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 can be done regarding this very important letter which was returned in error by your letter carrier. You can mention it to him or call the PO and speak with a delivery supervisor or Postmaster so that it doesn't happen again. I am sorry for the inconvenience and expense caused by this mistake.
I can't quote you the regulations, but as long as the box is accessible to the letter carrier without a hazard that is usually sufficient for attaching a box to your house.
If there is a forwarding request on file for a certain name at a certain address, it is possible that the letter would be automatically forwarded to the new addrEss. We have an automated system that does this. The problem is that it doesn't catch every forwardable letter. it is possible that the letter gets accidentally delivered to the old address. One option is to write the letter to the old address and write "please forward" somewhere on the envelope. That may alert the carrier that the letter needs to be forwarded.
Jordan, first of all, thank you for writing in to this Q and A board. I don't know the rules as far as sending back mail because you haven't emptied your box for a week or two and your box is not full. If I were the letter carrier, I would just continue to deliver mail until the box is full and then probably return any future mail endorsed "box full" to the senders (or discard the mail if it is unendorsed Standard Class mail.) I don't recall ever coming across this situation in my postal career, but if it came about I'd probably ask my supervisor for direction. It is not in my nature to leave any notes (esp. threatening ones) for the most part.
iPhone & iPad Technician
Auto Mechanic
Correctional Officer
So you didn't put your street address in there at all? If you only have city state and zip, I'd recommend contacting the PO somehow and explaining what happened. Hopefully they won't have sent it back for insufficient address.
I believe that this was acceptable but am not familiar with the rural carrier vehicle regulations. The USPS would likely not let this carrier deliver the mail from that vehicle if it wasn't approved. They can see what vehicle is being used when she leaves the Post Office and returns from her route. The rural carriers in the office where I work also used to use their own vehicles but I don't remember whether or not they were right hand drive (modified for mail delivery) vehicles. In the past few years they have been given LLVs (USPS-owned vehicles) to deliver their routes and don't have the option of using their own vehicle to deliver the mail. Thanks for writing.
I must admit that does sound a bit early that the mailman arrives before 9AM daily. The more common comment is that mail deliver is later in the day that people would like. We generally have no control over the order that we deliver our mail routes. The routes are set up in a certain order of delivery and mailman are usually under a time pressure to deliver their routes and be finished in a prescribed amount of time. I believe your best remedy is to go to a mailbox (formally known as collection boxes) before the pickup time printed on the label inside the lid to ensure your outgoing mail will be processed that day. Thanks for writing.
-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.)