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 don't know what the answer is to your question with respect to legality. Do you even know if the item was delivered by the USPS? There are several companies thar deliver Amazon packages in the area where I work. The new owner would make things a lot easier if they directly gave you the items. If the items are given back to the mail person, the packages may be sent back to Amazon or forwarded to your new address (possibly postage due). I am not sure what the USPS would do with it because consistency within our organization is poor in my opinion. I'm not sure who you could get involved with this to resolve this situation.
It is fine to ask the letter carrier not to walk through the flower beds and then track mud onto your porch. I'll admit I'm not the most considerate person sometimes when walking across lawns and through flowerbeds. I certainly don't want to crush the flowers. Ultimately it's your property and you can request anything you'd like as to how the carrier approaches the mailbox. It's possible that even if your regular carrier adheres to your request any replacement letter carrier my not adhere to your request if they aren't notified by your regular carrier via a "carrier" alert card. Any reasonable letter carrier should understand and adhere to your request.
I'm not sure why the letter carrier would do that without some type of notification that you and your mother don't live there anymore. I don't think the letter carrier should have done that. I guess you could write a note next to the other note with you and your mother's name as well. If that doesn't work, you could also contact the postmaster or delivery supervisor and explain that you still live there. I hope that helps because we shouldn't be deciding whether or not someone lives at a certain address or not. In truth, somebody doesn't have to live at an address there just to have mail accepted there.
I probably won't be able to assist you with your specific situation but can't give my opinion. I personally think it's not true and the letter carrier is being a bit difficult. It can be annoying to a letter carrier to be interrupted when distributing mail to the cluster boxes but I suppose there are worse things to worry about. I only deliver mail to a cluster box community on occasion and if someone came up to me I'd use my judgment and likely give them their mail. It's a gated community and know of no mail theft issues whatsoever. In your case you even come with a key so it's clear that you are the resident for a particular mailbox and he shouldn't worrry about you taking from another mailbox. Please keep in mind that this is only opinion and it's not something I go through on a daily basis. In the office where I work, we have received no instructions that I can recall about allowing customers to retrieve mail from their cluster box while the letter carrier is servicing them. Letter carriers are tasked with keeping the mail secure but I think with any level of reasonableness they can do that especially with peole they may know personally. Thanks for your question though I don't know if you'll make any headway with your particular new letter carrier.
Meter Maid
School Bus Driver
Starbucks Barista
I've never had this situation happen. It's rare for someone to get angry about their mail on the route where I deliver. If I can easily accommodate them and give them their check I would. Where I deliver the mail so few people receive checks on any regular basis. If the situation occurred, I would just remain calm and explain that I can't give them their mail now and when I get to their house or address, I'll gladly give them their mail. The key is to never escalate a situation. Thanks for your question.
It depends on what other job/career options you may have and how they compare with the USPS. I have somewhat of a bias because I enjoy working here and it has been a great career. I do realize, however, that being a CCA isn't easy and it's a non-career position and only pays moderately to begin (currently $16.06/hr). Regarding the USPS financial situation, I don't think that should impact your choice. The USPS isn't going away anytime soon. While I'm sure it's losing plenty of $$ often there is still as much work as I can remember. There will likely be changes that happen years from now but I don't know what they'd look like. I've never seen a layoff or RIF since I've been employed by the USPS. Good luck to you Jerz whichever job/career path you choose.
I don't know much about the DDC. If I took it at the USPS, I don't remember. There could be a quiz but it's probably not too difficult especially if you've taken a DDC before outside the USPS. Important things are to always wear a seatbelt, don't drive distracted, keep a safe following distance, only back up when necessary, and always turn off the vehicle when getting out of it. I'd imagine there would be some videos. There is an entire procedure to follow each time you leave the USPS delivery vehicle which should be taught to you eventually. It is vital to follow that for safety reasons and stopping preventable accidents. Good luck!
-OR-
(max 20 characters - letters, numbers, and underscores only. Note that your username is private, and you have the option to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
(A valid e-mail address is required. Your e-mail will not be shared with anyone.)
(min 5 characters)
By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to Jobstr.com’s Terms and Privacy Policy.
-OR-
(Don't worry: you'll be able to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)