My house is 1/2 mile up a private drive. The mail box is at the main state road where my driveway starts. If I get a package that wont fit in the mailbox, the carrier just drops a sorry we missed you delivery attempt in the box and rolls on. Now I have to go to the post office and pick my package up. That to me is second most miserable to going to the DMV. Question is how far off the state road is a rural carrier required to deliver. For what its worth.... most of the time I am home when the mail runs and no delivery to my door is ever attempted. Happens all the time.
question for postal employees.
- Thread starter 284driver
- Start date
shortgrass
Silver $$ Contributor
They're goin' broke, man, they're goin' broke!
lets be honest,the postal service is losing money on every delivery!FED X uses USpostal to deliver small pkgs and FED Xmakes money.should US postal send a check to UPS to make up what it gives FED X? dont worry mr obama gonna fix it!
Former USPS employee here. For every person who wishes you would bring a package up to the house, there is another person who acts like a flaming bunghole if you step on their property, or they have crazy dogs on the loose, etc etc. Or the carrier is under time constraints trying to cover their route in the allotted time. (you haven't lived until you've had an inspector following you around all day counting how many steps you take a minute, etc) Your carrier is just taking the safest approach. Leave him/her a note in the mailbox asking if they would please bring parcels to the house. Wouldn't hurt to ask, and they might just do it.
pretty sure it's a quarter mile but I try to stay in good with ma mail route drivers. I live, and my shop is a little over a quarter mile off the road. Never had a problem. This is fom two recently retired from the PO family members
Posted for Lynn:
***************
From a USPS employee...
Your Rural Letter Carrier is allowed up to 1/4 mile in each direction as long as it is safe with no closed gates or dangerous animals. The approach cannot be over grown with brush or trees and if the carrier is using a LLV or FFE vehicle owned by USPS he/she has a 7 foot 10 inch clearance requirement for low branches and electrical lines/wires. If the roadway is heavily rutted or dogs are running loose no delivery will be attempted to your door. It is a must that your driveway is CLEARLY MARKED!!!!!!!! If your driveway has several forks to it none of which have clearly readable addresses no attempt will be initiated.
If you want the package make sure your house is easy to find and user friendly. Remember just because you like your dog nobody else does and don't say Killer has never bitten anyone. Your carrier has heard it every time he/she was bitten.
The form you mentioned is actually pink and is called a 3849 in the lower left corner on both sides. Note that on the front side the 3849 states "Sorry We Missed You ! "We re-redeliver for you", then it gives the date of the attempt.
If your roadway meets the requirements above you simply call your post office and ask them for a re-delivery noting that you’re within the correct driving range and are free of obstacles and loose animals with no gates to open/close. If there is a problem with delivering to your house they will tell you.
You are also not allowed to give more than $20 to a carrier as a gift but it does happen and your carrier does appreciate it just don't blab it to the Postmaster/Postmistress.
As was stated earlier your carrier in most cases is under time constraints to finish the route as quickly as possible. Rural carriers receive no overtime pay except during the Christmas holiday season which usually starts the first Saturday in December.
For Doc Gordon:
The various delivery services have USPS deliver some of their packages and this is why you often times see Fed Ex, UPS or DHL trucks at your local office.
Nobody ever brings a USPS package to your door other than a USPS employee.
UPS, Fed Ex or DHL may contract to fly closed cages of packages from one city to another but this is due to concerns stemming from 9-11 and all that took place.
There is a lot of bad information out there.
*************
***************
From a USPS employee...
Your Rural Letter Carrier is allowed up to 1/4 mile in each direction as long as it is safe with no closed gates or dangerous animals. The approach cannot be over grown with brush or trees and if the carrier is using a LLV or FFE vehicle owned by USPS he/she has a 7 foot 10 inch clearance requirement for low branches and electrical lines/wires. If the roadway is heavily rutted or dogs are running loose no delivery will be attempted to your door. It is a must that your driveway is CLEARLY MARKED!!!!!!!! If your driveway has several forks to it none of which have clearly readable addresses no attempt will be initiated.
