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 don't know what will happen if you don't fix the mailbox by tomorrow morning and go out of town. It's possible that the mail will still be delivered to your mailbox if it's on the ground near where it was before it got hit. Two other possibilities are that the mail will be held at the PO for a few days in hopes that you will repair it or the mail would be returned to the sender marked "No Mail Receptacle". The latter is very unlikely since it just happened today. If possible, contact your local PO and advise them what happened and that it will be fixed once you get back in town. Another option would be to go our website at www.usps.com and put in a hold request for your mail and that you will pick it up on your return. I know that may be difficult depending on your work schedule. I'm also not sure how far in advance a "hold mail request" must be submitted online. I can accept them via paper for the same day or next day. The reason I don't have a definite answer for this is because different POs and different employees handle each situation that's not always consistent with what should be done. I'm sorry about your mailbox being hit.
I won't comment on what is legal or not as to the order a carrier delivers the mail or where they take mail before or after a lunch break (if this was a lunch break.) The legality of what a carrier does is not something that I'm well versed on. I think that with their normal delivery they shouldn't be bypassing your mailbox without a logical reason. Is this an every day occurrence, or just once? If it is every day and you don't feel comfortable with what they are doing you certainly can inquire at the PO or ask a delivery supervisor as to why this may be happening. As a carrier I strive to maintain the highest level of professionalism and deliver mail in the prescribed order as to not appear to be doing anything wrong. I would never bring anybody else's mail into my apartment. I am not just not completely sure what, if anything, you are complaining or concerned about. I don't know the relationship that you have with your neighbor/letter carrier and whether or not you could ask them about this. Thank you for your inquiry.
If an employee is a newly hired CCA (city carrier assistant) they may not have yet received a unfiorm allowance and therefore not bought any USPS clothing. I think once probation is passed (90 days) they can purchase uniforms. Rural Letter carriers never need to wear a uniform. That being said, those not yet wearing a uniform shouldn't dress inappropriately or wear gang-type clothing (in my opinion). It would be up to the PO management to enforce this, but I've seen them be lax about it too frequently. Once an employee can purchase their uniforms, they should only be wearing USPS-approved clothing and not wearing any hats backwards. I personally hate gang-type thug looking street clothes, but it is up to the management to enforce this. Most carriers where I work dress in uniform daily and keep them moderately clean (I'm looking in the mirror when it comes to the subject of uniform cleanliness as they get dirty so easily). Thanks for this question.
I am not exactly sure what a polymailer is but as long as there is postage affixed or prepaid postage printed off the internet or a prepaid return shipping label the letter carrier should take it. We do this all the time with home-based business that sell on eBay, etsy, etc. Please just make sure the item to be mailed is visible to the letter carrier.
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I am not sure if the mailman will allow this since many of us act differently than others and we are rarely told of any rules (if any exist) regarding this situation. If I were your letter carrier and I knew you (or you could positively ID who you were) and the mail was easy to find in the outgoing mailbox I'd have no problem allowing you to retrieve that mail. I don't know how full your building mailbox gets. Some buildings just have a few pieces of mail left for pickup. Others are overflowing with outgoing mail. As I answer with many questions on this question board, "It depends". The consistency within the USPS is quite inconsistent.
Yes Trina, mail is delivered Monday-Saturday every week of the year except for 10 Federal Holidays observed by the USPS. Black Friday is not (yet) a Federal Holiday. ????
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