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.
Great question. Since it has been many years since I have been trained to be a letter carrier, I don't remember if I was trained to make sure the box is closed. Personally, it is just common sense to close any mailbox if you can. What I mean is that sometimes the mail is too "tall" and would prevent a lid from closing completely, but I would still close the lid as much as I can. To be honest, I don't think training is that thorough when it comes to being a letter carrier. I have seen carriers just put the mail on the ground in front of a house (not even rubber-banded) because they couldn't find a mailbox or doorslot. I have also seen the mail delivered but hanging out of the mailbox in a very messy fashion when there was clearly enough room to fit it all in. Granted some mailboxes are quite small and it is impossible to fit the mail entirely inside, but I've never heard a customer complain about the mail hanging out of those small boxes. My suggestion would be either to call the PO and speak to a delivery supervisor about this or put a note on the mailbox saying "please close lid after delivering the mail". By the way, I am presuming that your mailbox is deep enough to fit even catalogs and magazines. If this isn't the case, then I do understand the mailbox lid not being closed.
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Arlene, as far as I know full postage must be paid when mailing used clothing domestically. You can mail the item via USPS Parcel Post which is less expensive than Priority Mail. You can often donate used clothing to local organizations like Goodwill or The Salvation Army. I would recommend doing a web search in your area to see if it's possible to donate the clothing without having to use the USPS and pay postage.
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i don't know anything about package intercept, but I would suspect that any international mailing would be hard to do it for. It is true that it isnt on the top of the list of services offered due to the shear volume of packages processed. I don't know if eBay would be of any help getting you paid for the item either. Some African countries have a very poor track record when it comes to fraudulent transactions.
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I think it was about 3 months (probationary period) before I received a uniform allowance. I think I dressed mostly in blue and wore jean shorts or blue jeans as a uniform for the lower part of my body and a dark t-shirt for the upper part. It was during summer months so outerwear wasnt too much of an issue but I probably had a rain jacket and baseball cap. I don't think anything had the USPS logo on it. I can't remember if I bought anything with my own money but probably would have, if necessary. With my first allowance (which was higher than subququent years), I probably bought long and short sleeved uniform shirts, a winter jacket, shorts and pants, shoes, and a baseball bap. It has been quite a few years but this is a guess as to what I bought. I know the items can be a bit pricey and eat up a uniform allowance quickly. On Long Island, NY where I deliver mail there used to be actual uniform stores that we could go in to and purchase our clothing. The one closest to wear I work/live has closed so I spend my entire yearly uniform allowance online. Some vendors will offer you a 10-20% spending bonus if you use the entire allowance at one time. I recommend purchasing items that will keep you warm and dry in bad weather even if it means spending out-of-pocket having used up your uniform allowance. It is difficult for me to work in the cold and always have to layer up properly in the winter. I don't know where you live if this is a factor or not. Good luck in your postal career and keep your head up even if management doesn't treat you like they appreciate you.
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As far as I know, there is no other PO besides the one that delivers your mail that could do anything with the information whether you have moved or not. Other mail processing facilities just sort the mail according to ZIP code to get it on its way to your local PO. They aren't concerned with the name on the mail. Do you live with anybody else who may write that on the mail and put it back in the outgoing mail? As long as your local PO knows you haven't moved, nobody should be having your mail returned to the sender. You could also put a note and tape it inside your mailbox saying "(your name) is a valid name to deliver here".
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Cynthia, that is a good question and I don't know the legal requirements (if any) to return any mail that is errantly delivered to your address, whether it is for a former resident or just delivered by mistake to the wrong address. Anyone who tells you otherwise I would question where they get that information. Most people I know aren't versed in the law when it comes to the US Mail. I do read that tampering with the US Mail is a federal offense but I don't interpret that discarding mail that was errantly given to you to be tampering with it. On the flip side, as much as that person has been a sore spot to you, would it be so hard to just write on the outside of the mail "person doesn't live here" and leave it in the mailbox for the letter carrier to have sent back to the sender? In theory, the letter may find its way back to the sender who may update their records and you won't get any mail from them anymore addressed to the former tenant. Just a thought. Thanks for writing.
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I have never heard of this happening and wouldn't think that a carrier should be doing that. I think a unit owner should be allowed to accept mail at their address for whomever they want. I have no legal education in this matter so I can't tell you if i's legal or not, just that it comes across to me as inappropriate. I just have very little faith how far you would get in a complaint about this to the letter carrier, your HOA, or building management or your local PO.
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