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

if someone moves and don't put a fwd what should i do with there mail

Asked by china almost 10 years ago

I'd recommend that if you received the mail for someone who previously lived at your residence but didn't put in a forward for you to put the mail back in your mailbox and you can write on it "moved" or "doesn't live here anymore". The letter carrier should take it and not redeliver it to you. You also have the option to discard since nobody would really know but I feel that is the wrong thing to do. By putting the mail back in the mailbox you alert the letter carrier that the person has moved from that address.

504 Votes

Is it against the law to mail a letter from a business outgoing box? I went on a run thinking that I would find a Blue box and all I found was an outgoing business gray box. I put it in there not thinking anything of it, now I'm worried.

Asked by Zach over 9 years ago

I am not too familiar with the outgoing mail gray business boxes. Was it inside a business that was on your run? It's not against any laws to mail a letter from an outgoing business gray box. As long as there is sufficient postage on the letter I don't see why you can't mail that from anywhere. It should be no problem at all. I just wouldn't know the schedule as to when the mail was picked up. If the letter carrier had already taken the mail for the day from the business gray box, it will likely get picked up the following delivery day.

503 Votes

Can you refuse delivery due to a dog barking? Dog is inside behind a metal security door and the box is next to the door. He’s not loose and there’s no way he can get out. The main door is usually shut, but not always. I’ve never received a notice.

Asked by RJ about 10 years ago

I don't think we should refuse delivery for that but I can't say for sure what we are allowed to do. As long as I felt that the door was secure enough and the dog wouldn't get out I would make the delivery. When you say you've never received a notice, do you mean you have never been told that the dog is an issue? I'm not sure what kind of notice you mean. Maybe the letter carrier refused mail delivery and never said the dog was an issue. I have a few places where I deliver to very loud barking dogs but I have never really had to refuse delivery due to this. It is often stressed by postal management to be very careful near dogs so I can understand if a letter carrier is apprehensive about it, but I can't say what they should do in the situation you described.

503 Votes

address 100&102 have always shared one mailbox. How do I inform the Mail Deliverer to put 102 mail in 102 box?

Asked by esmeralda almost 10 years ago

I am not sure what you mean by this question because you first say that 100 & 102 are together in one mailbox yet you then reference a box that says 102. If you truly have two separate mailboxes for two separate addresses and is clearly labeled I'm not sure why the letter carrier doesn't separate the mail between the two addresses. You could leave a note on the shared mailbox that there is a separate mailbox for 102 and ask them to put the mail there. If this isn't resolved with a note, you could always contact the PO and speak with a delivery supervisor or a manager to register your request.

503 Votes

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What do you do if the mail does not fit in the mailbox
Example: there is a box to go into the mailbox but it doesn't fit for whatever reason, what do you do?

Asked by Roy potter almost 10 years ago

I'll tell you what I do in this situation (which is common) but I can't say what each carrier will do and I'm sure it also varies by location. We deliver many parcels that won't fit into a mailbox. I bring the item to the front door of the house and leave it on the side of the door. I rarely ring a door bell since I don't need to see anybody to give the mail to. I also work in a neighborhood where mail/package theft is close to non-existent. If you live an apartment building or an area where mail can't just be left near a front door then the letter carrier might leave a PS 3849 Delivery Notice/Reminder/Receipt to notify the recipient that we have mail for you to retrieve from the PO or allow you to authorize delivery and leave mail at a specified location.

502 Votes

I return harrassing mail and postal worker sends it back to me asking. Is this legal? My mail is mine and can return any mail i believe is hsrrasment from some esp if i hae already dealt withnthat company. Do o have to explain this?

Asked by donna faulknrr over 10 years ago

I must first start with my disclaimer that we are poorly trained in what the regulations or SOP are when it comes to certain situations that come up. I can't say what is legal or not regarding your question. I do think it is inappropriate for the postal worker to ask you anything about returning mail.

You don't need to explain to any USPS employee why you are returning the mail. It is none of our business. As long as it is an unopened, first-class letter, you should be able to just write "refused" on it and have it returned. Personally I would just discard any unwanted mail. I've received debt collection letters in the past and have just ignored them and not returned them. There are certain classes of mail where we won't return to the sender because the sender has paid a pre-sorted standard rate (which is lower than the first-class rate). In that case, we just recycle any unwanted mail.

502 Votes

I did a coa for October 9 to stop mail at old place and start mail at new place for same date. My question is why did I get a no vacant slip in mailbox on October 6? And does that mean my mail will be forwarded to new address or on hold at post offic

Asked by Sandy about 10 years ago

I am not sure why this happened and what will happen to your mail for the 3 days you mentioned. It should have been delivered until 10/8 as far as I know. After that, the forwarding should commence to your new address and will probably be a few more days before any forwarded mail arrives there. It's possible your "old" post office is holding the mail until 10/9 to forward it but I can't say for sure. I don't know if you have time to go to the PO to ask them why this happened and it's possible that by the time you find out it will almost be 10/9 and the mail will have been forwarded.

501 Votes

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