Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1236 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

What is the best way to contact my postman. The past two days my mailbox in front of my house was open yesterday it had mail today no mail. I just want to make sure no-one is stealing my mail. It is just odd it is closed when I leave for work.

Asked by Mistyk32 about 10 years ago

MistyK, the best way to contact the postman would probably be to leave a note in the mailbox asking them to please make sure the mailbox is closed after they make a delivery. They really should be doing that anyway and maybe it was a replacement carrier if this is an uncommon occurrence. I'm not sure the postman will even see the note or respond to it. Of course I can't say for sure whether or not mail is being stolen, but in most areas this is a non-issue. Another way to contact your postman would be to call the USPS customer service phone # where they can likely relay a message to your postman or give you the direct phone # to your local PO. The national customer service phone # is 800-275-8777.

466 Votes

If you receive a postage paid letter from a non-profit org.,can you then forward the same envelope to someone without any added postage? Or does the pre-paid only cover one recipient,in this case myself?
thank you-

Asked by David B. about 10 years ago

David, if the letter is addressed to you from the non-profit org. and it says "postage paid" in the indicia (the square usually on the upper right hand corner of the letter you are referring to), you may not forward that letter to another recipient. It is postage paid for the letter to get to you and that's it. Any additional mailing of that same envelope would require first-class postage put over the indicia. I would recommend using an entirely new envelope.

465 Votes

Is there a bathroom on your mail truck? I mean, you got to go so time during your full day of work don't you?

Asked by Sally over 9 years ago

Great question and you are correct about having to use the bathroom during the course of the delivery day. We don't have a bathroom in the postal vehicle, though that would be a nice touch. When I need to use a bathroom, I usually drive to an office building, gas station, or library near the route where I deliver. I also deliver mail to a dentist's office so I can use their toilet when the office is open. The next method some will find gross, but I wouldn't necessarily agree. Some males carry around bottles with them and will discreetly urinate in them and then dump out the contents when they get a chance. It's pretty easy to do in the environment I work as there aren't many people around and one can go inside the back of the postal vehicle for privacy. It's also a good idea to carry hand sanitizer or handi-wipes for use after urinating. As far as what woman do, I'm pretty sure it's not that simple and they must usually find a facility to use.

462 Votes

If a certified is thrown in the outgoing mail by human error will it come to the post office the next business day in the dps or in some form back to the post office.

Asked by jvitto almost 10 years ago

I think the letter that was accidentally thrown in the outgoing mail, even if it was a certified letter, would come back the next business day or the day after either via the DPS or the registry clerk. It would rarely be the case that the letter would just disappear. At least that's what I hope would happen.

460 Votes

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Is it possible for mailman to obtain my po box mail from post office on the sly and give to member of my family who wants to know what I am receiving in po box? I am missing mail from po box and I am concerned this might be the case.

Asked by Bella B. about 10 years ago

I would suggest that would be illegal to do. Mail that is addressed to a PO Box should stay in the PO Box until picked up by the boxholder. We have no rights as a letter carrier to go into the PO Box, remove mail, and give it to a member of your family. I'm not saying your carrier isn't doing this, but they would be risking their job to do what you've described. If mail continues to be missing you may want to bring it to the attention of a supervisor or the Postmaster of the office where you receive your PO Box mail

460 Votes

Just a question. I send out postcards every other week on Friday do most postcard going to differents states typically arive on Monday? And does using a 9 digit zip code speed up the process?

Asked by Andrew almost 10 years ago

If you mail out the postcards on Friday, they will generally arrive Monday or Tuesday depending on how far away the destination is from you. The USPS has been talking about a change in what is called their EXFC standards so First Class Mail that used to take 1-3 days may now take 2-4 days. I'm not sure if this is in effect or not. With regards to using the 9-digit ZIP code I don't believe it speeds up the process. If your postcards have printed addresses on them, our OCR (Optical Character Reader) probably would have no problem reading the address, spraying a bar code on the envelope and sending it on its way expeditiously. Most addressing software programs now produce an address with a 9-digit ZIP and standardized address. If you look at a lot of the mail you receive, it likely has the 9-digit ZIP code on it. We call it ZIP + 4, but it's the same thing. This codes the destination address down to a pretty small group of addresses within a ZIP code. I believe in some cases PO Boxes each have their own specific ZIP + 4. Thank you for your question.

460 Votes

What would happen If a package (that was ordered in the month of November, Delivery was in the month of December) was delivered to an old address. Though you moved to a new place? What would I need to do?

Asked by Brandon almost 10 years ago

I don't know that you would actually get the package that was delivered to your old address. Once it is delivered there, it'd probably be up to the recipients to return it to the USPS saying you no longer live there. If you put in a forwarding request for mail to go from your old address to your new address the package should have been forwarded as well. I would contact the sender and ask if you could get a replacement item because the first order went to your old address. I am not sure that you would get a replacement because the item was shipped to the address you gave them.

459 Votes

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Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

What is the best way to contact my postman. The past two days my mailbox in front of my house was open yesterday it had mail today no mail. I just want to make sure no-one is stealing my mail. It is just odd it is closed when I leave for work.

If you receive a postage paid letter from a non-profit org.,can you then forward the same envelope to someone without any added postage? Or does the pre-paid only cover one recipient,in this case myself?
thank you-

Is there a bathroom on your mail truck? I mean, you got to go so time during your full day of work don't you?

If a certified is thrown in the outgoing mail by human error will it come to the post office the next business day in the dps or in some form back to the post office.

Also on Jobstr...

Is it possible for mailman to obtain my po box mail from post office on the sly and give to member of my family who wants to know what I am receiving in po box? I am missing mail from po box and I am concerned this might be the case.

Just a question. I send out postcards every other week on Friday do most postcard going to differents states typically arive on Monday? And does using a 9 digit zip code speed up the process?

What would happen If a package (that was ordered in the month of November, Delivery was in the month of December) was delivered to an old address. Though you moved to a new place? What would I need to do?

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

What is the best way to contact my postman. The past two days my mailbox in front of my house was open yesterday it had mail today no mail. I just want to make sure no-one is stealing my mail. It is just odd it is closed when I leave for work.

If you receive a postage paid letter from a non-profit org.,can you then forward the same envelope to someone without any added postage? Or does the pre-paid only cover one recipient,in this case myself?thank you-

Is there a bathroom on your mail truck? I mean, you got to go so time during your full day of work don't you?

If a certified is thrown in the outgoing mail by human error will it come to the post office the next business day in the dps or in some form back to the post office.

Also on Jobstr...

Is it possible for mailman to obtain my po box mail from post office on the sly and give to member of my family who wants to know what I am receiving in po box? I am missing mail from po box and I am concerned this might be the case.

Just a question. I send out postcards every other week on Friday do most postcard going to differents states typically arive on Monday? And does using a 9 digit zip code speed up the process?

What would happen If a package (that was ordered in the month of November, Delivery was in the month of December) was delivered to an old address. Though you moved to a new place? What would I need to do?

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If you receive a postage paid letter from a non-profit org.,can you then forward the same envelope to someone without any added postage? Or does the pre-paid only cover one recipient,in this case myself?
thank you-