Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

We have not been receiving any mail in our p o box for over 2 weeks following a couple of overflows. I called the post office
last week and they said our box is open. What could be the reason for 2 and a half weeks with no mail in our box?

Asked by L H over 8 years ago

I admit it's odd that you haven't received mail in your PO Box for a couple of weeks. One reaction is that maybe there has been no mail for you, but if you've had overflows in the past I guess that scenario is unlikely. Furthermore, I don't even know what happens in a PO Box mail overflow situation. I thought you just may have to pick up the overflow mail from a retail sales and service associate during the retail counter hours but I'm not sure. Has any person or organization you normally receive mail from contacted you to say an item addressed to you has been returned to them? Is there any specific mail you haven't received that you were expecting to receive? In short, since the PO has confirmed that your PO Box is open I don't know why you haven't received any mail in 2.5 weeks. One idea I had was to mail a letter to your own PO Box. It should arrive there in about 2 days if mailed somehwat locally.

429 Votes

How do you and the other letter carriers you know feel about all these extra parcels from SmartPost and SurePost that you're expected to deliver alongside the mail every day? Is it an annoyance? Sometimes if I order too much from Amazon I feel bad!

Asked by Scott about 9 years ago

Asking me and other letter carriers will likely get you 2 different answers. I think it's great to get the smartpost and surePost parcels to deliver alongside our regular mail. I view it as more business for the USPS, my employer. If my employer can get more business that would hopefully translate as better for the workers. I don't find it an annoyance whatsoever and know it's part of my job. If the volume of parcels gets too high I would possibly take longer to complete my route which translates into overtime pay which would be beneficial. The volume of parcels that I deliver is not overwhelming except around the holiday season. Amazon uses the USPS as well as other delivery companies to complete their delivery fulfillment. There are some coworkers who don't want to do any extra work and complain about everything so the extra parcels would annoy them. I feel they are close-minded and lazy. In so many cases I don't see the importance of US Mail nowadays with regards to financial statements and bills. That has been able to be done electronically for so many years now. Parcels are what our business should be happy to be delivering. Don't ever feel bad about ordering too much online. I know I wouldn't.

428 Votes

Carrier injured been on partial duty for Two years has been deemed unable to carry by doctor. When must she vacate the route. As of now she is casing for 40 min in the morning so I am not made full time. Frustrated cca

Asked by Bronco mail about 9 years ago

Bronco, I can't give you any definitive answer on this because I don't have knowledge of workers comp/OJI rules with respect to delivering a route or holding a route. I think because it was an OJI, the carrier's route is protected indefinitely unless they voluntarily give it up or retire on disability. This is a comment made with no reference to documentation so I don't know that I'm correct. I know being a CCA is not very desirable but if you have patience then eventually you will become a full-time regular. The size and seniority of your office makes a big difference in how quickly you will become regular. Your union (NALC) rep may know a little more about this subject but I make no promises about that either. Furthermore, they will correctly want to protect that route for the injured carrier as much as they are allowed to. This is probably not the answer you wanted to hear but it's my best guess. Patience is a virtue.

428 Votes

I have had an issue with my mail carrier and filed a complaint against her, but she is still delivering mail. So I had my mail fwd to a PO Box. The carrier left a Vacant card in my home mailbox and now stops and checks it all the time. Why?

Asked by Jr over 9 years ago

I can't say why your letter carrier does what you are mentioning. It's unfortunate that you have an issue with her. By saying that she is still delivering mail, I assume you mean that she still is working for the USPS as a letter carrier but not physically delivering mail to your residence because your mail is being forwarded to a PO Box. A vacant card is appropriate to be put in your mailbox so that anybody who is delivering mail on a route that includes your address would know not to leave any mail in it. It's also unfortunate that you have to now go to a PO Box to retrieve your mail plus pay a rental fee. Is it possible that the letter carrier is checking the mailbox to make sure no mail has been accidentally left there by someone else? I doubt that is the case because it seems like you and her were in a conflict and that she probably isn't going out of her way to help you. While I'm only hearing one side of this conflict (yours), I can certainly say there are some bad workers for the USPS and nothing would surprise me about the actions of some letter carriers.

428 Votes

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My friend had a roommate that moved out, her mail is still being sent to her house so my friend puts on the envelope, (return to sender) the mailman knows the girl that moved out and has been giving her the mail personally, can he do that?

