Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

Hypothetically speaking of course.... Suppose we sent a care package to someone famous at their home address. The package says that it's out for delivery, but the status hasn't been updated for 3 days now. Any guesses?

Asked by mtmom over 10 years ago

There is no need for you to be hypothetical in your question. I'm sure care packages are mailed to famous people all the time. Sometimes they give out their address of their personal representative or agent to maintain privacy of where they actually reside. It does seem strange or incorrect for a package to be out for delivery and no status update for three days. I'd normally say that if a package is out for delivery there should be some follow up status the same day (i.e. Delivered or Attempted). While I can't say for sure what happened to your package, hopefully it was delivered but the letter carrier forgot to scan it accordingly. This would be a mistake on our part. Thank you for your inquiry.

728 Votes

Hello, I just moved into a new house and put "please forward" on a UPS package for the previous owner and dropped it in my mail box. I realized my mistake when the owner called for the package. What will happen to the package?
Thanks!

Asked by lebee over 11 years ago

I am not sure what will happen to the UPS Package. The USPS may forward it if they have the correct forwarding address on file for the the previous owner, but they may not be obligated to. The USPS may also forward the package but have the recipient pay for the item being forwarded. The item may also be returned to UPS or to the sender. I'm sorry I can't be any more specific re: the package you are inquiring about.

728 Votes

I think you misunderstood my question. I meant when the person walks up next to his box when you drive by, do you give him the mail, or do you put it in the box anyway? My carrier won't deliver my mail unless I am well away from my box when he comes.

Asked by bryce over 11 years ago

I deliver the mail via foot and don't drive up to a mailbox as you describe. The town in which I deliver mail does have sections where the letter carriers do drive up to a mailbox and put the mail in. I did this when I was a substitute letter carrier and will do it on occasion if that carrier is out or needs assistance. If the situation you described occurred while I was delivering, I would hand them the mail. I don't know if there is a policy against handing the mail directly to a customer in the environment you described. Some carriers may not want to hand the mail directly to a customer from their postal vehicle for safety reasons.

727 Votes

my husband insists that if a mail carrier is in a truck, they are not allowed to get out of the truck to deliver mail, so if they cant pull right up to the mailbox, they wont deliver the mail, is that true?

Asked by erica about 11 years ago

I don't know this answer for sure, but I do know if a carrier can't pull completely up to a mailbox to effect delivery, he can "flag" the box as non-approachable and bring the mail back to the PO and try again the next day. Most of the time if I couldn't completely get up to a mailbox, I would get out and deliver the mail so as to not have to deal with it the next day. If a mailbox was habitually blocked by a customer then I may suspend delivery to let them know that their box shouldn't be blocked. This has rarely happened in my experience. I'm pretty sure we are allowed to get out of the truck to deliver the mail. I've never been told otherwise.

725 Votes

Also on Jobstr...

Navy Officer (Former)

What's the most dangerous situation you were ever in?

Antiques Dealer

What do real antiques dealers think of the Antiques Roadshow reality show?

Obstetrician Gynecologist

Has being an OBGYN affected your own beliefs about when "life" begins?

Does a package sent in the mail sorted by hand i.e. an odd shaped package not able to be sorted by the sorting machine not recieve regular scans to update tracking? Also would this cause webtracking delivery estimate to display a later delivery date?

Asked by Vanagain over 11 years ago

I have no idea if the hand sorting of odd shaped packages would cause it to not receive the normal scans to update tracking. I would suspsect that as long as the package had a valid bar code which could be scanned along the way that it would be treated just as as other packages. I'm sorry I have no more specific information on the scans of odd shaped items.

725 Votes

For the Q above, if it's already been 6 days, do i still have a chance of retrieving it from them tomorrow? Or would they have thrown it away or returned it by now?

Asked by Sally over 11 years ago

I am not sure if they would still have it after 6 days. Generally, they wouldn't have thrown it out if the item was mailed a certain class and a return endorsement like "return service requested" but there is no way to know how it was mailed. Hopefully it will be returned to sender and if there is a way to contact the sender they could tell you when they received it back. It wouldn't hurt to go to the PO to see if it's there. Has there been any update to the tracking information besides "arrived at your local USPS facility"?

725 Votes

Just got offer for cca position AND just found out my license is suspended, what can i do? been unemployed for a year and really need this position.

Asked by mary over 11 years ago

I am not sure what will happen re :your license being suspended and being offered a CCA Position. How long do you think it will be before you get your license back? I don't believe it is legal to have you driving a USPS vehicle with a suspended driver license.

724 Votes

Showing 463 - 469

Show All

758 More Answers by Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Last 7

64 65 66 67 68 69

...

Next 7 Answers

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

Hypothetically speaking of course.... Suppose we sent a care package to someone famous at their home address. The package says that it's out for delivery, but the status hasn't been updated for 3 days now. Any guesses?

Hello, I just moved into a new house and put "please forward" on a UPS package for the previous owner and dropped it in my mail box. I realized my mistake when the owner called for the package. What will happen to the package?
Thanks!

I think you misunderstood my question. I meant when the person walks up next to his box when you drive by, do you give him the mail, or do you put it in the box anyway? My carrier won't deliver my mail unless I am well away from my box when he comes.

my husband insists that if a mail carrier is in a truck, they are not allowed to get out of the truck to deliver mail, so if they cant pull right up to the mailbox, they wont deliver the mail, is that true?

Also on Jobstr...

Does a package sent in the mail sorted by hand i.e. an odd shaped package not able to be sorted by the sorting machine not recieve regular scans to update tracking? Also would this cause webtracking delivery estimate to display a later delivery date?

For the Q above, if it's already been 6 days, do i still have a chance of retrieving it from them tomorrow? Or would they have thrown it away or returned it by now?

Just got offer for cca position AND just found out my license is suspended, what can i do? been unemployed for a year and really need this position.

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

Hypothetically speaking of course.... Suppose we sent a care package to someone famous at their home address. The package says that it's out for delivery, but the status hasn't been updated for 3 days now. Any guesses?

Hello, I just moved into a new house and put "please forward" on a UPS package for the previous owner and dropped it in my mail box. I realized my mistake when the owner called for the package. What will happen to the package?Thanks!

I think you misunderstood my question. I meant when the person walks up next to his box when you drive by, do you give him the mail, or do you put it in the box anyway? My carrier won't deliver my mail unless I am well away from my box when he comes.

my husband insists that if a mail carrier is in a truck, they are not allowed to get out of the truck to deliver mail, so if they cant pull right up to the mailbox, they wont deliver the mail, is that true?

Also on Jobstr...

Does a package sent in the mail sorted by hand i.e. an odd shaped package not able to be sorted by the sorting machine not recieve regular scans to update tracking? Also would this cause webtracking delivery estimate to display a later delivery date?

For the Q above, if it's already been 6 days, do i still have a chance of retrieving it from them tomorrow? Or would they have thrown it away or returned it by now?

Just got offer for cca position AND just found out my license is suspended, what can i do? been unemployed for a year and really need this position.

Login

Forgot Your Password?

Register

Hello, I just moved into a new house and put "please forward" on a UPS package for the previous owner and dropped it in my mail box. I realized my mistake when the owner called for the package. What will happen to the package?
Thanks!