Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

If I give a letter to the mail man will he accept it, and will the letter go the next day or I have to Waite days? I need a letter to go to Scranton Pa from Cleveland Oh

Asked by Vanessa about 11 years ago

Generally we will accept any letter as long as there is proper postage affixed to it. That letter would be dispatched to a regional mail processing center on the same day we accept it. A letter from Scranton, PA to Cleveland, OH would probably take 2-3 days to reach its destination. Earlier this year I think that our first-class mail delivery standards was slowed down by one day. A letter that would usually be delivered overnight now would take 2 days for delivery and so on. Thank you for your question.

947 Votes

I just moved from my Mother's house. Last Sunday she left a bag with my mail, including a paycheck, and a banana bread in her mailbox. I was sick that day and didn't pick it up. When I saw her this weekend we figured out that P.O took my stuff .
WTF?

Asked by Hungry For Bread almost 12 years ago

Not to make light of your question, but I like your handle "Hungry For Bread". I don't know why the USPS (or more specifically an employee thereof) would take a bag that was obviously not outgoing mail. Technically, the mailbox isn't to be used as a place to leave and pick-up non-US Mail items. From my experience, however, I rarely hear of letter carriers taking non-US Mail items out of a mailbox unless they were circulars/ads placed in mailboxes without postage being paid. You could call the PO where your mother lived and ask them about the missing bag of bread and mail, but I doubt they would know anything about it or admit to it. How do you know that the PO took your stuff and not somebody else? Nobody else should be going into your mailbox to take anything. I am glad you wrote in, but I'd appreciate that you leave the implied profanity out of your question (referring to WTF) for any future inquiries. I don't feel it is appropriate for this message board but acknowledge it is used much more commonly these days than when I was younger.

947 Votes

there is a blue usps collection box in the parking lot of a group of stores. when the stores are closed security people order you off the premises. is there a regulation requiring boxes to be fully accessible by the public 24/7?

Asked by stephen allen almost 12 years ago

There is no regulation that I'm aware of that requires the collection box to be accessible 24/7. I know that in the town where I work some office buildings have collection slots in their lobby and I think an access card is required to enter the building during "off" hours. The mail collection slots serve the same purpose as the blue collection boxes meaning mail is picked up from those boxes/mail slots on a regular schedule.

947 Votes

If I leave an outgoing 1st class letter/envelope in my mailbox is the carrier obligated to take it? My old mail carrier always took it but my new carrier is saying I should schedule it. You can't schedule 1st class mail as best I can tell.

Asked by Cathy about 12 years ago

As far as I know, if a first class envelope is left out for mailing and has sufficient postage on it, it should be taken when the carrier is doing their regular delivery. I am not sure what they mean by scheduling it. That is definitely done for parcels so the USPS knows whether or not to bring a postal vehicle (in case the carrier only delivers via foot.) I hope your new carrier is not just being lazy. I'm sure you have already done this, but please make sure that the outgoing letter(s) are obviously visible to the letter carrier to take. Thanks for writing.

946 Votes

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Where do you put someones mail if you cant put it in their mailbox? (Or gain access to an apartment building)

Asked by Alpha almost 12 years ago

If I can find a safe place nearby like near a garage door or by the front door of the house I would rubber band the mail and put it there. If it is mail addressed to an apt building and I can't gain access I would likely bring it back to the Post Office, notify a supervisor, and likely attempt delivery the next day. Fortunately, this doesn't happen very often on the route where I deliver the mail. It is inconvenient to have to bring the mail back to the PO and try again the next day.

946 Votes

I have been having problems with my postman for a year. He has peppered my dogs and I have complained numerous times what do i do now? Also he has put a fake notice to "tether my dogs." It has no official seal and the envelope is a blank oneisitreal?

Asked by Alex about 12 years ago

I am not sure why a postman would be spraying/peppering dogs without actually feeling or being threatened by dogs. We are told to just skip any residence that has loose dogs and notify the supervisor upon return to the PO as to why you didn't deliver the mail. It isn't uncommon for a postman to leave a note for a patron to contain the dogs or "fix your mailbox", etc. We do have more official notices that we can use to ask residents to rectify a situation which is preventing mail delivery, but I'm not sure how frequently they are used. The management in our office isnt terribly communicative with us about this, but I can't tell you what it is like at other Post Offices.

