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.
There is probably danger to any job. I don't feel any danger on my job for personal safety if you are referring to criminal activity. I work in a very safe area in suburban Nassau County, NY. The answer may be different if you delivered mail in an area with a higher crime rate. As far as danger when it comes to being injured, I am a very cautious driver and wouldn't want to have any type of motor vehicle accident. You have to be careful crossing streets and lawns, as well as icy surfaces in the winter. Also, dogs are a concern but if you must skip delivery to a house that has a dog loose you just do it and tell a supevisor when you return to the Post Office. Fortunately, I've not been injured or in a motor vehicle accident during my career. I hope it stays that way.
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Mikas, I think it is very likely you will receive your package as long as the clerks in your PO can figure out which street you meant to put in your address and that it isn't similarly named with another street in the same ZIP code. The ZIP code is definitely a very important piece of the address to get correct because that will result in at least getting the package to the right PO building and the staff there will hopefully (and likely) be able to figure out the intended address.
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I don't know the policy for whether or not to leave a package inside the door or not. I will leave a parcel inside a mailbox if it fits. If it doesn't fit, then I will bring the package to the front door of the house or put it inside a vestibule. I will leave the item if nobody is home and a signature isn't required because I deliver mail in a very safe,suburban NY community. The suggestion that I have in your situation is to call your PO and speak with the delivery supervisor or postmaster to see if an exception can be made for your situation. I dont know what the result will be or what the official policy is.
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Tera, I am sorry but I don't know where the package you sent your boyfriend is, though I think you knew that already. If a letter carrier can't figure out which apt. # a piece of mail should go to, they often will have it returned to sender though I realize you left off your address as well. The package was either delivered to the wrong apt number or sent to an office that handles undeliverable mail. I am not sure where that office is or what happens to items sent there.
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I don't know that the mailbox is technically USPS property. It should only be used for US Mail as far as I know. The mailman probably shouldn't have taken the gift bags if they weren't properly addressed and contatined sufficient postage. Having the flag up does generally signal that somebody has outgoing mail so we know to stop there even if there is no "incoming" mail to that address. I would look at any item that is in a customers mailbox and it is usually quite apparent if it is meant as outgoing mail or not. That being said, I would never recommend that anybody leave anything in a mailbox that isn't associated with US Mail or the USPS. I think in most cases the gift bags would have been left alone in the mailbox, but we have employees among us who aren't that sharp or mayne they were just trying to prove a point that non-mail items should be in the mailbox. I can't comment on why the gift bags disappeared. It is just speculation on my part.
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Sure it's common to run late. It's possible the carrier had another assignment to do before starting their regular route. Also, if staffing is short, a route may be broken up into several sections and a carrier will do that section for overtime which could vary the delivery time greatly. Thanks for the question.
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I dont know if they are officially allowed to do this, but I'd do that if it were a once-in-awhile siituation where access to a door slot or mailbox was blocked. I know I prefer to deliver the mail rather than bring it back to the PO. If a customer wanted to complain that this was being done, they certainly could speak to a delivery supervisor and voice a comment about this. if a mailbox can't be accessed or doesn't exist, a carrier can return the mail to the sender marked NMR which stands for "No Mail Receptacle"
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