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USPS Unmarked Car
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jkle...@gmail.com
Sep 25, 2012, 12:28:43 PM9/25/12
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My postman uses a plain car to deliver the mail. I don't know if it's his car or belongs to the post office, but it has no markings. Is that unusual? I've never seen that before.
dbriggs
Sep 25, 2012, 4:36:15 PM9/25/12
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jkle...@gmail.com wrote:
> My postman uses a plain car to deliver the mail. I don't know if it's his car or belongs to the post office, but it has no markings. Is that unusual? I've never seen that before.
depends. is it a rural route? where are you?
> My postman uses a plain car to deliver the mail. I don't know if it's his car or belongs to the post office, but it has no markings. Is that unusual? I've never seen that before.
jkle...@gmail.com
Sep 26, 2012, 4:35:42 PM9/26/12
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Not a rural route - I'm about a 20 minute drive from NYC.
Adam H. Kerman
Sep 26, 2012, 4:58:48 PM9/26/12
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Plenty of areas that are suburban today still have rural routes, even if the
area has been converted to street addressing. Just because the farms have
all been subdivided doesn't mean the post office has to convert the area
to city delivery.
area has been converted to street addressing. Just because the farms have
all been subdivided doesn't mean the post office has to convert the area
to city delivery.
jkle...@gmail.com
Sep 27, 2012, 9:14:20 AM9/27/12
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I guess I don't know what a rural route is then - I meant it's not a rural area. What's a rural route? A regular mail truck delivers SOME packages, but the guy in the car drives around, gets out of his car, and puts the mail in our mailbox.
I also don't know why some packages come in the truck, and some come from the guy in the car - even small ones. Not sure why they're handled differently. I can understand with larger packages, but with the small ones, why do they sometimes come by truck on their own, and sometimes with the guy in the car along with the letters and junk mail?
I also don't know why some packages come in the truck, and some come from the guy in the car - even small ones. Not sure why they're handled differently. I can understand with larger packages, but with the small ones, why do they sometimes come by truck on their own, and sometimes with the guy in the car along with the letters and junk mail?
dbriggs
Sep 27, 2012, 9:50:49 AM9/27/12
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route. these routes are usually close to the actual post office and are
not assigned a vehicle. the carrier sets up the route to be worked out
of "relay boxes", those green, unmarked boxes used for storing sacks of
mail prepared for delivery. a separate driver is assigned to bring those
sacks to the relay box for the carrier, as well as deliver large
packages that can't be carried.
one other instance I've seen only once is a group of "van routes". the
same idea, only 4 or 5 routes in a cluster, not near the PO. then the
assigned driver does this for those routes, drives the carriers to the
area and picks them up at the end of the day.
now, whether the carrier is authorized to use his POV to get back &
forth between the office & route is an issue between him and his supervisor
Adam H. Kerman
Sep 27, 2012, 2:20:04 PM9/27/12
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Please don't top post.
>>>Not a rural route - I'm about a 20 minute drive from NYC.
>>Plenty of areas that are suburban today still have rural routes, even if the
>>area has been converted to street addressing. Just because the farms have
>>all been subdivided doesn't mean the post office has to convert the area
>>to city delivery.
dbriggs gave you an answer on the rest of it.
Some quick postal history, just from about.usps.com
City delivery began in 1863. An experiment in rural delivery was authorized
in 1890. There were several small experiments over the years. It didn't
become a permanent service until 1902. Rural delivery service has never
been universal.
Rural carriers work under a different contract than city carriers and have
a separate union. There's also the weirdness that city carriers work five
of six days each with, with a different non-scheduled day each week and
a full-time substitute who carriers five different routes over five weeks,
but rural carriers work five days each week with a part time substitute
on Saturday who carries just the one route.
Rural carriers can use their own vehicles or they might own approved
vehicles that they purchase themselves. I'm not sure how it works.
Rural carriers are sort of independent contractors.
One major difference: You can buy postage from a rural carrier.
The post office converted suburbanizing rural areas to city delivery only
if it would save money, which wasn't necessarily the case. City delivery
conversions have become quite rare.
dbriggs had some different ideas about delivery in your area, and you could
very well have city delivery. Rural delivery was just a guess on my part.
You'll have to ask your postmaster.
>>>Not a rural route - I'm about a 20 minute drive from NYC.
>>Plenty of areas that are suburban today still have rural routes, even if the
>>area has been converted to street addressing. Just because the farms have
>>all been subdivided doesn't mean the post office has to convert the area
>>to city delivery.
>I guess I don't know what a rural route is then - I meant it's not a
>rural area. What's a rural route? . . .
dbriggs gave you an answer on the rest of it.
Some quick postal history, just from about.usps.com
City delivery began in 1863. An experiment in rural delivery was authorized
in 1890. There were several small experiments over the years. It didn't
become a permanent service until 1902. Rural delivery service has never
been universal.
Rural carriers work under a different contract than city carriers and have
a separate union. There's also the weirdness that city carriers work five
of six days each with, with a different non-scheduled day each week and
a full-time substitute who carriers five different routes over five weeks,
but rural carriers work five days each week with a part time substitute
on Saturday who carries just the one route.
Rural carriers can use their own vehicles or they might own approved
vehicles that they purchase themselves. I'm not sure how it works.
Rural carriers are sort of independent contractors.
One major difference: You can buy postage from a rural carrier.
The post office converted suburbanizing rural areas to city delivery only
if it would save money, which wasn't necessarily the case. City delivery
conversions have become quite rare.
dbriggs had some different ideas about delivery in your area, and you could
very well have city delivery. Rural delivery was just a guess on my part.
You'll have to ask your postmaster.
jkle...@gmail.com
Sep 29, 2012, 2:33:19 PM9/29/12
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Another question: while this postman will bring small packages to the door, sometimes small packages are brought to the door in a separate delivery by someone in a mail van. Is there some cutoff size or weight for which packages will be delivered by the postman (with the car) and which will be delivered by the van? I'm waiting for a package now, and not sure which delivery I can expect it from. Also, sometimes the van comes in the early morning (around 7am) and sometimes in the afternoon. It actually seems to come pretty rarely.
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