Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

Can I hide a po box from a mailman I know whose route is not in my zip code or neighborhood? Can any mailman look up the address or po box of any person in the city he delivers mail? Are knowing things like this not restricted to people in his route?

Asked by Angie over 9 years ago

I don't know about this. I have never been interested or been asked to find out if a particular person owns a PO Box. I would say that we can't look up in a database to see if a person owns a PO Box.I do have access to the actual PO Boxes where I work and can see from the labels at the clerk side of the PO Box who the current renter of the PO Box is, but don't know of any internal database that I'd have access to. Anybody can go online (general Google search) to search for the address where a person lives and that may yield a result, but it wouldn't likely result in any PO Box info.

424 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 over 9 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.

424 Votes

Two questions!
1. What is the office like on the inside? Who gets an office? How/where do you pick up the mail YOU have to deliver?
2. When delivering packages that need signature, what would happen if the person is not home?
(Thank you! )

Asked by Joseph over 9 years ago

1) The PO that I work in has a lot of space inside. There are high ceilings and the main areas in the back are the carrier section, mail distribution, and parcel distribution. I work in the carrier section mostly. This area has sorting cases where we prepare any mail that has to be manually sorted into delivery order. The cases have individual dividers that hold the mail for one or two addresses. We stand up to work at these cases although a stool is provided should we need it. The mail clerks sort mail into cases based on the address on the mailpiece. The clerks are scheme-trained which means they know which route delivers the mail for that address. The parcels are sorted the same way but it's a large area because we receive so many parcels to deliver. The letter carriers take a hamper on wheels and "sweep" the mail from the clerk distribution case and then bring the mail to our own assigned carrier sorting case and sort the mail there. We mainly organize the parcels as we load our delivery vehicle. The bulk mailing/dispatch clerk has his own office and the postmaster has an office. The registry clerk has an office also because that is where the registered and accountable mail is secured. Besides that everyone else mainly works on an open floor of sorting equipment and desks. The sorting equipment is all manual. Any mail automation is done at a more central processing facility and trucked to our PO.

2) I don't deliver to many packages that need signatures. When I do attempt delivery of such a package and the person isn't home to receive it, I complete.PS Form 3849 and leave it in the customer's mailbox. This notifies them that we have attempted delivery of an item requiring a signature and they may pick it up at the PO or we can redeliver it on a future date. If the form is signed by the recipient, we can generally leave the package without the person being home. I work in a very safe community so it's unlikely a package would go missing due to theft. I think it's more common for us to misdeliver a package than for one to actually get stolen.

I hope this answers both of your questions.

424 Votes

Is there anyway to get a letter carrier removed from my neighborhood. She's afraid of dogs and why she took the job in the first place is beyond me. My screen is secure. Have had 3 dogs over the years and not once did they ever get out.

Asked by Doug over 8 years ago

To be honest with you, I don't know that there is any way to get the letter carrier removed from your neighborhood for the reason given. Has this affected the delivery of mail to your house? If so, I would recommend talking to a delivery supervisor or manager at your local post office. As long as your dogs are secure and the screen won't break and your mailbox isn't too close to the door, the letter carrier should deliver your mail as they would anyone else. I am not sure who has the ultimate authority whether or not it's "safe enough" to make the delivery. The USPS management does take a very proactive stance to stop letter carrier from being bitten by dogs, but we should be delivering the mail unless it is unsafe to do so. I should clarify that the decision might be up to the individual letter carrier whether or not they feel it is safe or not. I am quite afraid of dogs myself but have never not delivered mail due to a dog on the property. They have always been behind a screen or storm door or on a leash where they can't get to me. I know my answer to you is a bit vague, but carrier safety is the number one priority. Having said that there is sometimes a varying opinion on what is safe and what isn't and I'm not sure who gets to make the ultimate decision.

423 Votes

Does your mail still get delivered if the carrier is on vacation?

Asked by Cliff over 8 years ago

Cliff, mail gets delivered if a letter carrier is on vacation. There is usually a replacement letter carrier who will cover the route of the regular letter carrier who is on vacation. If there isn't enough staffing available, the route which the regular carrier is on vacation from my be split between other letter carriers. For this reason your mail should still be delivered but possibly at a very different time than the regular letter carrier does.

