Is it difficult to get granted a transfer? And do they make the "real" mailman cover the routes of the call offs,instead of so called slaves?

Asked by the gf of a shady mailman over 9 years ago

I don't know much about transferring between locations as I've never tried myself but I've seen it done quite a bit both into and out of my office. I believe you need to be off probation and maybe worked for a certain amt of time before being eligible to transfer. Also, whether or not a transfer is granted could depend on the staffing levels of the office you'd be leaving and/or the one you are requesting to transfer to. Usually transfers result in you losing local seniority so you go to the bottom of the list for carries as far as vacation requests and work assignment choices. With regards to your other questions, I'd never call anyone one slaves at the USPS? If you are implying the CCAs have to cover the routes for call offs, it depends on the managements and the staffing needs. As a regular carrier I usually fill in to do parts of routes that need coverage on any particular day and will be paid overtime to do this after finishing my own route. So when you say slave nobody is being forced to do this job. In my particular post office the staffing is perpetually not that good so both the CCA (of which we have very few) and the regular letter carriers fill in as needed. One main difference is that as a regular letter carrier you would rarely be forced to do overtime work if you choose not to and are not on the OTDL (overtime desired list).

413 Votes

Newly hired CCA. Orientation next week. Will I be drug tested further? How often will I be tested?

Asked by Dee about 9 years ago

Dee, it has been so many years since I was hired so I can't say for sure what the drug testing policy is. I can, however, give you my experience. As far as I've ever heard or seen, you are drug tested once and that is pre-hiring. I have never heard of a random drug test being administered to letter carriers during their career. I'll just state the obvious and say keep clean and you'll have nothing to be concerned about. Good luck to you in your job/career with USPS.

413 Votes

A Hostel I was staying at said the postman automatically returns to sender (without delivering it) anything not addressed to the Hostel directly. Is this possible? or would the Hostel have to manually return it themselves?

Asked by Feeling Lied to over 9 years ago

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.

412 Votes

The mail at the company where I work is delivered to a curbside mailbox. It is a free-standing building; not a complex or high-rise, nor do we share the building with anyone else. I requested that our mail be picked up and delivered inside the business, but was told that can only happen if I have a physical disability that prevents me from retrieving mail from the mailbox. In my 30+ years of working, I have never known this to happen. It has always been delivered inside the building. We had a temporary carrier (while our usual carrier was out sick) that DID bring the mail inside. She stated that she documented our request at the post office and that our regular carrier would continue to deliver inside the business when he returned. This did not happen, and after speaking with him, he is unwilling to deliver the mail inside, citing the disability reason. We send and receive millions of dollars in checks each month. The mail is delivered to a locked portion of the mailbox, but the outgoing mail portion does not lock. Leaving the checks in the mailbox for pickup makes us very uncomfortable and yet at the moment, our only alternative seems to be to drive to the post office every day. What are the actual USPS regulations about delivering mail to businesses, and if it CAN be delivered inside, who do I contact since I’ve had no luck with the local post office or our mail carrier? Thank you!

Asked by Isabella over 9 years ago

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.

411 Votes

It is my understanding 1st Class mail is protected from search and seizure, however, what if a postman observes what he believes to be a suspicious letter? Is it routed to a special place for examining? Is the sender notified? Is the recipient?

Asked by Teddy about 9 years ago

I have never come across this situation as far as I can recall. I'm pretty sure if there is a suspicious package or letter, I'd notify a supervisor who would then decide whether or not to call the USPS Potsal Inspection Service or local law enforcement. They also may want to segregate the item from other mail or people in case it is potentially hazardous material. I don't know how the notification process works with reference to the sender or recipient. This may be more common in a larger mail processing facility where the mail for many offices passes through to or from the local post offices. We aren't often taught about suspicious or potentially hazardous mail, though it is covered sometimes in service and safety talks.

411 Votes

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

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Hi I wanted to know, if I placed a letter with just a name and no stamp into someone's mailbox would the mailman take it, or leave it?

I sent an easter card from Sacramento CA to Eatonton GA Monday April 3 and it has not arrived yet. Should I worry?

Is it difficult to get granted a transfer? And do they make the "real" mailman cover the routes of the call offs,instead of so called slaves?

Newly hired CCA. Orientation next week. Will I be drug tested further? How often will I be tested?

Also on Jobstr...

A Hostel I was staying at said the postman automatically returns to sender (without delivering it) anything not addressed to the Hostel directly. Is this possible? or would the Hostel have to manually return it themselves?

It is my understanding 1st Class mail is protected from search and seizure, however, what if a postman observes what he believes to be a suspicious letter? Is it routed to a special place for examining? Is the sender notified? Is the recipient?

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

Hi I wanted to know, if I placed a letter with just a name and no stamp into someone's mailbox would the mailman take it, or leave it?

I sent an easter card from Sacramento CA to Eatonton GA Monday April 3 and it has not arrived yet. Should I worry?

Is it difficult to get granted a transfer? And do they make the "real" mailman cover the routes of the call offs,instead of so called slaves?

Newly hired CCA. Orientation next week. Will I be drug tested further? How often will I be tested?

Also on Jobstr...

A Hostel I was staying at said the postman automatically returns to sender (without delivering it) anything not addressed to the Hostel directly. Is this possible? or would the Hostel have to manually return it themselves?

It is my understanding 1st Class mail is protected from search and seizure, however, what if a postman observes what he believes to be a suspicious letter? Is it routed to a special place for examining? Is the sender notified? Is the recipient?

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