Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

I had my bank mail a check to someone but it was sent to an incorrect address. The check was cashed/stolen. Would the carrier leave it at an address even though the name was not someone who lived there? Should it have been returned to the sender?

Asked by Nonni5 over 10 years ago

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.

563 Votes

Sometimes our mail is left between our screen and front doors if not in the door slot. Would the mailman take our mail back to the post office if the residents are away and not taking in the mail?

Asked by Sarah over 10 years ago

The answer depends on the individual letter carrier and their initiative to do this. I don't know of any rule that says what we should do if mail isn't being taken in at an address. I'm not sure why mail is left between the screen and front door instead of a door slot unless the door slot is too small or difficult to use. I have rarely taken mail back to the PO if residents are away. I just follow their directions and if they didn't inform me to hold the mail, I don't.

561 Votes

The mailman just knocked on our door and asked my name and I said yes that's me. He did not give me anything he only said the form he was holding was for him to report something and he left. Now I'm worried what it was he needed to report?

Asked by Michael Peterson over 10 years ago

Thanks for your question. We do sometimes get requests from attorneys or collection agencies or process servers which ask us to verify if a certain name received mail at a certain address. I don't know what the form is called but I believe this is legal as long as the proper procedures are followed by the requesting party. They will also ask if they have moved and, if so, what is the new address for the person in question. I receive these forms not too often. If I do get this written request, I just tell the registry clerk or supervisor what the status is of that name because I pretty much know all the names of people who receive mail on my postal route. As far as I know it's usually for a legal matter or debt recovery issue.

561 Votes

i just got a job as a cca in the ny triboro area and want to know what the most comfortable sneaker is to wear

Asked by steve over 10 years ago

Congratulations on being hired as a CCA. I wear black shoes that have the SR/USA tag required by the USPS. These can be purchased using your uniform allowance which you may not receive for several months after being hired and passing probation. The brands I use are New Balance and Rocky. I've never had a problem with their comfort, just that I usually have to replace them every 6 months or so due to the amount of walking I do daily. If you don't have a uniform allowance I'd say to wear whatever is comfortable to you like an athletic shoe. Don't wear anything fancy because it will inevitably get dirty in no time.

561 Votes

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Hey do mailman's pick up first class packages no matter the weight & size as long as it fits in the mailbox?

Asked by Jazmin Landeros over 10 years ago

The mailman should pick up any first class outgoing parcel just like they would any other item you wanted to mail as long as there is sufficient postage. An exception to this would be any item weighing over 13 oz that had postage stamps on it (as opposed to a Click 'N Ship label). This would be a Priority Mail item anyway, not First Class. This would need to be presented at a retail counter to be mailed due to security rules when mailing heavier items that may go on aircraft. I often pick up outgoing First Class parcels from a woman who sells items online and ships them from her house.

560 Votes

Is there a reason why we should be getting our magazines and catalogs all on one day and usually the weekend?

Asked by Mary about 10 years ago

I don't know why that would be. I don't have any involvement in how the mail is transported and processed and I also don't know the operations at your local post office. Where I work most of the mail that comes into the building on any given day goes out the same day or the next day. Some of the reason for this is that much of our catalogs and magazines come to our PO via FSS trays. These are trays of flats (the more official name for catalogs and magazines) where the items are all sorted in delivery order and ready to be delivered without any additional sorting. FSS mail gets delivered the same day they arrive at a local PO. Not all POs receive FSS mail so it's possible that flats are curtailed for one or two days a week. I am just speculating and don't really know if that is what happens. As an aside, actual magazines (like Time, People, TV Guide, local newspapers) are considered Periodicals Class mail and should be delivered the same day that they arrive at your local PO. FSS stands for Flats Sequencing System.

560 Votes

If I write the wrong address on a letter and it comes back, can I correct the address & put a new stamp on the same envelope to remail it or do I have to use a new envelope?

Asked by LLL about 11 years ago

It shouldn't be a problem to put on the correct address and new stamp and remail the letter in the same envelope. I'd recommend crossing out any bar codes that may have been printed below the address either on the front or back of the envelope. Also, please cross out or remove any markings that may say "return to sender". If you can, maybe a new envelope with the correct address would be better, but if you follow the above recommendations I think it would be okay to reuse the original envelope.

559 Votes

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Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I had my bank mail a check to someone but it was sent to an incorrect address. The check was cashed/stolen. Would the carrier leave it at an address even though the name was not someone who lived there? Should it have been returned to the sender?

Sometimes our mail is left between our screen and front doors if not in the door slot. Would the mailman take our mail back to the post office if the residents are away and not taking in the mail?

The mailman just knocked on our door and asked my name and I said yes that's me. He did not give me anything he only said the form he was holding was for him to report something and he left. Now I'm worried what it was he needed to report?

i just got a job as a cca in the ny triboro area and want to know what the most comfortable sneaker is to wear

Also on Jobstr...

Hey do mailman's pick up first class packages no matter the weight & size as long as it fits in the mailbox?

Is there a reason why we should be getting our magazines and catalogs all on one day and usually the weekend?

If I write the wrong address on a letter and it comes back, can I correct the address & put a new stamp on the same envelope to remail it or do I have to use a new envelope?

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I had my bank mail a check to someone but it was sent to an incorrect address. The check was cashed/stolen. Would the carrier leave it at an address even though the name was not someone who lived there? Should it have been returned to the sender?

Sometimes our mail is left between our screen and front doors if not in the door slot. Would the mailman take our mail back to the post office if the residents are away and not taking in the mail?

The mailman just knocked on our door and asked my name and I said yes that's me. He did not give me anything he only said the form he was holding was for him to report something and he left. Now I'm worried what it was he needed to report?

i just got a job as a cca in the ny triboro area and want to know what the most comfortable sneaker is to wear

Also on Jobstr...

Hey do mailman's pick up first class packages no matter the weight & size as long as it fits in the mailbox?

Is there a reason why we should be getting our magazines and catalogs all on one day and usually the weekend?

If I write the wrong address on a letter and it comes back, can I correct the address & put a new stamp on the same envelope to remail it or do I have to use a new envelope?

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