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.
Are you referring to having a pen for a signature of accountable mail like a certified or registered item? I would say we are supposed to carry a pen because we sometimes have to leave a notice that we attempted a delivery but were not able to leave the item for whatever reason. With the current mail data collection device items can be signed for directly on an electronic screen with a stylus or fingernail. No pen is required unless the sender has requested a return receipt to be signed. Basically it is good practice to carry a pen at all times while delivering the mail.
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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.
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That is very considerate of you to wonder if we will be annoyed by you receiving so many parcels. Have you worked out with the local USPS if you can pick them up daily? At the office where I work I don't think that would be allowed unless you are a PO Box renter or have made an arrangement that I wouldn't know about. . If packages are addressed to your residence or office they would be delivered since that is our service. I know that I'd never be annoyed if someone received many packages on a regular basis. That's our business. I can't say that other coworkers would be so positive as I am but I wouldn't be concerned. If you use a private mailbox service it is possible that the USPS is still delivering the items to the private mail company known as a CMRA and you'd be picking up your packages there.
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If it was a blank envelope with cash in it, I have no idea how it can be retrieved. I know this doesn't help you, but I'd have just left the item in the box if I saw no postage and no address on it. The letter carrier probably put it in the outgoing mail which is usually sent to a processing facility. There'd be no way to trace it back to your mother's address. To answer your question, I'd surmise that the envelope containing the cash is gone forever.
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Sure, I don't think there are any restrictions on this whatsoever. I have a friend of the family who met his future wife while delivering mail to her. I think it's important to keep it professional while delivering the mail and don't do any special favors or inappropriate while in uniform. I mean having lunch with them would seem fine to me, but don't have them follow you around if you are delivering mail on foot. Romance can bloom anywhere. Two of my former coworkers met while working at the PO and later became married and have a child and work in separate locations.
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I don't think so. The request has never been made of me but generally once mail has been delivered it would seem to be in the possession of the recipient even if they haven't actually retrieved the item from their mailbox. I've also never heard of anybody else having this requested so my advice for the future is be careful what you mail because it is almost definitely a one-way trip.
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It depends on where your letter is being mailed to. I think nationwide most letters reach their destination in 2-3 days, but probably no sooner than that. The mailbox you deposited the letter into said collection is m-f at 5PM. That means that as long as the letter was deposited prior to box posted time, your letter will be dispatched that day for processing and transport. It's possible that the letter was collected before 5PM on Monday but that would be a decision made locally by the post office. If it was collected early someone would still have to go to empty the collection box at or after the posted time.
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