Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

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.

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Last Answer on February 18, 2022

Best Rated

I recently sent a pkg. to my grandson. The tracking # says it was delivered and put in the lock box but my daughter says there is no key in her box. I am so afraid someone else got the key by mistake. What do we do? This is a priceless gift. Thanks

Asked by S.M.S almost 11 years ago

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.

695 Votes

Could any mailman refuse to give you your mail for any reason

Asked by Refuse about 11 years ago

As a general rule, I think a letter carrier should be delivering mail to a mailbox unless they know or trust the person asking for the mail. If you are asking if they can bypass a house and not deliver mail at all, the main reason for refusing to deliver mail would be that the carrier feels their personal safety is in jeopardy due to a dog or other unsafe condition. They can also refuse to deliver the mail if safe access or access in general (door to an apt. Building is locked for an example) to the mailbox can't be assured. I don't know if the situation occurred to you which brought up this question. It is rare that I ever don't deliver mail to an address. Even if it's an unsafe construction area, I may give the mail to one of the workers who will put the mail in the mailbox.

695 Votes

I received a letter back and it has stamped on it BOXED CLOSED RETURN TO SENDER...DOES THAT MEAN THE P.O. BOX NUMBER IS NOT GOOD

Asked by Jeremy almost 11 years ago

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.

695 Votes

I need to leave a payment for a company and she is not home. ..can I leave the payment in an envelope in her mailbox

Asked by louann almost 11 years ago

I wouldn't recommend it unless you put a stamp on the envelope. The reason I say this is because the mailbox is only supposed to be used for US Mail with proper postage. That being said, if you leave the envelope in the mailbox clearly marked for the recipient company or resident with no postage it's possible the letter carrier would notice it and just leave it in the mailbox. That is what I would do but I can't speak for another letter carrier who isn't paying attention and just takes an envelope that looks like it could be outgoing mail. If you put the payment envelope in the mailbox with the address and postage it could be taken as outgoing mail but you can rest assured it will get to the recipient within a couple of days as a regular piece of mail. If possible, could you find an alternate place to put the payment or pay electronically?

694 Votes

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If the mail man doesn't find the address does he keep the mail at post office?

Asked by Tenzin chonyi about 11 years ago

Maybe for a day or so to see if anybody in the PO knows where that address is. Being that I deliver mail to the same neighborhood each day I know if a piece of mail has a valid address on it or not. It's possible if there is a replacement letter carrier delivering mail on a certain day and they can't find an address they will bring back the mail and then possibly the regular letter carrier on the route or somebody else would know where the address is. More often than not when mail has an address that can't be found (or the address doesn't even exist), we will endorse the mail as "NSN" which means "No Such Number" and it will be returned to the sender. The USPS has a national database of all valid addresses so we usually know at the PO if an address exists or not.

694 Votes

Well i wrote a letter and wanted it to be sent in london and im in usa . Will the mail carrier make sure that it will be sent .

Asked by temorrow about 11 years ago

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.

694 Votes

My sister was recently in jail. Our mail carrier saw letters from us going to her at the jail and has been telling a lot of people about her being in jail. Is this legal for him to do?

Asked by Gregory over 10 years ago

I can't quote the statute that says it is illegal for the letter carrier to discuss with others the fact that your sister was in jail, however it is entirely inappropriate and probably against postal regulations re: sanctity and confidentiality of the mail. I see mail going to/from prison while delivering the mail but never say a word to anybody about it. I'm not sure if you want to discuss it with your letter carrier to tell him how wrong it was to say anything to anybody. I also don't know it it would go anywhere if you complained to the USPS about his behavior. Legally, you may also need proof or witnesses if in fact it is illegal what the letter carrier divulged to others. I know I'd be very upset if I found out my letter carrier was talking about things they should be confidential about, but not sure what avenue I would take to resolve it.

693 Votes

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