Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

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 almost 12 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.

889 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 about 12 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.

889 Votes

How late do you stay up at night answering our questions? Lol. Wow, when I posted mine, I had no idea I would ever get an answer, much less within minutes! What does you wife think about all those! Lol.

Asked by Kathyc2012 almost 12 years ago

Thanks for participating in the q and forum at jobstr. When I first started answering the questions, I had no idea it would be this popular. Some q's I receive are about doing the job and others are customer service issues that I can't specifically solve. I enjoy doing this but will admit if the quantity of questions got to be really high, I probably couldn't keep up with it. The amount of q's I receive now, I can easily handle. I try not to stay up late at all answering questions, but I like to give a thorough answer to each one and like to have minimal backlog. As far as my wife goes, I don't have one so its a non-issue. I have a girlfriend and she is very understanding and supportive and what I do. For her profession she is my own jobstr answer woman. Believe me that I ask her about her job all of the time to the point where she says "let's talk about something else", and I oblige.

889 Votes

We have been on vacation for 2 weeks and forgot to put a hold on our mail. We live in an apt, so our mail slot is fairly small. We came back and found that our mail slot was full and some of our mail was left in the junk cubby underneath. Is that ok?

Asked by Jonathan Rossen about 12 years ago

I am not really sure of the procedure that your letter carrier is supposed to follow if your specific mail slot becomes full. I understand that they probably didn't want to bring it back to the PO where it can be held usually up to 30 days before being sent back to the senders due to a full mailbox. The carrier probably felt that it was a safe environment to leave it in the junk cubby even though that area was possibly accessible to anybody. I hope that no mail was missing that you can tell. You made no mention of that so I presume you think it was all there. Technically the letter carrier should have been on the safe side and brought the mail back to the PO since you live in a multi-unit building, but I often have the "no harm, no foul" attitude meaning it's no big deal as long as nothing looks as if it was tampered with. I know that others will disagree with me on this comment. It is similar with packages to be delivered. In the area I work in, it seems to be a very safe suburban environment so parcels are left when nobody is home as long as there is no signature required. In other areas where mail/package theft may be an issue the USPS may require somebody at an address in order to release a package.

889 Votes

Can a mailman still find your house without a house number as long as they have the street name?

Asked by Candi almost 12 years ago

Most of the time I would say the mailman could find a house without a house number, but it is highly recommended that you have the number posted somewhere on the house, painted on the curb, or on the mailbox. I would never assume that the house could be found without a visible number posted. I rarely come across the situation where I can't find a house number, but if I did the method I would use would be to find an adjacent house (and hopefully that has a number visible) and then add or subtract 2 (the normal interval) to figure out the house number without a visible number. Now that I think of it you may have been asking if I have a name of a resident plus a street name, but no street number, could I find the house. The answer would be "possibly". If the mailman was familiar with the names on the street they could probably deliver the mail to the right house. Again, I would never assume that mail will get to the correct destination without a complete and proper address. Thanks for writing in.

889 Votes

What happens after a postman returns to the post office after finishing his route? I gave my postman a package that had a pre-paid shipping label and was wondering when I can expect it to be scanned.

Asked by Mischa almost 12 years ago

Mischa, I deleted one of your questions because it came up as a duplicate on this website. When we return from our routes, we put all of the outgoing (collected) mail in a dispatch area usually divided into flat, letters, parcels, priority, metered, stamped, etc. With regards to the prepaid shipping labels which is usually called Parcel Select Return Service I put the item in a separate area and our dispatch clerk knows what to do with it. I don't know when it is scanned at our post office. I would suspect that the package would be scanned at least in 1-2 days. Some packages which are being sent back as a return are transported by a 3rd party company that picks up those packages at our post office. Other packages are transported by the USPS back to the company where the package is being returned. I know when I pick it up from a customer as an outgoing return package I do not scan the item at all. I hope this helps but please keep checking USPS.com to track your package for any scans.

889 Votes

Is there a bathroom on your mail truck? I mean with a full day of work don't you have to go?

Asked by Sally over 11 years ago

Great question and you are correct about having to use the bathroom during the course of the delivery day. We don't have a bathroom in the postal vehicle, though that would be a nice touch. When I need to use a bathroom, I usually drive to an office building, gas station, or library near the route where I deliver. I also deliver mail to a dentist's office so I can use their toilet when the office is open. The next method some will find gross, but I wouldn't necessarily agree. Some males carry around bottles with them and will discreetly urinate in them and then dump out the contents when they get a chance. It's pretty easy to do in the environment I work as there aren't many people around and one can go inside the back of the postal vehicle for privacy. It's also a good idea to carry hand sanitizer or handi-wipes for use after urinating. As far as what woman do, I'm pretty sure it's not that simple and they must usually find a facility to use.

887 Votes

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

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?

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?

How late do you stay up at night answering our questions? Lol. Wow, when I posted mine, I had no idea I would ever get an answer, much less within minutes! What does you wife think about all those! Lol.

We have been on vacation for 2 weeks and forgot to put a hold on our mail. We live in an apt, so our mail slot is fairly small. We came back and found that our mail slot was full and some of our mail was left in the junk cubby underneath. Is that ok?

Also on Jobstr...

Can a mailman still find your house without a house number as long as they have the street name?

What happens after a postman returns to the post office after finishing his route? I gave my postman a package that had a pre-paid shipping label and was wondering when I can expect it to be scanned.

Is there a bathroom on your mail truck? I mean with a full day of work don't you have to go?

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

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?

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?

How late do you stay up at night answering our questions? Lol. Wow, when I posted mine, I had no idea I would ever get an answer, much less within minutes! What does you wife think about all those! Lol.

We have been on vacation for 2 weeks and forgot to put a hold on our mail. We live in an apt, so our mail slot is fairly small. We came back and found that our mail slot was full and some of our mail was left in the junk cubby underneath. Is that ok?

Also on Jobstr...

Can a mailman still find your house without a house number as long as they have the street name?

What happens after a postman returns to the post office after finishing his route? I gave my postman a package that had a pre-paid shipping label and was wondering when I can expect it to be scanned.

Is there a bathroom on your mail truck? I mean with a full day of work don't you have to go?

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