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.
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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I see on a map you are referring to towns in MN that are about 55 miles apart. That's the mileage from Chaska, MN to Zimmerman, MN. I'd say it's approximately 2 days to get from the origin to the destination. For example, if the letter was mailed on a Tuesday before the collection deadline it should be delivered by Thursday. I hope this answers your question. It's also not a good idea to send actual cash through the mail if you can avoid it.
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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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As long as you addressed the letter properly and affixed the correct postage the letter should make it to London correctly. When letter carriers pick up outgoing mail we generally just put it in a basket with all of the other outgoing mail and a processing facility sorts the mail based on where it is going to. If you still have the letter, please put the country of destination (UK or England) on the very bottom line of the address. I'm sure the Royal Post is reliable just like the USPS is.
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I'd recommend taking it to the Post Office to make sure you are paying the right amt. You should just be able to put it in a letter size envelope (if it fits) and seal the envelope well. A proper address should also be written on the envelope where the bottom line is the Country of Destination (in your case either UK or Scotland). My quick search says that a 2 oz. letter to Scotland would be $2.21. If you are interested, you can go to www.usps.com and search for calculate a price and after answering several questions you can get a rate. 2 stamps would be equal to .98 so that would be insufficient to mail to Scotland. The minimum price for international mailing is $1.20 I think. Thanks for writing and I always say it's better to put too much postage on instead of too little. This way you lessen the risk of an item being returned for insufficient postage.
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I don't think being a letter carrier is dangerous with respect to personal safety. I think most people respect the letter carrier enough not to assault or harass them. I can be accused of looking at this situation through rose-colored glasses because I am a male and deliver mail in an affluent area where very little violent crime occurs. You need to be vigilant for loose dogs and to drive carefully. The only protection we have for an emergency is for a dog attack. In that case we have dog repellent spray plus a mail satchel which could be used as sort of a shield between you and the dog. Most workplace injuries are falls which results in cuts, sprains, bruises and broken bones. In case of a real emergency we would call 911 and alert the Post Office.
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If I were in motion, I'd safely pull over, put on my four-way flashers, and then get out to investigate. It's possible that my gas cap is hanging out the side of the LLV, the back gate isn't secure, or maybe I'm dragging something. It could also be something that I haven't thought of. If the motorist is still around I'd ask them what they are pointing out. If it seemed to be some type of phony diversion tactic, I'd try to get far away from the motorist pointing and then investigate safely.
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