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.
I'm not sure why a mailman would want to refuse delivery to a rural mailbox if the lid is open. Most of the ones I see just have flip down lids which aren't secure or they have no lids at all and may have broken off over the years. I don't know the exact rules of what condition a rural mailbox must be in to receive mail. I suppose if the carrier felt the mail wasn't secure they could refuse delivery until the condition of the rural mailbox is rectified. I've never refused to deliver mail due to an open mailbox, but then again, I'd rather deliver the mail then have to bring it back to the PO and re-attempt delivery on a subsequent day. Thanks for your question.
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If it is truly a registered letter, a letter carrier will usually not sign for it even if you have given them written authorization because registered mail can sometimes be very valuable and individual custody is tracked along the way. If you mean a certified letter (which is often confused with registered mail) many letter carriers will deliver it and sign for you if you've given them authorization. I know that I would in this situation. Does your PO have Saturday retail hours? If so, you can pick up the item then unless that is also when you aren't home. Thanks for writing.
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Shakita, I'm not sure what you mean by the postal carrier overlooked the mail. Do you mean that they looked inside it when they shouldn't have? If you know this for sure, I'd call or visit your nearby PO and speak with a delivery supervisor. It would seem hard to prove though I don't know the details in your case. If you meant that the postal carrier overlooked an outgoing piece of mail and forgot to take it, I'd recommend making it very visible to them next time and if it becomes a problem, please leave a note saying "please take outgoing mail. Thank you." I hope I have answered your question whichever way you intended it.
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It depends on each Post Office and how soon their mail is sorted and the letter carriers can load their delivery vehicles and start delivery. At the PO where I work mail is delivered as early as 9:15 AM and as late as 6:30 PM. The evening time can be even later if we are short-staffed. I've heard stories about letter carriers at other offices delivering later than that due to staffing shortages. If I were to work a regular schedule and everything went according to plan, I'd be delivering between 09:40 AM and 3:30 PM.
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I don't know what is technically the protocol for a carrier reminding themselves that a house is on hold. You make a good point. Most of our carriers have hold notes or cards they sequence in with the mail nearby so when they arrive at the house on hold, they would know to skip it. The note or card is then brought back to the PO for use the next day. I just memorize it from when I prepare the mail in the PO in the AM, but I would usually have no more than 10-15 houses at once who are on hold and their mail usually is left behind at the PO so there would be nothing to deliver even if I forgot the house was on hold.
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Yes, we were closed in Nassau and Suffolk for Tuesday Jan 27 due to a pending snowstorm. I believe NY city POs were closed as well. I think it was a good move based on what actually fell where I deliver the mail. The roads were at least passable and most customers had shoveled their walkways to their doors and driveways. Otherwise, delivery of mail may have been extremely difficult. Now to answer your question. I don't remember a time where we were fully closed due to a snow forecast. There have been times where we have come to work and found the road conditions too difficult or unsafe to deliver the mail. I know of no database that has information about the history of when we were closed for an entire day. On Monday, I delievered apprx 80% of my possible deliveries before we were told to return to the Post Office and not report back to work until the morning of today 01/28/15. I'm not a fan of delivering in snow and ice, but we make do the best we can.
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I used to do this but was then told that I really should take the 30 minute lunch within 6 hours of my BT (begin tour) time. I now take lunch from approximately 1300-1330. The new scanners that we have tells the mgmt where we are so they can see if we are sitting for 30 minutes at the end of the day instead of our approved lunch period. If the management doesn't give you a hard time about it, I don't see why not but the union and managers technically should be enforcing the 6-hour rule for taking a lunch break. I've become used to it so it's no big deal to take lunch when I'm supposed to and not at the end of the delivery route.
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