Will USPS deliver on Christmas Day this year?

[pink.fish.rule]

I know they have done in the past.

[myboardid]

Drugs are one of the major products that thieves go looking for.  Some want to get high, some want to sell them to people who need them but can't afford them or can't get prescriptions for them. 

I would appreciate the carrier's thoughtfulness in not leaving them on a porch. 

And in my town, no one will be delivering on Christmas, or on any other day.  We all have PO Boxes and all truck to the PO to get our mail.  It is the place to meet your friends, to beg for money for your charity, to campaign if you are running for local office, to buy Girl Scout cookies! 

[aramintaca]

To make sure that medications are going in the right delivery location. Mistakes can happen at this rushed time of year and you don't want to mess up someone's medication.

[buyselljack2016]

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@myboardid wrote:

Drugs are one of the major products that thieves go looking for.  Some want to get high, some want to sell them to people who need them but can't afford them or can't get prescriptions for them. 

I would appreciate the carrier's thoughtfulness in not leaving them on a porch. 

And in my town, no one will be delivering on Christmas, or on any other day.  We all have PO Boxes and all truck to the PO to get our mail.  It is the place to meet your friends, to beg for money for your charity, to campaign if you are running for local office, to buy Girl Scout cookies! 

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Those things are not allowed on USPS premises (but I know it happens)

[lja440]

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@atikovi wrote:

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@lja440 wrote:

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@atikovi wrote:

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@lja440 wrote:

what will not be delivered are things like packaged pharmaceuticals.  

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How would you even know a package contained pharmaceuticals, and why wouldn't you deliver it?

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Easy, They come in poly bags with the pharmacy's name on the return address. 

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You have time to read the return address on packages? Is that pretty common? No wonder my mail doesn't arrive until 6, 7, or even after 8pm.

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Your mail probably gets there late because you are at the end of the route or on a route that currently does not have a regular carrier. The Postmaster will then usually split the route between several carriers to tack onto the end of their own routes. 

As for reading the return address. I don't really need to. Wouldn't you be able to recognize the feel of a pill bottle inside a poly bag? Not to mention the sound they make.

And yeah, most of us glance at the return addresses. It's habit ingrained from before the postage verification system, some companies made it a habit to short postage.

[lja440]

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@aramintaca wrote:
To make sure that medications are going in the right delivery location. Mistakes can happen at this rushed time of year and you don't want to mess up someone's medication.

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Yes and sadly if meds are lost or stolen health insurance or Medicare will not replace them. Miss delivered meds must be returned to the pharmacy for verification that there hasn't been a switch.

[myboardid]

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@buyselljack2016 wrote:

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@myboardid wrote:

Drugs are one of the major products that thieves go looking for.  Some want to get high, some want to sell them to people who need them but can't afford them or can't get prescriptions for them. 

I would appreciate the carrier's thoughtfulness in not leaving them on a porch. 

And in my town, no one will be delivering on Christmas, or on any other day.  We all have PO Boxes and all truck to the PO to get our mail.  It is the place to meet your friends, to beg for money for your charity, to campaign if you are running for local office, to buy Girl Scout cookies! 

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Those things are not allowed on USPS premises (but I know it happens)

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These activities happen outside in the small public park - not USPS property - in front of the Post Office, so no rules are broken. 

[lgonzalez28]

I never knew this policy for medications existed or that USPS would even care, I have to say, that makes me respect USPS a whole lot more. 

[muttlymob]

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@lgonzalez28 wrote:

I never knew this policy for medications existed or that USPS would even care, I have to say, that makes me respect USPS a whole lot more. 

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The "policy" doesn't exist.  It appears to be a local preference thing for that post office - or more likely for that particular mail carrier.

When there is mail or parcel delivery on a holiday that normally doesn't get delivery - such as Christmas - it can be limited to certain classes (such as priority and express), or limited to size - anything that won't fit into the recipient's mailbox.  But is not likely to be limited by the contents of the package.  This would be a local thing, not an overall USPS policy.

Even delivery on holidays is not a USPS-wide thing.  It varies by location. 

[lgonzalez28]

Ahhh got it.

[muttlymob]

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@soh.maryl wrote:

Honestly, how long could it possibly take to read a return address?

Doesn't the carrier have to pick up the package to deliver it? Doesn't he have it in his hands for a moment before delivering it?

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How long would it take to read the return address on 100-200 (or more) packages a day?  Along with the other thousands of pieces of mail being delivered per day.

It adds up.

edit to add:  usually the only time I will read a return address on a package is when it requires a signature so I have to write up a notice to leave for customer.  The notice includes a space for "sender".  Otherwise, don't have the time or interest to read return addresses.  Only the delivery address matters.

[lja440]

I kinda read it as a whole.  Where it goes and not only who it goes to, if it needs a signature, if the clerk or postmaster needs to see if it had already been caught by the system. We have been getting a lot of packages with .10 cu/ft postage on large packages. Frankly, after 19 years, it doesn't take but a second or two to check all these points.

[johnrj1226]

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@pink.fish.rule wrote:

I know they have done in the past.

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Just for the record we DID NOT get USPS mail or another mail delivered yesterday (12.25).

[repairelectronics]

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@muttlymob wrote:How long would it take to read the return address on 100-200 (or more) packages a day?  Along with the other thousands of pieces of mail being delivered per day.

It adds up.

I don't think she is reading them like a novel but rather glancing at them kinda like I do when I see an eBay label or a backhanded comment.