If you want the package make sure your house is easy to find and user friendly. Remember just because you like your dog nobody else does and don't say Killer has never bitten anyone. Your carrier has heard it every time he/she was bitten.
The form you mentioned is actually pink and is called a 3849 in the lower left corner on both sides. Note that on the front side the 3849 states "Sorry We Missed You ! "We re-redeliver for you", then it gives the date of the attempt.
If your roadway meets the requirements above you simply call your post office and ask them for a re-delivery noting that you’re within the correct driving range and are free of obstacles and loose animals with no gates to open/close. If there is a problem with delivering to your house they will tell you.
You are also not allowed to give more than $20 to a carrier as a gift but it does happen and your carrier does appreciate it just don't blab it to the Postmaster/Postmistress.
As was stated earlier your carrier in most cases is under time constraints to finish the route as quickly as possible. Rural carriers receive no overtime pay except during the Christmas holiday season which usually starts the first Saturday in December.
For Doc Gordon:
The various delivery services have USPS deliver some of their packages and this is why you often times see Fed Ex, UPS or DHL trucks at your local office.
Nobody ever brings a USPS package to your door other than a USPS employee.
UPS, Fed Ex or DHL may contract to fly closed cages of packages from one city to another but this is due to concerns stemming from 9-11 and all that took place.
There is a lot of bad information out there.
*************
Minesweeper3433
45B/91F
This is a really informative post and helps with a few issues and questions I have had.
However I have another question for any USPS employees on here. Why as of the 15th of this month does the postal service no longer mail any batteries of lithium type? I know there is a danger factor in it but only when they are mistreated. Over here in the sand lithium batteries are like gold due to their long life and light weight. Soldiers and contractors alike pay premiums for them and now you cut off our best supply line? Sorry for dragging on it just erks me a bit that they would no longer mail any kind of the most popular batteries on the planet right now.
However I have another question for any USPS employees on here. Why as of the 15th of this month does the postal service no longer mail any batteries of lithium type? I know there is a danger factor in it but only when they are mistreated. Over here in the sand lithium batteries are like gold due to their long life and light weight. Soldiers and contractors alike pay premiums for them and now you cut off our best supply line? Sorry for dragging on it just erks me a bit that they would no longer mail any kind of the most popular batteries on the planet right now.
Minesweeper3433,
The change is required due to new standards implemented by the International Civil Aviation Organization and the Universal Postal Union.
It's not just USPS, all carriers have changes, this from My UPS Account mail box.
"Lithium and lithium ion batteries: Both rechargeable or non-rechargeable power sources, common in computers, cell phones, cameras, and other small electronic devices. If dropped, crushed, or short-circuited, these batteries can release dangerous amounts of heat and may ignite, and are dangerous in fires. Special regulations apply to shipping these batteries. Shipments requiring hazardous materials shipping papers are accepted from contract hazmat shippers only, and certain lithium batteries may not qualify for UPS service."
It's not that you can't get them, it's just gonna be harder and cost more.
BTW, thanks for your service and stay safe!
The change is required due to new standards implemented by the International Civil Aviation Organization and the Universal Postal Union.
It's not just USPS, all carriers have changes, this from My UPS Account mail box.
"Lithium and lithium ion batteries: Both rechargeable or non-rechargeable power sources, common in computers, cell phones, cameras, and other small electronic devices. If dropped, crushed, or short-circuited, these batteries can release dangerous amounts of heat and may ignite, and are dangerous in fires. Special regulations apply to shipping these batteries. Shipments requiring hazardous materials shipping papers are accepted from contract hazmat shippers only, and certain lithium batteries may not qualify for UPS service."
It's not that you can't get them, it's just gonna be harder and cost more.
BTW, thanks for your service and stay safe!
Minesweeper3433
45B/91F
I actually found great news today! I can get whatever batteries come in an appliance. We have RC controllers that take 12 AA batteries and we all race the cars over here when we get time. We will just have our families send us our controllers back and forth empty and full. Should work for now. Hard one is going to be getting extra batteries for things like helmet mounted camera's and other items that take proprietary batteries. Can't afford to be with out that gear and can't get batteries for them now.
