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. Please keep in mind that anything I answer here is based on my observations only and I have no authority to speak for the USPS. Personal correspondence besides greeting cards seems to be close to extinct. I don't really know of anyone who writes letters to each other anymore. There has definitely been a drop in the amt. of mail I deliver daily, including catalogs, magazines, bills. I don't see this trend reversing, especially since the younger generation (for me, that is people under 40 y/o) really not having much use for the USPS to transact business or communicate with their contemporaries. The one area where I have seen growth has to do with parcels that people have ordered online through eBay or Amazon.com which the USPS delivers.
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Let's see. There are 2 answers I can think of. 1) From the USPS point of view, that would be 0%. All mail is a revenue source for the USPS, so I wouldn't consider it "junk". There is somebody (the mailer) who wants a msg. communicated to the recipient (advertising/gov't/ political notice) and is willing to pay us for it. By collecting postage is how the USPS funds its operations so all types of mail contributes to our survival. From the view of a customer, if you are referring to mostly advertising mail, or non-first-class mail, I'd would guess it is about 80% of the mail is advertising mail, called "standard mail" in USPS classification parlance.
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I believe that it is just different names for the same type of organizations in 2 different countries. In the US, we call it the US Postal Service. Before that it was called the Post Office Department and was part of the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. The Postmaster General was a cabinet level position, similar to out Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense. In apprx. 1971, the US Postal Service was formed to be a separate quasi-governmental organization. It is no longer funded by tax dollars and is mandated to earn enough revenue on its own to cover its expenses. That has been a difficult proposition as of late so we have had to rely on loans from the US Government (I think) to meet expenses.
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I can't answer what you are legally supposed to do it, just can make some suggestions. If the address on the envelope doesn't match your address, you can leave it visible in your mailbox for the letter carrier to see the next day with a post-it note, or note paper clipped on that says "Please deliver to the correct address" or "Delivered to the wrong address". You can also write on the envelope or circle the address and write "delivered to wrong address". Another option is to deposit the piece of mail back in a blue collection box and hope that it isn't misdelivered to your house again. I don't believe you are legally obligated to do anything with that mail, but if someone else received mail intended for you, wouldn't it be courteous to return it to the USPS so it can be delivered to the correct addressee? I try very hard to make sure I deliver the mail properly the first time, though there is no doubt that all of our employees make mistakes.
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Another question which I don't know the official answer to. I have rarely come across this situation, but I'm sure in certain neighborhoods it is more common. I will usually stop after the box is completely full. If that happens I may put any mail after that on "Hold" and keep it at the PO for apprx. 10 more days. If, after 10 days has passed AND the mail in the mailbox has still not been retrieved by someone at the house, I discard most non first-class mail and would have periodicals (magazines/newspapers) and any first class mail returned to the sender marked "Moved, Left No Address". I often know when people are moving because I'll see "For Sale" signs at their house or see a moving truck loading or unloading a house. When that happens, I usually see a "Forward Mail" order for the person leaving and then I usually see mail for the new resident (in most cases a different last name). People do move without putting in a "Forward Mail" order. In that case, I'll hold the mail at the PO for 10 days, and if I haven't received a "Forward Mail" order, the periodicals and first-class mail would be returned to the sender marked "Moved, Left No Address". The area I deliver to is not very transient so the scenario you asked about doesn't come up often as I mentioned earlier.
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This is a subject that many letter carriers don't like to talk about too much in public. I think the main reason is that I don't think we are supposed to accept any monetary gifts. This being an anonymous forum allows me to be more candid. Around the holidays, many of the residents I deliver to do give me a cash gratuity, or gift card, or some chocolates, etc. By no means is this all of them. Also, because I am a fairly paid (in my opinion) civil servant, I don't expect a tip nor will it affect what kind of service you get from me. That would be totally illegal in my opinion, and it bothers me to hear others talk about their patrons and whether they tip or not. I don't like to talk about this subject with some of my co-workers. That said, I do gladly accept any and all gratuities from my customers and truly appreciate it. The average tip is $20 from my experience. From what I've heard this is also a more regional thing. In other geographic areas, it may be much less common to receive a cash gratuity or anything at all. I've heard of people receiving some alcohol or home-baked cookies. Again, I am only speaking from personal experience. Good question, though.
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The official title of my position is "Letter Carrier - City". I don't care if I'm called any of the other titles mentioned above as they all accurately describe what I do.
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