Asked by Samantha about 9 years ago

I don't think that the letter carrier should be giving the mail to the woman who moved out just because he knows her personally. If the woman didn't put in a proper change of address request with the USPS, then it is appropriate for the mail to be returned to sender with an endorsement by the USPS saying "unable to forward" or "moved, left no address". I wouldn't get involved with anyone's mail based on my relationship of knowing them. Fortunately, it's rare that I'm ever asked to do anything that is questionable regarding the mail. As far as your question goes, I don't know that the mailman is allowed to do what he is doing, but it doesn't seem right.

428 Votes

Hi I wanted to know, if I placed a letter with just a name and no stamp into someone's mailbox would the mailman take it, or leave it?

Asked by Gina kennard over 9 years ago

I think many letter carriers would just leave it because they may notice right away that there is no address on it or stamp. I can't speak for all letter carriers because there are many of us who don't pay attention and just take what's in the mailbox as outgoing mail. I don't think this good for them to do but some of my co-workers are clueless or are possibly paying attention to their smart phone vs. paying attention to the task at hand. To be honest, the mailbox should only be used for US Mail. My advice would be to not leave this letter in someone's mailbox to guard against the above scenario happening. To sum up my answer in one word: maybe.

427 Votes

Do you ever suspect that a customer receiving frequent deliveries of light weight priority boxes from legal medical marijuana states is using the dark net markets to order drugs? Are the majority of letter carriers aware about dark net markets now?

Asked by DNM over 9 years ago

You are the first person to ever say the term "dark net markets" to me. I don't most of my fellow letter carriers know anything about this unless they are involved in that dealing which I would hope they aren't. We are trained very little at work about drugs in the mail. I've never come across anything suspicious re: drugs or I am just oblivious.

427 Votes

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Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

We have not been receiving any mail in our p o box for over 2 weeks following a couple of overflows. I called the post office
last week and they said our box is open. What could be the reason for 2 and a half weeks with no mail in our box?

How do you and the other letter carriers you know feel about all these extra parcels from SmartPost and SurePost that you're expected to deliver alongside the mail every day? Is it an annoyance? Sometimes if I order too much from Amazon I feel bad!

Carrier injured been on partial duty for Two years has been deemed unable to carry by doctor. When must she vacate the route. As of now she is casing for 40 min in the morning so I am not made full time. Frustrated cca

I have had an issue with my mail carrier and filed a complaint against her, but she is still delivering mail. So I had my mail fwd to a PO Box. The carrier left a Vacant card in my home mailbox and now stops and checks it all the time. Why?

Also on Jobstr...

My friend had a roommate that moved out, her mail is still being sent to her house so my friend puts on the envelope, (return to sender) the mailman knows the girl that moved out and has been giving her the mail personally, can he do that?

Hi I wanted to know, if I placed a letter with just a name and no stamp into someone's mailbox would the mailman take it, or leave it?

Do you ever suspect that a customer receiving frequent deliveries of light weight priority boxes from legal medical marijuana states is using the dark net markets to order drugs? Are the majority of letter carriers aware about dark net markets now?

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

We have not been receiving any mail in our p o box for over 2 weeks following a couple of overflows. I called the post office last week and they said our box is open. What could be the reason for 2 and a half weeks with no mail in our box?

How do you and the other letter carriers you know feel about all these extra parcels from SmartPost and SurePost that you're expected to deliver alongside the mail every day? Is it an annoyance? Sometimes if I order too much from Amazon I feel bad!

Carrier injured been on partial duty for Two years has been deemed unable to carry by doctor. When must she vacate the route. As of now she is casing for 40 min in the morning so I am not made full time. Frustrated cca

I have had an issue with my mail carrier and filed a complaint against her, but she is still delivering mail. So I had my mail fwd to a PO Box. The carrier left a Vacant card in my home mailbox and now stops and checks it all the time. Why?

Also on Jobstr...

My friend had a roommate that moved out, her mail is still being sent to her house so my friend puts on the envelope, (return to sender) the mailman knows the girl that moved out and has been giving her the mail personally, can he do that?

Hi I wanted to know, if I placed a letter with just a name and no stamp into someone's mailbox would the mailman take it, or leave it?

Do you ever suspect that a customer receiving frequent deliveries of light weight priority boxes from legal medical marijuana states is using the dark net markets to order drugs? Are the majority of letter carriers aware about dark net markets now?

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We have not been receiving any mail in our p o box for over 2 weeks following a couple of overflows. I called the post office
last week and they said our box is open. What could be the reason for 2 and a half weeks with no mail in our box?