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.
Hello David, it is unfortunate that your mailbox was broken by your mailman. I don't know the claims process for reimbursment for broken mailboxes. There must be a claim process in general for property damage caused by a USPS employee. I'd recommend contacting your local post office and speaking with a delivery supervisor and/or Postmaster to file a complaint. Hopefully they can point you in the right direction in the process of making such a claim. If not I would try and go up the chain of administration at the USPS which would be the district or area office which oversees your local post office. Good luck to you. Had you told the mailman in the past not to open the mailbox forefully or to not let it slam down. I come across broken mailboxes often. Most customers leave them damaged, but some will buy new ones or have them fixed. I've not heard of a mailman breaking one except running a curbside delivery box over with ther LLV (Long Life Vehicle). Thanks for writing and good luck in your claim. I hope it can be resolved to your satisfaction.
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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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I would say that the letter carrier shouldn't enter the fenced in zone to deliver the mail if a dog is present. We often have service talks that are aimed at preventing dog bites. One point that is made is to not go into an area where a dog is loose. To be honest, though, many of us are comfortable around dogs and won't follow that rule all the time. If I encounter what looks like a dog that could cause me harm I avoid that house/area and bring any undelivered mail back to the post office. In my career I don't remember not being able to deliver mail due to a loose dog. The bottom line is that a carrier shouldn't put themselves in a situation where they are at risk for an unwanted encounter with a canine.
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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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I don't know why a letter carrier would approach your house with mail in hand and then decide to not deliver it unless there was some safety issue in completing the delivery. Next time you see the letter carrier you could ask her why she does that or you may call your post office and mention it to the delivery supervisor. It's a problem if there is First Class or Priority Mail which is being curtailed for no apparent reason. Those classes of mail should be delivered the day that they are received at your local post office. As to whether it's a problem or not, part of it is up to you if you if it bothers you that your mail is being delayed for no reason and you'd like to make an issue of it. For some people, especially younger people, the US Mail is really not that important to them so if it comes a few days later than it should it may not make a difference. I'm not trying to say that it's correct/legal for mail to be delayed for no reason. I'm only implying that it's not too important to some recipients when they receive their US Mail.
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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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In my opinion it is fine to leave off the word "APT" at any time as long as you have indicated what the Suite, Apt, Unit, Lot # is along with the proper street address for the property. In your example "SUPT" is sufficient if that is a legitimate apt. designation. I live in an apt. building as well and for my address I usually just put the street address and then "1A" following it on the same line and never had an issue. I am glad you brought up this question because it is difficult and frustrating to try to deliver mail in a multi-unit building without the Unit # also in the address. A carrier who does the route on a regular basis will often memorize who lives in what unit, but a replacement carrier (which is very common) should not be expected to know who lives where and it is very time consuming to have to consult a building directory for the proper unit #.
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