Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

WIll you deliver to my school room door if i leave on campus or you would leave it in front of my dorm

Asked by Joy over 11 years ago

If you live on a college campus, they probably already have established a standard method of delivery to the dormitories. They probably don't deliver it to your room. It is likely that the dormitory has central delivery boxes in the lobby area or in a mailroom. Other campuses might have all the student mail come to a central mailroom or student center which has individual mailboxes for each student. You can contact the student life office or office of residential life for more information. Thank you for writing.

759 Votes

Hi! Do you know if I am obligated to retrieve my mail -- (which consists entirely of trash for me to dispose of) -- from my mailbox? What if I just leave it, and never attempt to retrieve it?

Asked by hexadecimal about 11 years ago

I don't believe you have any obligation ever to retrieve your mail. After awhile the mailbox will fill up and then the letter carrier will probably do the following: stop delivering any future mail and return any first class or periodical mail or mail sent by a mailer requesting return if undeliverable with the endorsement "Box Full". I have never encountered this situation but I understand people not caring about their mail deliveries these days especially when so much of it is advertising. Please be advised, however, that if your mailbox is full that you may not receive even one piece of mail that could be important. If you are so sure you don't want anything delivered by US Mail, then feel free to let your mailbox fill up or you could even take it down if you aren't a cluster box. I am sure this is a growing sentiment since most business and communication can be done electronically. Thanks for writing.

758 Votes

Good Morning.
My mail box is a slot in front door. Up until 3 months ago, there was never a problem with delivering my mail there. Now my mailman has told me I have to have my mail box in the back, so that he doesn't have to walk up my steps.

Asked by Matt over 11 years ago

Matt, I am not familar with any real details about where a mailbox has to be with regards to steps. I just know that the box needs to be accessible to the letter carrier. I have never heard anything about steps being an issue. You may call the post office to ask if there is any regulation about the placement of a mailbox or mail slot. If they give you an answer that seems like it is made up, you may ask to see where this regulation is in writing or ask for the number to the regional or area office that oversees your local post office. Without having any more information than what you provided me, I'd say that the request by the mailman is invalid, but I just want to reiterate that I'm no authority on all of the rules on this subject. Thank you for writing.

758 Votes

Can u become a mailman right out of highschool, are arm tattoos unwanted and if you can join right out of high school what is the likely chance you get hired if u do well on the tests. (Heard someone must retire so u can recieve job if no vacancies)

Asked by Pablo about 11 years ago

Pablo, you can definitely have tattoos (visible or not) to be a letter carrier. Co-workers have had them since I have started working at the USPS 15 years ago. You can be hired with only a HS diploma if you do well on the test. It isn't true that you have to wait until someone retires before being hired. To become a full time employee this may be true but new hires are CCA which is City Carrier Assistant which is position requiring your flexibility in work hours and no guarantee of more than a few hours per week. I don't know the exact number of hours and the CCAs where I work have plenty of hours to work, including some Sundays delivering parcels.

758 Votes

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How many miles does the average mailman walk

Asked by ke about 11 years ago

I don't know Ke. I once wore a pedometer to record my steps but have since forgotten the results. I know that my vehicle odometer to/from the PO plus delivering the route is about 9 miles per day. On part of my route I have dismount deliveries where you deliver a few houses at a time, return to the truck, move it forward to another set of houses and deliver those and so on. Other parts are "park and loop" deliveries which is where most of the walking occurs wearing a sometimes heavy mail satchel. I don't know about other routes, but I'm guessing I walk maybe 5 miles total. There are probably is a way to estimate by taking the number of deliveries I have and multiply by the distance I think there is between each house. Very rough estimate of 350 houses times 50 ft equals 3.31 miles. I hope this helps, but keep in mind that the route size, delivery method, and layout vary greatly.

758 Votes

If someone sends ne something but one number in the address is wrong for instance 186 instead of 180, will the mailman return it to sender or will they hold it at the post office? If at the post office where i am could i go pick it up?

Asked by Nina V over 11 years ago

It is hard to say for sure what will happen if it is one number off like in your example. If the mailman recognizes your name and knows what the correct address should be, they will often deliver it to what should be the correct address. If they don't look at the name and strictly deliver by address and the address that was written on the item actually exists then it is possible the item will wind up there and not where it was intended. It's not likely for the item to be held at the PO for pickup. It could be returned to the sender with the endorsement "Attempted, Not Known" for the address that was written on the envelope. I hope this helps you.

757 Votes

If someone mailed me something with the correct address, city, and state, but wrong zip code. What will most likely happen??

Asked by Constance over 10 years ago

I think you will likely receive the item but there may be a delay of several days. The letter will first likely go to the PO that the ZIP corresponds to. The clerks at that office would then need to send the letter back to a central mail facility where it might be manually corrected (the proper ZIP being researched and put on the envelope) and then continue to the intended destination. I'm not sure I have the procedure correct. It's also possible the letter could be returned to the sender with the endorsement of "No Such Street in this ZIP code" but I've never seen that before.

757 Votes

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Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

WIll you deliver to my school room door if i leave on campus or you would leave it in front of my dorm

Hi! Do you know if I am obligated to retrieve my mail -- (which consists entirely of trash for me to dispose of) -- from my mailbox? What if I just leave it, and never attempt to retrieve it?

Good Morning.
My mail box is a slot in front door. Up until 3 months ago, there was never a problem with delivering my mail there. Now my mailman has told me I have to have my mail box in the back, so that he doesn't have to walk up my steps.

Can u become a mailman right out of highschool, are arm tattoos unwanted and if you can join right out of high school what is the likely chance you get hired if u do well on the tests. (Heard someone must retire so u can recieve job if no vacancies)

Also on Jobstr...

How many miles does the average mailman walk

If someone sends ne something but one number in the address is wrong for instance 186 instead of 180, will the mailman return it to sender or will they hold it at the post office? If at the post office where i am could i go pick it up?

If someone mailed me something with the correct address, city, and state, but wrong zip code. What will most likely happen??

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

WIll you deliver to my school room door if i leave on campus or you would leave it in front of my dorm

Hi! Do you know if I am obligated to retrieve my mail -- (which consists entirely of trash for me to dispose of) -- from my mailbox? What if I just leave it, and never attempt to retrieve it?

Good Morning.My mail box is a slot in front door. Up until 3 months ago, there was never a problem with delivering my mail there. Now my mailman has told me I have to have my mail box in the back, so that he doesn't have to walk up my steps.

Can u become a mailman right out of highschool, are arm tattoos unwanted and if you can join right out of high school what is the likely chance you get hired if u do well on the tests. (Heard someone must retire so u can recieve job if no vacancies)

Also on Jobstr...

How many miles does the average mailman walk

If someone sends ne something but one number in the address is wrong for instance 186 instead of 180, will the mailman return it to sender or will they hold it at the post office? If at the post office where i am could i go pick it up?

If someone mailed me something with the correct address, city, and state, but wrong zip code. What will most likely happen??

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Good Morning.
My mail box is a slot in front door. Up until 3 months ago, there was never a problem with delivering my mail there. Now my mailman has told me I have to have my mail box in the back, so that he doesn't have to walk up my steps.