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.
Yes, stamps are required. I believe what is printed in the upper right hand corner of the postcard is known as an indicia. That is to indicate to the USPS has been paid for the postage but only after being brought to. Business Mail Entry Unit (a BMEU). In that case no additional postage is required. To answer your question you aren't using EDDM so after you affix the address label, you would need to put a .49 Forever stamp on each card since I believe the card exceeds the dimensions for a .35 postcard. I believe I'm correct about all of this but it wouldn't hurt to physically go into a Post Office and see if any of the retail clerks or supervisors can give you a more definitive answer. Good luck with the mailing and your business.
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I don't have the answer because it differs from person to person. If the substitute carrier is conscientious and verifies the address on the mail the mailbox that he's leaving the mail in then it would probably be a low difference between the two. Some regular carriers make plenty of mistakes because they are in a hurry or maybe don't care. I am very conscientious but still make mistakes. When a substitute delivers my route, the results vary. Some days you think "great job" and other days it's "why don't they read the address and be more careful". Misdeliveries are a big pet peeve of mine. One reason is that you don't know if the errant recipient will put the mailpiece back for correct delivery or may just ignore or discard it. I don't feel enough education is put to our employees how important proper mail delivery is. I am fortunate now to have the same substitute carrier each week if I'm off and not asked to work overtime. He is very conscientious and reads all of the carrier alert cards I give him. Other substitute carriers have been good and bad.
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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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It's possible that either things happened. It may depend on where you live, but actually having things from mailboxes where I work is quite rare. As far as a letter carrier taking it out of the mailbox, I can't really say. Some letter carriers are strict and say nothing can be in the mailbox except US Mail. If they take it out I'm not sure what they'd be doing with it. I am not really sure how you'd find out. I doubt the PO would be of much help. As much as I don't like things left in mailboxes that aren't US mail, if I can clearly see it's not outgoing mail, I'll usually just leave it and put the mail in the box. I have to stress that I can predict the actions of other letter carriers. I've seen too many who don't care and can be vindictive toward customer which I don't understand.
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Bracketologist
Why have there been so many 15-2 upsets, but no 16-1's?
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Did you have to deal with a lot of disrespectful customers? What would they say?
Congratulations on sticking with the job as the CCAs really get the brunt of a lot of the work and have unpredictable schedules at times. With regard to making your shoes last longer, I don't know if I have a good answer. My shoes get wet in the rain as well and I didn't realize that the water sometimes accelerates the breakdown of the shoe, but I do notice it as of late. My main suggestion for making the shoes last with regard to not getting them wet is to wear rubber overshoes which can be purchased with the uniform allowance. Tingley is a well known brand for these products. They keep your shoes dry but when it's not wet out you wouldn't want to wear them as the rubber may wear out easier walking on dry ground. When wearing these be careful to get them on with a tight fit with regards to your toes and heel because you may trip easier with loose fitting rubber overshoes.
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That's a great question Cindy that I don't know the answer to but I'm embarrassed for the USPS that they would tolerate such lying. I believe if a letter carrier actually attempts to deliver a package or piece of accountable mail they should ring a bell or knock on the door and wait a minute or so before leaving a PS 3849. I know that Amazon.com wants all of their Prime parcels delivered by a specifc date and if they aren't at least attempted, maybe someone in the USPS supervision is held accountable. I'm not really sure. I have seen in our office that parcels that weren't delivered (either missorted or the carrier missed the house and didn't have time to go back) would get an "attempted" scan which is false. I've never done this nor have I ever been asked to do it. I'd refuse because it is dishonest. It also confuses customers when the package may say "attempted" when tracked and the customer knows full well that an attempt wasn't made.
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Jay, I don't know what happened to your package. It would be odd for a package from TX bound for GA to wind up in OH once already being in GA. My guess is that it was somehow missorted and put on a truck or plane to OH. As long as it was addressed properly there is a very good chance it will soon make it back to GA and be delivered to you. While I can't guarantee this, it would take multiple sorting and delivery errors for you not to receive your package. There will be a delay of at least a day or two until you finally receive the package (assuming that you do receive it).
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