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.
When you put your mail on hold there is an option to either "pick up your mail" or "have the mail delivered to you" on a certain date. If you choose the latter, you may go to the Post Office with proper ID and see if they will give you the mail that has been held and notify your letter carrier to resume delivery the following day. I know that would likely be allowed at the PO which I work at. I can't speak for any other Post Offices. Your best option is to choose "Pick up mail" and then the mail can be held for up to 30 days at the Post Office and you don't have to worry whether you pick up the held mail in 5 days, 15 days, or anytime less than 30 days.
I don't know for sure how you can make this happen, but I have a suggestion. If you happen to actually see the mailman, you can mention to him/her the problem that you seem to be having and that you would like to have mail for your family put in the locked mailbox. I don't know if you will be successfull in having this done but it is worth a try. If this doesn't work, you might want to look into renting a PO Box which is very secure but you'd need to go pick up your mail from a PO instead of having it delivered to your house. I wish you well in having this problem resolved.
I would contact the PO that is in charge of servicing that blue collection box and hope they haven't emptied it out yet. If you could prove to them that it belongs to you and was dropped there in error, it's possible they could get it back to you but I'm not sure. Good luck to you! I hope you can get that envelope back.
I don't know the actual rule on this, but if you can clearly see that the letter is for you, I don't see why you couldn't take it. Again, this is just my two cents as I can't quote you an regulations on this.
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The USPS delivers mail 1 time per day to each address. The only exceptions are if an Express Mail item has to be delivered by a separate letter carrier because it arrived at the PO after the regular letter carrier has already left to deliver their route or if the regular letter carrier wouldn't be able to make the delivery guarantee time on the Express Mail. In that case another letter carrier would deliver the Express Mail but not regular mail to the address. So the main answer is 1x per day Mon-Sat.
As far as I know, all blue collection boxes are checked and emptied if the public can access them. If they were no longer going to be in service they would physically be removed or at least have a very clear notice on them that they are no longer being checked for outgoing mail. To know whether or not the person got the letter you mailed, I would recommend calling them or emailing them. Our delivery rate is very high so I'd say there is an excellent chance they will (or have) received the letter you put in the blue USPS collection box.
Ken, the date you put down as the "end date" on the yellow authorization to Hold Mail card is the date that mail will be resumed. All accumulated mail will also be delivered on that date. Please make sure you have chosen the option for the "end hold" date as opposed to the option where you will pick up any mail that is on hold. If you choose the "pick up" option, no mail should be delivered until you pick up any accumulated mail at the Post Office. The system generally works well unless we forget to pay attention to the "ending date" on the hold which happens occasionally. Thank you for your inquiry.
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