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.
Kate, it does seem odd that you have received no mail for an entire week if you normally get at least some mail every few days. Have you asked any of the other residents in your apt complex if they have received mail in the past week? If they have received mail in the last week then it’s possible that there was none for you. It’s also concerning that the outgoing mail hasn’t been picked up. It is important that we pick up outgoing mail as long as it is visible to the letter carrier and contains proper postage. I would contact the city USPS and ask a delivery supervisor about the questions you have raised. In some areas, the USPS is experiencing significant staffing shortages which could result in erratic mail delivery.
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Irrelevant comment/question.
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I have come across the same situation while delivering mail and getting a sampling request for an address that is either on Hold or Vacant. I don’t know what the proper procedure is and the management in my office has never addressed this as far as I know. I also don’t know if anybody has asked about it. If I were in that situation, This is how I answer: Yes, the address is on my route. When it asks me to scan the flats/letters, I just hit enter and “No more to Scan”. To repeat, I can’t say this is the correct procedure, but this is what I do in that situation. Thanks for your question.
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Yes. I’ve never had an issue using the restroom at any business that I deliver mail to if I have to use their facilities. I work near a gas station and public library so those are my “go to” spots. Furthermore, there are sometimes construction sites on the postal route and I may use their portable toilet if necessary. As inappropriate as it may sound, if I’m in a rural area and there are no restrooms nearby I may just urinate (discreetly) in a wooded area. It would be embarrassing if I ever was caught but so far it’s not been an issue.
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I’d recommend against doing this because Priority Mail Express Envelopes are specifically to be used for that purpose only. I don’t know the the ru!es for sure. Some postal employees, myself included, are sometimes sticklers for the correct postage being applied to go along with the type of packaging used. The supplies are provided free of charge with the condition that a certain class of mail is required to use the free packaging. While I can’t say your proposal to put a sharpie marker through the “express” markings wouldn’t serve your intended purpose, I’d recommend playing it safe and not doing that. Thank you for your question.
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Henry, I can’t actually picture what that truck looks like and I don’t know what it is used for. If I had to guess it may have been some type of maintenance vehicle that the USPS used for building or vehicle maintenance. It doesn’t seem to be any type of delivery vehicle that I am familiar with. If you want to do some more research, there is a Smithsonian National Postal Museum and maybe their research or archivist staff would know more about it. They possibly charge a fee for doing research but I can’t be sure. Their website is postalmuseum.si.edu
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I have yet to see that happen, though I wish the quality of service was focused on. If a customer were to complain about chronic misdeliveries, a supervisor will likely mention it to the letter carrier and ask them to be more careful. If the problem persisted, the supervisor may ask to verify the mail each day for the customer who complained about misdeliveries
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