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 am not sure what you mean by this question because you first say that 100 & 102 are together in one mailbox yet you then reference a box that says 102. If you truly have two separate mailboxes for two separate addresses and is clearly labeled I'm not sure why the letter carrier doesn't separate the mail between the two addresses. You could leave a note on the shared mailbox that there is a separate mailbox for 102 and ask them to put the mail there. If this isn't resolved with a note, you could always contact the PO and speak with a delivery supervisor or a manager to register your request.
I've never found car keys while delivering mail as far as I can remember. I don't know what I would do if I found them. I know if any item of value is found in a blue collection box, it is usually turned in to a supervisor.
I don't think being a letter carrier is dangerous with respect to personal safety. I think most people respect the letter carrier enough not to assault or harass them. I can be accused of looking at this situation through rose-colored glasses because I am a male and deliver mail in an affluent area where very little violent crime occurs. You need to be vigilant for loose dogs and to drive carefully. The only protection we have for an emergency is for a dog attack. In that case we have dog repellent spray plus a mail satchel which could be used as sort of a shield between you and the dog. Most workplace injuries are falls which results in cuts, sprains, bruises and broken bones. In case of a real emergency we would call 911 and alert the Post Office.
I didn't realize you'd be doing such a large mailing. I believe that amt of postcards would qualify for a discount but sometimes it depends on the quantity of pieces for a certain area, how the mailing is prepared, and where you enter it into the system (some large mailings are cheaper to drop off at a mail plant vs. a local PO). The name for a bulk mailing discount is usually called presort standard and presort first class Mail. The standard doesn't get handled as quickly as first class mail which is why it's cheaper. I am sure the answer is quite a bit more complex than what I've told you. Some resources that I'd look for are the Direct Marketing Association or search for "USPS bulk mailing discounts" or "basics of bulk mailing USPS". If stamps or meters are not affixed to your postcards you can't just drop them in a mailbox. The mailing would need to be processed through the BMEU (business mail entry unit). You may also need to get a bulk mailing permit to use an indicia and get a discount. I don't know these details at all. You ask good questions but my area of knowledge has more to do with the job of a city letter carrier. That is why I'm not being any more specific. Anything I've typed here is what I've learned over the years by asking my associates similar questions that you have asked. None of this knowledge is necessary to be a letter carrier.
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I don't know about this. You can request anything of the USPS, but it's probably a matter of policy or your individual letter carrier as to whether or not they will do that for you. We usually refrain from allowing people to pickup mail on any regular basis at the PO unless you go away on vacation, put your mail on "hold" and then pick up the mail at a future date (and that can be done just once per "hold" request). If your landlord would just be away for a few days, I'd deliver the mail to your personal home temporarily, but this has rarely come up for me and I can't comment for sure how others would respond to a similar request.
It's a very good question with a pretty easy answer. In our office, besides the regular letter carriers who deliver the same route daily, we have a group of carrier technicians (aka floaters) who deliver the mail when a carrier has a day off during the week. As much as mail is delivered Mon-Sat most carriers are only obligated to work 5 of those days. To also help fill the gap when a carrier is sick or on vacation or out for any reason a CCA (city carrier assistant) can deliver the mail. If we are very short-staffed (common in the office where I work), we deliver our own routes and then take part of the vacant route and deliver that, usually for OT pay. That is usually :30-1:00 of additional delivery time but could be longer.
Saturday is Nov. 29 and Priority Mail in the continental 48 states is usually 3 days maximum for delivery. The packages are usually in transit 7 days a week so I would say there is an excellent chance your package will arrive by Saturday. USPS Priority Mail is a superb service in my opinion. I often look at the mailing dates when I deliver a Priority Mail item and it has rarely taken more than 3 calendar days from origin to destination.
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