Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

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 over 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.

472 Votes

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

Asked by Dee over 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.

467 Votes

A person in my neighborhood is not getting her mail because the carrier is afraid of the dog INSIDE her house. She leaves her front door open, but has a sturdy storm door. She called the local manager, who said that it is always up to carriers. True?

Asked by Cathy over 8 years ago

Cathy, in my opinion that is a tricky situation. I think it technically can be up to the carrier to decide whether or not they feel safe delivering mail to the house with the dog or not. On the flip side, I encounter that situation a couple of times per day and don't think twice about delivering to houses where I know the storm door is latched and strong enough to contain the dog. This is coming from a carrier (me) who isn't too comfortable with dogs overall and have never owned one. It is a very rare situation (almost zero) that I've refused to deliver mail to a house with a dog inside the front door. If the door looks a bit ajar I might put my foot by the front door while delivering the mail. I'm not sure any of this helps. I think the basic mantra is if we don't feel comfortable delivering to a house we don't have to. It seems a bit too gray though because someone could take that to an extreme. I feel it's always easier to deliver the mail then to have to bring it back and then attempt 2x the amount on the next delivery day.

464 Votes

I share a large mailbox with a neighbor who never gets his mail. He is not at home often. I have been advised to throw out his junk mail. I don't think that is legal, nor my responsibility. What can I do without starting an incident. He's nice!

Asked by Meela almost 10 years ago

I wouldn't get too involved with this if I were you. I mean you wouldn't get in trouble as far as I know but you are correct in saying it's not your responsibility. Who advised you to throw out his junk mail? I would never do that as a USPS employee. No mail is junk to me. A mailer is paying my employer to deliver a service (mail) and I deliver it all. There are certain classes of mail which are non-forwardable and get a better speed of service, but it's all mail. I think the way I'd handle it is one of two ways. The first suggestion is to do nothing as it's truly not your responsibility to get involved with someone else's mail. The second suggestion would be to periodically take all of his mail, rubber band it and leave it by his front door if you feel that is a safe and secure place to leave it. I don't now how your residences are situated. Thank you for this interesting question.

464 Votes

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Thanks again MailmanDave! One more question for now, do you fully inspect your truck before and after your route? I know you are supposed to... but do you

Asked by Dee over 9 years ago

You virtually answered your own question with the "but do you". Every morning we are given 5 minutes before our break to inspect our postal delivery vehicles. Most of us at least turn on the engine to make sure it will start. We are supposed to do a walk around and look for any body damage, flat/low tires, leaks, and more. I mostly just turn the engine on and look at the fuel gauge to see if I need to stop at a gas station on the way to the route. At the end of the day, I empty out all of the contents of the vehicle and park and lock it. I don't do any further inspection at the end of the day. I know I don't do the full inspection walk around that we are supposed to, but so far it hasn't come back to hurt me. I use the same vehicle almost every day. If I were to use a different vehicle I may do a more thorough check to see if all of the signals and lights work.

464 Votes

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 almost 10 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.

462 Votes

I completed a change of address from my physical address to my po box. but to catch my credit card i had place a hold on my mail to be picked up. the mail carrier returned all my mail to sender stating that i didn't live there. what should i do?

Asked by pattie over 9 years ago

Pattie, I don't know what to tell you to do. If your mail is being forwarded from your physical address to the PO Box, you usually can't "catch any mail in between" before its forwarded. I'm not sure why any mail wouldn't be forwarded and why it was returned stating you don't live there anymore. You can call your credit card company and ask them to send a replacement card though they could be leary about sending credit cards to a PO Box address. Mail is usually forwarded to your new address for 1 year. I'm not sure how long ago you submitted the address change.

462 Votes

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Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

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?

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

A person in my neighborhood is not getting her mail because the carrier is afraid of the dog INSIDE her house. She leaves her front door open, but has a sturdy storm door. She called the local manager, who said that it is always up to carriers. True?

I share a large mailbox with a neighbor who never gets his mail. He is not at home often. I have been advised to throw out his junk mail. I don't think that is legal, nor my responsibility. What can I do without starting an incident. He's nice!

Also on Jobstr...

Thanks again MailmanDave! One more question for now, do you fully inspect your truck before and after your route? I know you are supposed to... but do you

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 completed a change of address from my physical address to my po box. but to catch my credit card i had place a hold on my mail to be picked up. the mail carrier returned all my mail to sender stating that i didn't live there. what should i do?

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

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?

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

A person in my neighborhood is not getting her mail because the carrier is afraid of the dog INSIDE her house. She leaves her front door open, but has a sturdy storm door. She called the local manager, who said that it is always up to carriers. True?

I share a large mailbox with a neighbor who never gets his mail. He is not at home often. I have been advised to throw out his junk mail. I don't think that is legal, nor my responsibility. What can I do without starting an incident. He's nice!

Also on Jobstr...

Thanks again MailmanDave! One more question for now, do you fully inspect your truck before and after your route? I know you are supposed to... but do you

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 completed a change of address from my physical address to my po box. but to catch my credit card i had place a hold on my mail to be picked up. the mail carrier returned all my mail to sender stating that i didn't live there. what should i do?

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