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.
If I can find a safe place nearby like near a garage door or by the front door of the house I would rubber band the mail and put it there. If it is mail addressed to an apt building and I can't gain access I would likely bring it back to the Post Office, notify a supervisor, and likely attempt delivery the next day. Fortunately, this doesn't happen very often on the route where I deliver the mail. It is inconvenient to have to bring the mail back to the PO and try again the next day.
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I don't believe you would be hired without a driver license to be a letter carrier. It is great that you like to walk a lot which is very healthy, but many communities have mail delivery which uses a motor vehicle to go from house to house or at least uses a vehicle to get the letter carrier to their route. That vehicle is usually driven by the letter carrier themselves. In some urban environments (like some of NYC), there are "walk-out" routes where the letter carrier leaves the PO on foot with a mail satchel and/or cart and doesn't need to drive. The mail for parts of their routes are left by another carrier in a vehicle in what is called a "relay box". I dont know that this relieves the carrier from not having a driver license because when one is hired they need to be flexible in their work assignments which may include a route that has driving involved. My short answer to your question is no, but would need further research.
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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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Sean, it depends on your letter carrier and their willingness to do this. I would do it if it's not too frequent a request and it was just a letter or large envelope, meaning it just needs a stamp or two. On my initiative, I keep some postage stamps in my wallet and will honor that request most of the time. To be honest it doesn't come up too often. If I notice an item has insufficient postage I may just affix one of my own stamps and send the item on its way. There is no requirement that we do any of this and I don't want customers to get in the habit of requesting this service. The reason I have this attitude is because there are easy ways to buy stamps in quantity. The USPS allows you to buy them online, or 24/7 at any PO that has a Sales and Service Kiosk. Supermarkets and Wholesale Clubs sell postage stamps as well. I know this doesn't answer your question, but so many communication and financial transactions are more easily done online that mailing letters is becoming much less significant.
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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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The forwarding of the mail in your ex's name is understandable. As far as putting a hold on the mail, you may go to the Post Office or contact them by telephone and ask them to remove the hold on your mail and resume delivery of mail to your address in your name. I would think that they would honor that request.
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Not to make light of your question, but I like your handle "Hungry For Bread". I don't know why the USPS (or more specifically an employee thereof) would take a bag that was obviously not outgoing mail. Technically, the mailbox isn't to be used as a place to leave and pick-up non-US Mail items. From my experience, however, I rarely hear of letter carriers taking non-US Mail items out of a mailbox unless they were circulars/ads placed in mailboxes without postage being paid. You could call the PO where your mother lived and ask them about the missing bag of bread and mail, but I doubt they would know anything about it or admit to it. How do you know that the PO took your stuff and not somebody else? Nobody else should be going into your mailbox to take anything. I am glad you wrote in, but I'd appreciate that you leave the implied profanity out of your question (referring to WTF) for any future inquiries. I don't feel it is appropriate for this message board but acknowledge it is used much more commonly these days than when I was younger.
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