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.
If an item is mailed Express, the carrier at the destination Post Office should make an attempt to deliver the package on the day it is received. I don't think they should be driving by the residence and not attempting to deliver the Express Mail package unless there was some safety concern. As to whether it is legal or not, I have no knowledge on that matter. I wouldn't think it was illegal to catch up to the postal driver to obtain the package as long as you can prove you have a right to the item (it is addressed to you and you have corresponding identification). I'm also not sure how you would know if the carrier actually had the express package in their vehicle, but it wouldn't hurt to ask if you thought they might. Thank you for your questions.
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You're welcome Linda A. I try to respond quickly so I have very few questions pending. I hate to have a backup of email in general. You did a good job by asking the mailman where the bills might be. I can't imagine ever answering "it's coming". There is no doubt that an electric bill is First Class so a mailman generally would have it, deliver it, and that's all. We have no idea what's in the pipeline with regards to First Class mail like Bills, Mortgage Statements, greeting cards, etc. I'm not trying to discourage you from using the USPS, but does your utility offer you electronic delivery of the electric bill. My utility is Con Edison (NY City) and it has probably been 4-5 years at least since I received an electric bill in the US Mail. I get the bill online and have it deducted each month from my checking out. No worries whatsoever. I know that e-payments and finance is not for everybody, but just wanted to throw the idea out there and this doesn't make up for the fact that you didn't get a paper electric bill that you are supposed to. I hope your complaint helps somewhat. If nothing else, it will advise your mailman that you aren't satisfied with his delivery effort and aren't going to sit idly by if he isn't delivering what he's legally supposed to in a timely manner. Thank you so much for writing.
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Gracie, you certainly can ask a letter carrier to do what you have mentioned. I don't know if they all would oblige and I don't know the rules concerning this. I have never had this requested of me, but if I did, I probably would do it because it is such a rare occurrence and wouldn't have any measurable impact on my day with regards to taking longer to deliver the route than normal. During my mail delivery I sometimes look at the outgoing mail and see that there are letters/cards going to addresses which are also on my route. This happens more commonly during the holiday season. I don't, however, segregate that mail out for any special handling. I let it all go to our mail processing plant which will usually run the mail through an automated system which will then put the mail in delivery order for the next day's delivery. This is called DPS (Delivery Point Sequencing) Mail and is fairly accurate in my opinion. Humans make plenty of mistakes and machines make mistakes so I wouldn't disparage the use of DPS machines because they really save on a lot of labor costs in sorting mail. To me it is am amazingly efficient technology when it comes to sorting letter-size mail and flats (magazines and catalogs). Thank you for your inquiry.
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I am not sure how the mail got delivered to your new address unless it was maybe in the same town and somehow the letter carriers coordinated internally to deliver it to the new address, though this is unlikely. Usually, you would need to fill out a change of address card (by mail or online) to have mail from a previous address sent to a new address.
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It isn't very difficult to drive our delivery vehicles with the steering wheel and pedals on the "wrong" side. The delivery vehicle which is commonly used it sometimes referred to as an LLV (Long Life Vehicle). The controls are the same as if you were driving from the normal side of a car (the left side if you are facing forward). If you are in an urban environment, there could be some safety issues each time you have to pull away from a curb and make sure nobody is coming on your side. There are mirrors which provide you with a field of view for safety. In a suburban/rural environment where the LLVs are used more frequently, safety is still a major concern so you must be very careful each time you move your LLV from one delivery spot to the next. Backing up is something that you should try to avoid as much as you can due to the limited visibility behind an LLV. I found it pretty easy to drive once I got used to it. The vehicles just don't handle too well in ice and snow. In dry weather and rain they are fine.
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Kingston, I'm guessing that a couple of methods you have tried is to return any mail with her name on it with the marking "person doesn't live here" or "refused" on it. Another method is to ask your letter carrier to only deliver mail with your name and/or your husband's name on it. Since the ex-wife possibly had the same last name as your husband I can see some of that mail getting through. You could discard the mail but I don't think that will have any effect on stopping the mail since a letter carrier has no idea what is done with the mail once it is delivered. If you talk to a supervisor at the PO and tell them you don't want mail for that name, I'm not sure what their response will be, esp. when last names may be in common. I am sorry that I don't have any better information as this situation isn't one that I recall coming across. Most people just refuse delivery of that mail or probably discard it. Thanks for writing.
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I Dont know why they would ask for an email address. Is there any type of customs declaration form that is filled out when you mail papers to Canada? That form usually includes what is being sent. I don't know that it's obligatory to provide this information. Sometimes USPS will send out surveys or possibly email them to find out about your retail customer experience. If you call the USPS customer service phone number, maybe they could provide more insight. The phone number is 800-275-8777.
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