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.
It's odd for someone to say "it's on the truck" when the tracking seems very non-specific and sounds like it hasn't been updated. 8 days is too long for a certified letter to reach you unless the item was missorted en route and was either misdelivered or is sitting at a PO and nothing is being done with it. I don't know what to tell you to do except to wait a few more days. After that, you could contact the sender and say you never received the letter though they would have the same information as the online tracking.
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I can't say for sure what should have happened with the check that was mailed to the wrong address. It is bad that the check was cashed by an unintended party. A letter carrier doesn't always know who lives at each address and there are many days where a replacement carrier or CCA (City Carrier Assistant) is delivering the mail. If I'm not sure that piece of mail should go the address on the envelope, I will likely deliver it anyway with a "?" written next to the name. Hopefully the resident at the address would put the envelope back in the mail if it doesn't belong to them and write "doesn't live here" on the outside.
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This definitely happens all the time. I would hope that we try to deliver every package but if we haven't organized our deliveries well enough, we may forget to deliveran online purchase. The parcel would then be brought back to the Post Office and probably be delivered the next delivery day.
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I don't believe that is normal or allowed in a USPS vehicle. I wouldn't risk taking a civilian (non-USPS employee) in the USPS vehicle. I can't quote any rules on this but I can't imagine the USPS would take any responsibility should the non-employee get hurt while in that vehicle. It sounds even more suspicious that this friend is bringing a bully breed dog along. I once had my nephews and parents walk with me along the postal route for approximately 45 minutes to show them what my job is like. I didn't receive approval from my supervisor to do this and, after the fact, I realize it may not have been proper to have them accompany me while delivering mail. My nephews were very young at the the time and I carefully watched as they put the mail in the mailbox on several occasions. It's up to you whether or not you want to report this to your local post office that the letter carrier works out of. I don't know if the supervisor would care or do anything but I can't imagine that this is allowed or condoned. If the friend just came along and didn't go into the USPS vehicle, it may not be as clear whether or not that is allowed, but it certainly seems inappropriate. In my work environment, I just stick to the rules as much as I can without drawing attention to myself and stay out of trouble. Thanks for the interesting question.
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I'm not sure what it means, but I'd gather that the renter of the PO Box either stopped paying the fee on the PO Box and it was closed or that they closed it on purpose. They also probably didn't put in a forwarding address which is why the label said "return to sender". It means the PO Box number exists but is not currently in use.
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Yes, I've heard of nothing to the contrary and I know that many of the younger letter carriers have tattoos and piercings.
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Kim, that is generally what would happen if you came up to my postal vehicle to hand me outgoing letters. I have a small square tray which is raised on 4 sides where I put the outgoing letters and bring back to the post office for dispatch. Some use a bin or a larger tray depending on the outgoing mail volume. So in a word, nothing to worry about it and good question.
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