Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

I am working as mailman 3 months now i feel that when regular mailman given tough time or in their absence they look for CCA to help them, they send them 3 or 4 different locations to complete with time frame but i think time is not real

Asked by eric almost 10 years ago

Eric, I do understand what you mean. It's like they look to the CCA to clean up the table scraps when a regular is out on sick or annual leave or can't finish their route. This is the nature of being a CCA. It's important to be flexible in your availability and willingness to go help other letter carriers. With regard to the time frame to complete 3 or 4 different pieces, it's important to not get too caught up with how long they say it should take. As long as you are going at a reasonable pace and not wasting time by using your cell phone or talking too long too customers, the management can't do much too you. It sounds like you have passed probation which is good. They also need to take into account that it takes time to travel between the locations you are assigned to go to. If they give you a hard time about how long it takes to complete a section, I would respond that you are doing as best as you can. Please just deliver the mail safely, accurately and be organized.

517 Votes

If you go to deliver mail but see there is a For Sale sign out by the mailbox will you keep the mail or still deliver it to the mailbox?

Asked by G-hoard over 10 years ago

When a house is for sale, I will continue to deliver mail there unless the current owner/occupant has moved out and I don't see a new name on incoming mail. In this case, I mark any incoming "resident" mail as "vacant" and either discard it or return it to the sender depending on the class of mail. Once I see a new name on incoming mail, I commence delivery to that house. I don't know if this is the correct procedure, but it seems to work out fine. Thanks for writing.

515 Votes

lost a certified in outgoing mail, when came back from route will it come in dps or back to post office. could they discipline me or just let it go if the letter turns up

Asked by jvitto48 over 10 years ago

I would hope they let it go, but I can't say for sure what will happen to you. It should come back in the DPS or via your registry clerk. Hopefully it won't just disappear. I haven't heard of anybody being disciplined for this, but I work in a pretty small environment and don't know what happens in other offices. I hope it shows up, works out for you, and learn to be a bit more careful in the future with the accountable mail.

514 Votes

I was also wondering...The flag on my mailbox is broken. Is there another way to let the mailman know that there is outgoing mail? Or should I either buy another flag or put a note saying there's out going mail?

Asked by Izzy about 10 years ago

I don't know the answer to this, but if you bought a replacement flag that is able to go up and down, it would certainly help. As long as I'm stopping at a house to deliver mail and there is outgoing mail which is easily visible I will know to take it with me whether or not a flag is raised. The possible confusion comes on a day where there is no mail to be delivered to your address. In that case a letter carrier may not stop if there is no flag to notify of outgoing mail. Where I deliver mail (Long Island, NY) most addresses receive some type of mail daily (a local flyer or gov't mailing, advertising, etc) so this is rarely a problem. In your part of TX, this may not be the case so I can't really comment on the significance of having an operational flag.

514 Votes

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Are certified letters delivered on Saturdays?

Asked by Baglet over 9 years ago

Yes, certified mail is attempted on Saturday to be delivered. A person must be present to sign for Certified Mail items unless prior written authorization has been given to the Post Office by the intended recipient. Certified Mail is considered accountable mail meaning the letter carriers have to sign that they received the certified mail and then at the end of our shift we must return the attempted certified mail (if nobody was available to accept it at the delivery point) or return proof of delivery (now done electronically) to the registry clerk at the Post Office.

514 Votes

Why would a mailman approach me and ask for my last name, is this normal, then asked if there were any other last names different then mine at my house? They deliver to an address #, correct? So why the nosey mailman with regard to name status?

Asked by DWR over 10 years ago

I don't believe this is as nosy as you think. You are technically correct that we deliver to an address, but sometimes there are names that previously resided at an address who have moved years ago and the mailman may want to have that mail returned to sender "Unable To Forward" because the mail forwarding period has expired. I will do this on occasion but I may not ask directly what a person's surname is. If I see a person at an address and at the same time I see a name on a mailpiece that I'm not familiar with, I may ask the person if the name on the mail is valid to deliver there. It is possible that the mailman just wants to deliver the mail correctly and may not have been nosy, but I can't say for sure. When in doubt as to the proper name at an address, I will often just deliver the mailpiece in question and hope that the residents will advise if it isn't correct. Thanks for your question.

512 Votes

I did a temporary forwarding address online 3 weeks before we left. My neighbor found the postman had taken off my mailbox blocking material & stuffed a whole lot of mail in it. Can my neighbor just put my new address on the mail & redeposit it?

Asked by Phil over 10 years ago

That's good that you have a neighbor looking out for you. I don't know why the letter carrier would do what he did. Is it possible they didn't receive your forwarding order? If you did it online and received a confirmation then they likely got it. Furthermore there should be zero mail in your box if you have a temporary COA in effect and there are no other residents at your house who are receiving mail. It sounds like an oversight or carelessness. To answer your question, I would say no. Mail has to go through our CFS (computer forwarding system...or centralized forwarding system) to be redirected. You aren't allowed to handwrite the new address and then just redeposit it. One suggestion I have is for the neighbor to rubberband your mail and leave it in either your or their mailbox putting a note on top saying "please forward this mail as this addressee has a temporary COA in effect and no mail should be delivered to your permanent address until further notice". I hope that works out for you. Thanks for writing.

512 Votes

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Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I am working as mailman 3 months now i feel that when regular mailman given tough time or in their absence they look for CCA to help them, they send them 3 or 4 different locations to complete with time frame but i think time is not real

If you go to deliver mail but see there is a For Sale sign out by the mailbox will you keep the mail or still deliver it to the mailbox?

lost a certified in outgoing mail, when came back from route will it come in dps or back to post office. could they discipline me or just let it go if the letter turns up

I was also wondering...The flag on my mailbox is broken. Is there another way to let the mailman know that there is outgoing mail? Or should I either buy another flag or put a note saying there's out going mail?

Also on Jobstr...

Are certified letters delivered on Saturdays?

Why would a mailman approach me and ask for my last name, is this normal, then asked if there were any other last names different then mine at my house? They deliver to an address #, correct? So why the nosey mailman with regard to name status?

I did a temporary forwarding address online 3 weeks before we left. My neighbor found the postman had taken off my mailbox blocking material & stuffed a whole lot of mail in it. Can my neighbor just put my new address on the mail & redeposit it?

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I am working as mailman 3 months now i feel that when regular mailman given tough time or in their absence they look for CCA to help them, they send them 3 or 4 different locations to complete with time frame but i think time is not real

If you go to deliver mail but see there is a For Sale sign out by the mailbox will you keep the mail or still deliver it to the mailbox?

lost a certified in outgoing mail, when came back from route will it come in dps or back to post office. could they discipline me or just let it go if the letter turns up

I was also wondering...The flag on my mailbox is broken. Is there another way to let the mailman know that there is outgoing mail? Or should I either buy another flag or put a note saying there's out going mail?

Also on Jobstr...

Are certified letters delivered on Saturdays?

Why would a mailman approach me and ask for my last name, is this normal, then asked if there were any other last names different then mine at my house? They deliver to an address #, correct? So why the nosey mailman with regard to name status?

I did a temporary forwarding address online 3 weeks before we left. My neighbor found the postman had taken off my mailbox blocking material & stuffed a whole lot of mail in it. Can my neighbor just put my new address on the mail & redeposit it?

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