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.
I am not sure there is a way to verify they were actually delivered by the PO. In general, an EDDM should only sit for a few days at most from what I've seen at the PO where I work. I don't know if there is a specific time frame that they must be delivered after being received by the delivery PO. If you called the destination POs, I don't think there is much hope that whoever you speak to could verify if they were delivered or not. There is a good chance they wouldn't even remember it. Basically all I can say is that they should've been delivered, but can't recommend a way to verify that your EDDM postcards were delivered. EDDM stands for Every Door Direct Mail.
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I don't know anything about Federal Law when it comes to this subject. I'd suggest that the letter carriers may not want you that close to them while they are sorting the mail because you might be able to view what mail other residents are getting which might violate some privacy rules. I've never heard of what the MHP mgr is claiming to be true. Also, I don't see why you couldn't access your mailbox once the letter carrier has locked your section and moved on to an adjacent section of centralized boxes. When I deliver to a centralized box unit, it can be a little annoying when residents come out to chat and want their mail, but I don't experience that behavior often. If I do, I'm generally pleasant with them, give them their mail if they request it (since I don't work in an area where mail theft is not common whatsoever) and move on. I should also clarify I don't regularly deliver to centralized boxes and it's only when I fill in on another route than my own do I do that. Mail is becoming less and less important to most people that some residents don't even collect their mail for days at a time. It sounds like someone is making up a story to exercise some authority that they don't have. I don't like to hear that at all.
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Jessica, yes I have a very dry sense of humor and since you don’t know me it’s important I put LOL. If I didn’t you may have been a bit taken aback by the comment. Either of the reasons given by the fill-in guy could be valid but you think it may be another reason. I think eventually that you will find out by whether or not he starts delivering to your house again. Sometimes if we have too much to deliver, the supervisor will take away part of our route and give it to a substitute letter carrier or for another regular carrier as overtime.
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I can answer your question in two parts. The first question you have is about whether or not mail can be forwarded to an address out of state even if the person isn't living in a residence in that state. Mail can be forwarded anywhere that the USPS delivers to as long as there is a proper change of addresss authorization/request submitted to the USPS. The easiest way to do this is at USPS.com .
As far as affecting and medical benefits and tax issues, I'm not qualified to give you an official answer. It probably depends on the source of the medical benefits. Some state public health assistance programs like Medicaid may require the recipient to live in that state. It doesn't necessarily mean their mail can't go somewhere else. I don't know about tax issues either. It shouldn't matter when filing a federal tax return, but I'm not sure about different state tax laws. There are probably 50 different answers to that.
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Not often. I deliver the same route each day, so I pretty much know when residents move in or out. I deliver mail in an upper middle class community and there aren't many rentals and most houses are occupied. If mail begins to accumulate for awhile and I don't see any activity at the house and the grounds start to look more unkempt I may suspect a house is vacant. When most people move, they submit a change of address/forwarding order. This also gives me an indication that if I don't see a new residents name that the house could be vacant. At present, about 1% of the houses on my route are considered vacant and don't receive mail delivery. I'm sure in many other communities that aren't as well off economically there could be more vacant homes.
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I'm not sure if you will like the job as a letter carrier because each person is different. There are few important things about it to know when you start out as a CCA (city carrier assistant). They include being very flexible in your schedule, being assigned different routes daily depending on staffing needs, and possibly working on Sundays and Holidays. It can be a physically demanding job and you want to be prepared for all different weather extremes depending on where you live. I enjoy the job because I'm not in an office and I can be very organized and am providing quality service to whomever I deliver mail. I recommend doing a little research on websites like postalmag.com or postalnews.com to learn of the latest issues. The USPS plans to hire tens of thousands of people in 2016, but part of the reason is that the attrition rate is high. In a recent article I read, 54.4% of CCAs didn't stay on the job for more than one year. I find the job fun, but it's been many years since I've been in a position of a different assignment each day or every few days. I do see the job as a challenge for new hires. I wish you well if you decide to become a letter carrier. Work accurately and safely, and try not to let any office negativity get to you.
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Sure you can. I don't see any reason why you couldn't do this. It's important to clearly write the letter carrier's name or "mailman" or something that makes it known it is for them. Postage shouldn't be necessary. I sometimes get notes asking me to hold the mail for them if they are on vacation and going away. This is a free service which is offered.
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