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.
SB, I don't know about the procedure in a condo complex as to how to deliver an international express package has to be delivered. Anything that needs a signature and would require to me ring a bell in a gated community would result in me going to their door and wouldn't be picky about whether I go to their door (once allowed through the gate) or they come to the gate. I have never worked in an environment like that. If I do deliver to cluster boxes and an item needs a signature I'd knock on the door of the addressee's unit to get the signature. Again, I don't know of any specific regulations on how the delivery should be attempted, but I tend to side on the addressee getting the best service possible (within reason, which is certainly open to interpretation). Thanks for writing.
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Linda, generally if a letter carrier sees a new name at an address he will deliver the mail without any notifcation from the new resident. This is especially true if the letter carrier knows that a previous owner or tenant has moved out. If you are moving in with someone, the letter carrier also should be delivering the mail anyway. Sometimes if I see a new name at an address and I'm not sure if it is correct I will put a question mark next to the name on the envelope and deliver the mail. If I don't get the mail returned with a message on it saying "person doesn't live here", then I will know that the new name at that address is valid. That being said, it wouldn't hurt to leave a notice by your mailbox or to tell the letter carrier that your name is valid at the new address. I don't think it is necessary, but I know I would never mind getting a personal confirmation of a new resident having moved in somewhere. Thanks so much for writing.
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I presume there are days when you receive no mail and therefore the letter carrier doesn't even stop at your house and wouldn't see your outgoing mail. If you had incoming mail, please make sure your outgoing mail is visible and then should be taken. On days where you have no incoming mail and no flag to alert the letter carrier that you have outgoing mail, I'm not sure how to let them know to stop and pickup your letters. I suggest making the mail visible from a distance (like possibly sticking out of the mailbox) so when they walk/drive by your house it can be spotted and picked up. To be honest though, some letter carriers may not even look at the mailbox if there is nothing to deliver to a certain address. I'm not saying this is correct, but I don't want to speak for fellow letter carriers who vary widely in their quality of work. Thank you for writing.
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I don't know Ke. I once wore a pedometer to record my steps but have since forgotten the results. I know that my vehicle odometer to/from the PO plus delivering the route is about 9 miles per day. On part of my route I have dismount deliveries where you deliver a few houses at a time, return to the truck, move it forward to another set of houses and deliver those and so on. Other parts are "park and loop" deliveries which is where most of the walking occurs wearing a sometimes heavy mail satchel. I don't know about other routes, but I'm guessing I walk maybe 5 miles total. There are probably is a way to estimate by taking the number of deliveries I have and multiply by the distance I think there is between each house. Very rough estimate of 350 houses times 50 ft equals 3.31 miles. I hope this helps, but keep in mind that the route size, delivery method, and layout vary greatly.
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Youre welcome. I try to give put proper information and not make up something if I don't know the answer (which I have learned on this website is actually many things.) The TV preachers don't get free postage at all, nor does any non-profit organization. These charities or organized religions register with the IRS as non-profits and then can mail with the USPS at a reduced rate. These mailings have to be prepared in a certain way and be in a certain quantity. Also, these mailings aren't given any preferential treatment as a first-class letter or magazine would be given. It is true that many non-profits (including the TV preachers you speak of) are known to make plent if money, have high cost structures and pay plenty of money to those at the top. The USPS doesn't judge that when issuing a non-profit mailing permit. They just look for the proper paperwork to be a non-profit and also make sure the mailings are prepared accordingly. Thank you for that thought-provoking question.
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Hello Joy. The area where you took the photo is probably serviced by a rural carrier or HCR (highway contract routr). These positions are different than the one I am employed as even though we all serve the same function. It makes sense to me that the barrel would be used for packages because I don't think carriers are required to deliver mail to a house that is more than a certain amt of feet from the road. The barrel is a convenient way for the customer to receive packages without having to drive to a post office which is many mlies away and has limited hours. It would also protect the package from damage in inclement weather. I can't confirm this is what the barrel is for.
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Marhsall, thanks for writing to this Q and A message board. In an apt. building, it is possible the mailman doesn't see the mail left in the mailbox to return because they may assume it is just tenant mail from a previous day not yet picked up by the resident. If you are putting back in the mailbox to be returned to sender, it should be marked accordingly (like "refused" or "person doesn't live here"). Is it possible for you to leave it outside the cluster of mailboxes to be returned? This way they will see it as a piece of mail that was incorrectly delivered or being refused. It is common for residents not to collect their mail each day which is why a mailman my not look at any mail that is remaining in a mailbox when they come to deliver a subsuquent days mail.
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