A question for edlongrange. If my drive meets the criteria you listed, is the mail carrier required to deliver to your door if requested by me?
TheBlueEyedBear
'The Nut Behind The Trigger'
Reading this post reaffirms my position that the Feds should not be running our postal service. If it were privatized it would be much cheaper and more efficient. It's amazing what competition can do for business.
Teufelhunder and The Blue Eyed Bear:
Lynn e-mailed me this message, presumably for you guys.
************
Teufelhunder:
Your Rural Carrier is required to make an "Attempt" at delivering your package. An attempt means the package was placed in the LLV, FFE or postal vehicle or his/her POV (personally owned vehicle) and taken on the route. This applies to rural routes.
There are many many reasons why the package might not make it to your house and this would simply takes days to post.
Dogs, gates and houses and roadways without proper/legible markings are the most common. If you have harassed or threatened a carrier they are not required to walk into a hostile/dangerous envirionment.
Some carriers take it upon themselves to simply not deliver packages and a quick call to your Postmaster/Postmistress will at least get you a reason why they are not being delivered.
It could be that a previous owner/tenant claimed something got stolen or rained on, or they didn't want packages left.
The Blue Eyed Bear:
Barry the various smaller carriers like UPS, Fed-Ex and DHL would go out of business in a week if they had to deliver mail and make a profit.
They don't deliver all their own packages now because of the costs involved and the necessary infrastructure to get the job done.
Your Letter Carrier drives by/walks by your house 6 days a week if you have mail or not. If your flag is up you expect your letter to be picked up dated and delivered. The smaller carriers only come around when you have a package or need something picked up. It is cheaper for them to take a truck full of their own packages to a post office and let the USPS deliver it for them than it is to do it themselves.
Ask yourself when was the last time you got a package on a Saturday? By not doing any Saturday deliveries the smaller carriers don't need as much relief help.
When you think about the differences in fuel consumption alone the $$$$ is quite staggering. The postal service blankets the entire United States six days a week.
Lynn
************
Lynn e-mailed me this message, presumably for you guys.
************
Teufelhunder:
Your Rural Carrier is required to make an "Attempt" at delivering your package. An attempt means the package was placed in the LLV, FFE or postal vehicle or his/her POV (personally owned vehicle) and taken on the route. This applies to rural routes.
There are many many reasons why the package might not make it to your house and this would simply takes days to post.
Dogs, gates and houses and roadways without proper/legible markings are the most common. If you have harassed or threatened a carrier they are not required to walk into a hostile/dangerous envirionment.
Some carriers take it upon themselves to simply not deliver packages and a quick call to your Postmaster/Postmistress will at least get you a reason why they are not being delivered.
It could be that a previous owner/tenant claimed something got stolen or rained on, or they didn't want packages left.
The Blue Eyed Bear:
Barry the various smaller carriers like UPS, Fed-Ex and DHL would go out of business in a week if they had to deliver mail and make a profit.
They don't deliver all their own packages now because of the costs involved and the necessary infrastructure to get the job done.
Your Letter Carrier drives by/walks by your house 6 days a week if you have mail or not. If your flag is up you expect your letter to be picked up dated and delivered. The smaller carriers only come around when you have a package or need something picked up. It is cheaper for them to take a truck full of their own packages to a post office and let the USPS deliver it for them than it is to do it themselves.
Ask yourself when was the last time you got a package on a Saturday? By not doing any Saturday deliveries the smaller carriers don't need as much relief help.
When you think about the differences in fuel consumption alone the $$$$ is quite staggering. The postal service blankets the entire United States six days a week.
Lynn
************
There could be an easy solution: Just get a 50 gallon drum, wash it with detergent, saw off the top and weld hinges to it, paint it the same color of your regular mail box along with stenciled "US MAIL" and "APPROVED BY THE POSTMASTER GENERAL" markings on its side and put it sideways next to the mail box. There should be no more excuses for not delivering your parcels.
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