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.
Hello GrannyBlu72! It was fine to drop the letter to your granddaughter in the Priority Express Blue Box on the street. That probably happens all of the time and the letter carrier who collects it would just put that envelope into the regular mail processing stream. As long as you used proper postage for what you mailed and put the correct address on the envelope, the letter will get to your granddaughter. When she receives it, however, is a different story. The letter would likely be collected from that blue collection box on Monday and if sent to the regional mail processing facility (which most mail is sent to even if addressed to the same town that it is mailed in), the turnaround time is usually 2 days. It is likely your granddaughter will receive the letter Wednesday. Until recently, mail within a certain processing area would take just 1-day to reach it's destination.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Dear%20Mailman%20Dave%2C%0A%20I%20went%20to%20mail%20a%20letter%20in%20a%20first%20class%20standard%20envelope%20to%20my%20granddaughter.%20I%20accidently%20placed%20my%20envelope%20in%20a%20USPS%20Priority%20Express%20blue%20box%20on%20the%20street.%20This%20was%20done%20on%20a%20Sunday%20around%2012%3A00%20PM.%20Will%20my%20mistake%20delay%20my%20granddaughter%20from%20getting%20the%20letter%20on%20Monday%3F%20We%20both%20live%20in%20the%20same%20state%20being%20ten%20minutes%20away%20from%20each%20other%2C%20and%20we%20share%20the%20same%20main%20post%20office.%20I%20also%20forgot%20to%20add%20a%20return%20address%2C%20but%20I%20know%20for%20certain%20I%20wrote%20the%20forward%20address%20correctly%20and%20used%20a%20first%20class%20stamp.%20Any%20help%20given%20would%20be%20greatly%20appreciated.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15208)
I would give it back to you if I know who you are, or you can positively ID yourself, and if I can easily retrieve the letter. It's rarely happened to me and in each case in gave back the letter(s) to the sender. I can't speak to how another letter carrier would react to your request and I don't know if there are any rules specifically allowing or prohibiting this. We are not trained on how to handle this request as far as I can remember.
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I am thinking it may be held up in Customs, but am not sure if that happens before or after it gets to the ISC, or is maybe based in the Miami ISC. Do you know if the recipient is still looking for their items? Sometimes it doesn't get any more bar code scans before it is delivered but actually has been delivered. You could go to www.usps.com and maybe do an inquiry as to where the items could be but I don't have a lot of confidence that you will get any more info than is what you already have.
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You are obviously referring to holiday gratuities, no need to hide that on this forum. We aren't really supposed to expect or accept cash tips but know that many of us do (me included). I can't really comment on who has a right to them. Maybe the comp man and the unassigned regular could split anything they get but I'm guessing there may not be enough trust to do that. I'm not really sure why the former carrier deserves anything if he voluntarily bid off that route for another assignment. I don't know what "aa" means but "as" means ass kisser. I guess I don't really agree with you in this situation and holiday gratuities really shouldn't be basis for any rules about bumping or holddowns. It really just seems to cause problems when it shouldn't even be entering into the picture.
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The only suggestion I'd have is to have your daughter or you contact the PO which delivers the mail to her and see if the key may still be in the mailbox for another resident and/or the package is still in the lockbox. It is disconcerting that if another resident errantly got the key and/or package that they wouldn't deliver it to the intended recipient. As a letter carrier I can tell you we make delivery mistakes on a somewhat regular basis. I am pretty accurate (though not 100%..nobody is) in my delivery, but some carriers don't care as much or are unfamiliar with an area and sometimes rush which can result in mistakes. I understand that the tracking is only somewhat helpful because it shows as delivered to the lock box but that doesn't help if your daughter didn't get the key.
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Bradan, Congratulations on surviving the winter! That can't have been fun at all. I'm just glad it's over also. As much as the heat isn't fun, I prefer it over the cold. I know there are others who feel quite differently about that. As far as tips go, my main tips are: 1) Drink plenty of water or some other liquids. I've heard different schools of thought whether or not Gatorade is good. My joke is that on the internet you can find anybody to support your opinion. I would guess that it works but there is a very high sugar content. The key is to stay hydrated.
2) Wear a hat to block the sun off your head and face. I wear a cowboy-type hat which works well. I fold the edges up by the ear so it doesn't look so funny but there is a tradeoff in that I'm exposing more of my face to the sun. I'm not sure what the official name of the hat is. You could also wear a white mesh pith helmet. Baseball caps will help as well but not cover too much of your face or neck for sun exposure. I also wear sunglasses most of the time.
3) Wear as light clothes as possible. I usually wear shorts in the warm weather and a short-sleeve uniform shirt with a t-shirt underneath.
Those are the basic tips that I can think of. Make sure to ask or take a cue from your fellow carriers, as I'm far from being an expert on this. On the very hot and humid days I consume water without even thinking about it, usually bringing about 2 liters with me plus some orange juice to drink with lunch.
Good luck to you. During July and August there is so much extra work to do because of our fellow workers going on vacation. We never seem to have enough help. I'm sure that story is repeated in many Post Offices nationwide.
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Sure you can keep your uniforms as far as I know, some carriers donate uniforms to other carriers, especially if it is unused or if it's outerwear. A carrier who just retired from my PO gave me a rain jacket. Some Union branches or offices have uniform closets for items no longer needed by ole tyre carriers. The choice is yours. I just don't know where you would wear most of the items that have the USPS insignia if you aren't employed there anymore.
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