Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

I buy and sell tickets for a living. If I had tickets shipped to several of my neighbors in random people's names would you be able to retrieve them for me if I gave you advance warning of their delivery or is that illegal?

Asked by mandm about 11 years ago

I am not sure of the legality of this, but I know I would never get involved in such a situation. I wouldn't get mail from one address and give the mail to another person especially if it had a random name. It all sounds too fishy to me. When I'm delivering the mail if I see a name that I'm familiar with but the address is not right I will sometimes deliver it to the correct address. An example that I see but am not comfortable with is one customer gets what looks like beer purchase rebate checks sent to his neighbor's house with a slightly altered last name. If I recognize this mail I will deliver to the person whose name is on the envelope. The customer has never approached me to do this and I would never have any apologies if the rebate check was delivered as addressed (to a neighbor) and disappeared. Again, it's something I would never want to be involved with because it sounds fishy and if I am not working I can't control what happens to an intentionallay misaddrressed or misnamed piece of mail. If you work something out with your neighbor that's another story which I don't need to know about. Thanks for writing.

610 Votes

Just a question. I send out postcards every other week on Friday do most postcard going to differents states typically arive on Monday? And does using a 9 digit zip code speed up the process?

Asked by Andrew almost 11 years ago

If you mail out the postcards on Friday, they will generally arrive Monday or Tuesday depending on how far away the destination is from you. The USPS has been talking about a change in what is called their EXFC standards so First Class Mail that used to take 1-3 days may now take 2-4 days. I'm not sure if this is in effect or not. With regards to using the 9-digit ZIP code I don't believe it speeds up the process. If your postcards have printed addresses on them, our OCR (Optical Character Reader) probably would have no problem reading the address, spraying a bar code on the envelope and sending it on its way expeditiously. Most addressing software programs now produce an address with a 9-digit ZIP and standardized address. If you look at a lot of the mail you receive, it likely has the 9-digit ZIP code on it. We call it ZIP + 4, but it's the same thing. This codes the destination address down to a pretty small group of addresses within a ZIP code. I believe in some cases PO Boxes each have their own specific ZIP + 4. Thank you for your question.

609 Votes

Has the mail already been delivered on Stonesboro Rd Ft Washington Maryland today 4/8/2016

Asked by Sophia Woodland almost 10 years ago

As I'm writing this reply on April 12, I'm pretty sure that the mail has been delivered on stonesboro rd in ft Washington, MD by now for April 8. ???? This q and a isn't for USPS customer service or any real-time questions. I mostly answer questions about being a letter carrier and possibly make suggestions if someone has a customer service problem that doesn't need immediate attention. With regards to your question, I think that only your local PO would know when and if mail was delivered to your street.

607 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 over 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.

605 Votes

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What would happen If a package (that was ordered in the month of November, Delivery was in the month of December) was delivered to an old address. Though you moved to a new place? What would I need to do?

Asked by Brandon about 11 years ago

I don't know that you would actually get the package that was delivered to your old address. Once it is delivered there, it'd probably be up to the recipients to return it to the USPS saying you no longer live there. If you put in a forwarding request for mail to go from your old address to your new address the package should have been forwarded as well. I would contact the sender and ask if you could get a replacement item because the first order went to your old address. I am not sure that you would get a replacement because the item was shipped to the address you gave them.

605 Votes

It I Leave A Polymailer Bag Inside My Mailbox Will The Mailman Get It ?

Asked by Evette Ponce almost 11 years ago

I am not exactly sure what a polymailer is but as long as there is postage affixed or prepaid postage printed off the internet or a prepaid return shipping label the letter carrier should take it. We do this all the time with home-based business that sell on eBay, etsy, etc. Please just make sure the item to be mailed is visible to the letter carrier.

604 Votes

My stupid roomate keeps yelling at me when the mailman hands me the mail while i am outside and so they dont pick up outgoing mail. He says it is illegal, is it? Is there anywhere to.find this information so he will shut up! We love our postman!

Asked by Kelsey over 10 years ago

I think it's fine for the letter carrier to hand you the mail outside, but I also think it's a good idea for the letter carrier to inquire if there may be any outgoing mail. The mail should also be visible in the mailbox so the letter carrier can see that there is outgoing mail. I've never been told it's illegal to hand someone the mail especially if they are personally known to the letter carrier. If it were illegal, I'd hope that our mgmt or training manuals (which I've almost never seen) would address that question.

604 Votes

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Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I buy and sell tickets for a living. If I had tickets shipped to several of my neighbors in random people's names would you be able to retrieve them for me if I gave you advance warning of their delivery or is that illegal?

Just a question. I send out postcards every other week on Friday do most postcard going to differents states typically arive on Monday? And does using a 9 digit zip code speed up the process?

Has the mail already been delivered on Stonesboro Rd Ft Washington Maryland today 4/8/2016

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...

What would happen If a package (that was ordered in the month of November, Delivery was in the month of December) was delivered to an old address. Though you moved to a new place? What would I need to do?

It I Leave A Polymailer Bag Inside My Mailbox Will The Mailman Get It ?

My stupid roomate keeps yelling at me when the mailman hands me the mail while i am outside and so they dont pick up outgoing mail. He says it is illegal, is it? Is there anywhere to.find this information so he will shut up! We love our postman!

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I buy and sell tickets for a living. If I had tickets shipped to several of my neighbors in random people's names would you be able to retrieve them for me if I gave you advance warning of their delivery or is that illegal?

Just a question. I send out postcards every other week on Friday do most postcard going to differents states typically arive on Monday? And does using a 9 digit zip code speed up the process?

Has the mail already been delivered on Stonesboro Rd Ft Washington Maryland today 4/8/2016

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...

What would happen If a package (that was ordered in the month of November, Delivery was in the month of December) was delivered to an old address. Though you moved to a new place? What would I need to do?

It I Leave A Polymailer Bag Inside My Mailbox Will The Mailman Get It ?

My stupid roomate keeps yelling at me when the mailman hands me the mail while i am outside and so they dont pick up outgoing mail. He says it is illegal, is it? Is there anywhere to.find this information so he will shut up! We love our postman!

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