423 Votes

Hi, I deliver a route and a half all walking consisting of 15 Loops. First time I was told it is a 4 hours work load then 2 weeks later it became 3 and now it is 2 hours work load all the same walking route. How many hours should it take me ?

Asked by Hot for Mail over 9 years ago

I don't know how long 15 loops should take you. It depends on the amount of houses per loop, the terrain, the spacing of the residences, and the volume of mail. Each letter carrier also works at a different pace. In the office where I work, in one hour we can usually get 4 loops done in one hour if they average 17-22 stops per loop. This is by no means standard and just what I've experienced. I can see it being different where you work. Continue to work safely and accurately. It seems odd that the same amt of loops started out as 4 hrs and decreased to 2 hours. If you feel the time allowed is unreasonable, please speak up if questioned why it took so long. In the example/pace I gave you, 15 loops would take approximately 3.75 hrs. Your mileage may vary.

421 Votes

Can charges be brought against my roommate for intercepting my mail and putting "return to sender" and sending it back?

Asked by BeccaFL over 9 years ago

I don't know about the law with regards to your question. It is certainly wrong for your roommate to be tampering with your mail and marking it "return to sender". I'd suggest asking him/her to stop doing it but it sounds like you don't have a good relationship if they are doing that to your mail. I can't say that this comes under the category of mail theft either. If you brought this question up to your local PO, I have no idea what they'd tell you. I could recommend that you rent a PO Box, but that costs money and isn't too convenient either when compared to home delivery. It's also not fair that you should have to get a PO Box because a roommate is not giving you your mail and sending it back. Another suggestion would be to call the US Postal Inspection Service, but this may not be in their jurisdiction as it's an internal matter in your residence.

420 Votes

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

Can I hide a po box from a mailman I know whose route is not in my zip code or neighborhood? Can any mailman look up the address or po box of any person in the city he delivers mail? Are knowing things like this not restricted to people in his route?

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

Two questions!
1. What is the office like on the inside? Who gets an office? How/where do you pick up the mail YOU have to deliver?
2. When delivering packages that need signature, what would happen if the person is not home?
(Thank you! )

Is there anyway to get a letter carrier removed from my neighborhood. She's afraid of dogs and why she took the job in the first place is beyond me. My screen is secure. Have had 3 dogs over the years and not once did they ever get out.

Also on Jobstr...

Does your mail still get delivered if the carrier is on vacation?

Hi, I deliver a route and a half all walking consisting of 15 Loops. First time I was told it is a 4 hours work load then 2 weeks later it became 3 and now it is 2 hours work load all the same walking route. How many hours should it take me ?

Can charges be brought against my roommate for intercepting my mail and putting "return to sender" and sending it back?

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

Can I hide a po box from a mailman I know whose route is not in my zip code or neighborhood? Can any mailman look up the address or po box of any person in the city he delivers mail? Are knowing things like this not restricted to people in his route?

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

Two questions! 1. What is the office like on the inside? Who gets an office? How/where do you pick up the mail YOU have to deliver?2. When delivering packages that need signature, what would happen if the person is not home?(Thank you! )

Is there anyway to get a letter carrier removed from my neighborhood. She's afraid of dogs and why she took the job in the first place is beyond me. My screen is secure. Have had 3 dogs over the years and not once did they ever get out.

Also on Jobstr...

Does your mail still get delivered if the carrier is on vacation?

Hi, I deliver a route and a half all walking consisting of 15 Loops. First time I was told it is a 4 hours work load then 2 weeks later it became 3 and now it is 2 hours work load all the same walking route. How many hours should it take me ?

Can charges be brought against my roommate for intercepting my mail and putting "return to sender" and sending it back?

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Two questions!
1. What is the office like on the inside? Who gets an office? How/where do you pick up the mail YOU have to deliver?
2. When delivering packages that need signature, what would happen if the person is not home?
(Thank you! )