946 Votes

I received a very important & personal letter. Our mail carrier, whom we have not yet met, left a congratulatory note. That was kind, but she wrote it in red ink directly on the envelope! I was surprised. Does the USPS employee handbook allow that?

Asked by Dalgety about 12 years ago

Another good question on this message board that I dont know the answer to. We rarely ever look at or are directed to a USPS employee handbook. I am sure it exists but don't know where it is at my PO. I am pretty sure my supervisor would have it at their desk or know where to find it. As far as writing a personal note directly on a letter, I would suggest that it not be done, but I can't say that it is against the rules. In general I don't think we should be making any comments or judgments about the mail that somebody receives. I'm not saying we don't talk about it internally but I wouldn't comment (in person or in writing) to the mail recipient or anybody else in public. That would be completely inappropriate. Please notice I don't use the word "illegal" here as I am not versed in the legality or disciplinary actions that are in play here, if any. The only time I would write directly on the mail is if I'm not familiar with the name of the recipient on a piece of mail that differs from the current residents that I know live at a particular address. In this case, I put a "?" next to the addressees name and deliver the letter. By doing this, the current residents can accept the letter or realize I wasn't sure if it was delivered correctly and leave it out for me the next day to return to the sender as "Attempted, Not Known." Thanks for writing.

945 Votes

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Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

If I give a letter to the mail man will he accept it, and will the letter go the next day or I have to Waite days? I need a letter to go to Scranton Pa from Cleveland Oh

I just moved from my Mother's house. Last Sunday she left a bag with my mail, including a paycheck, and a banana bread in her mailbox. I was sick that day and didn't pick it up. When I saw her this weekend we figured out that P.O took my stuff .
WTF?

there is a blue usps collection box in the parking lot of a group of stores. when the stores are closed security people order you off the premises. is there a regulation requiring boxes to be fully accessible by the public 24/7?

If I leave an outgoing 1st class letter/envelope in my mailbox is the carrier obligated to take it? My old mail carrier always took it but my new carrier is saying I should schedule it. You can't schedule 1st class mail as best I can tell.

Also on Jobstr...

Where do you put someones mail if you cant put it in their mailbox? (Or gain access to an apartment building)

I have been having problems with my postman for a year. He has peppered my dogs and I have complained numerous times what do i do now? Also he has put a fake notice to "tether my dogs." It has no official seal and the envelope is a blank oneisitreal?

I received a very important & personal letter. Our mail carrier, whom we have not yet met, left a congratulatory note. That was kind, but she wrote it in red ink directly on the envelope! I was surprised. Does the USPS employee handbook allow that?

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

If I give a letter to the mail man will he accept it, and will the letter go the next day or I have to Waite days? I need a letter to go to Scranton Pa from Cleveland Oh

I just moved from my Mother's house. Last Sunday she left a bag with my mail, including a paycheck, and a banana bread in her mailbox. I was sick that day and didn't pick it up. When I saw her this weekend we figured out that P.O took my stuff .WTF?

there is a blue usps collection box in the parking lot of a group of stores. when the stores are closed security people order you off the premises. is there a regulation requiring boxes to be fully accessible by the public 24/7?

If I leave an outgoing 1st class letter/envelope in my mailbox is the carrier obligated to take it? My old mail carrier always took it but my new carrier is saying I should schedule it. You can't schedule 1st class mail as best I can tell.

Also on Jobstr...

Where do you put someones mail if you cant put it in their mailbox? (Or gain access to an apartment building)

I have been having problems with my postman for a year. He has peppered my dogs and I have complained numerous times what do i do now? Also he has put a fake notice to "tether my dogs." It has no official seal and the envelope is a blank oneisitreal?

I received a very important & personal letter. Our mail carrier, whom we have not yet met, left a congratulatory note. That was kind, but she wrote it in red ink directly on the envelope! I was surprised. Does the USPS employee handbook allow that?

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I just moved from my Mother's house. Last Sunday she left a bag with my mail, including a paycheck, and a banana bread in her mailbox. I was sick that day and didn't pick it up. When I saw her this weekend we figured out that P.O took my stuff .
WTF?