First of all, THANK YOU for your service! You help keep us connected to the outside world and we appreciate you!
I’m curious- while you’re on your rounds delivering and picking up mail, do you notice other postcrossers sending postcards with postcrossing IDs on them? I know you probably don’t read other people’s mail, but eyes can see stuff in passing, so I’m curious to hear if you’ve encountered other postcrossers in this way! Do you take a moment to admire fun or beautiful postcards when you see them at work?
A couple years ago I think it was back in 2018 my old postwoman took a massive interest in the amount of postcards I was receiving she was always admired the stamps on the postcards.
I told her about postcrossing but she’s no longer my postwoman as I now I have a postman.
Thank you! I’m glad you found it interesting! も、こんにちは！よろしくね～
I wouldn’t put the blame on our mail carriers who deliver mail from the post office to our houses. The delays occur in the sorting rooms when things get backed up, and I’m certain the majority of postal workers are really trying their best to keep the mail moving. If you want to hold someone to account, I would lay the blame on whoever decides how much funding, employees, and other resources the USPS gets, because lack of those things is what really causes delays. If you want to see improvements, I really suggest sending a postcard or two to certain elected officials who decide on those budgets. Let your voice be heard regardless of where you are in the world, while also sending out more postcards! haha (emails and phone calls are also super effective)
A lot of the delays in “delivery” can also be blamed on Postcrossers who don’t register cards in a timely manner.
I’m not postal worker but my postman (and my previous postwoman)remarked the amount of postcards because where I live it seems that people don’t receive postcards except for new year wishes and travel. When I explain about postcrossing they have stars in the eyes. I think seeing postcards makes them travel too, and it’s more fun than delivering blank administrative envelops
A mailman here!!
Yes, I do read all the postcrossing cards on my round and it’s actually how I discovered postcrossing!
I had a school on my previous round, which participated in postcrossing and it seemed weird they got so many tourist cards in December and January.
It stood out because Christmas cards are the ‘norm’ in these months.
It took a couple of weeks before an official postcard was in their pile of cards, and I finally discovered the source of their postcard joy!!
I had never heard of postcrossing before and was very curious, registered the same week and here we are. Still a happy postcrosser!!
We can’t read people’s mail actually, except postcards.
Often, addresses are wrong and we always try to deliver and there usually is no return adres. So, reading the card can be helpful to get it to the right address. In my case, I’m just a curious postcrosser and read all cards on my round😊
I did ask around with collegues and most of them never heard of postcrossing and usually wonder why this one address gets an abundance of cards. Most think it’s fun to deliver something else as bills, some think it’s a nuisance and just extra work!! Fortunately, the last category mailmen are rare!!
I recently started a new Mailroute in a different town and haven’t encountered a postcrosser yet. It’s not as common as you would think and in my own town, there are 3 postcrossers as far as I know.
Hope you have some insight and your questions answered!
Well, thread carefull here because my long mailman toes are itchy now
It’s usually the mail system itself and agreements on how to handle international mail that make up the travel time.
For example: every week, an airplane has international mail to Japan on board too be processed by Japanese mail.
Japanese mail does the same for our mail and processes incoming mail (almost) immediately!
In busy periods, it happens for international mail to be delayed for a few days or weeks.
National mail has always priority!!
For some countries, it’s only sent when a certain volume of mail is gathered and forwarded.
Some incoming mail from other countries is processed immediately.
Others, when a certain volume is achieved and some even when there’s just time to process it and doesn’t get a priority treatment.
This all depends on the treaties between the different Mailservices in each country. Basically, it has to do with the costs of processing.
It’s always about the money, isn’t it?
For us, the mailmen, we process immediately!
When it arrives at the mail center, we deliver the same day!!
It’s actually my pride to deliver everything that comes in daily! We are aware of the nuisance the mail system can be but are just the last step in a long chain of events. So, it’s always the mailman’s fault, regardless of the issue
Please, be kind to your mailman because, he/she has no influence on it.
I hope this Addresses your inconvenience.
We have already a topic where we talk about Anecdotes with your mail carriers - so please let postal worker have their say here and use the other topic to share your own experiences .
Of course we can also merge both topics to discuss more effectively.
@schrizzo
If I understand you, National mail would get priority since they get paid for this. International postage goes to the country of origin, so for destination points it is just extra work for no money. Is this correct?
Thanks!! Our Mailservices with Japan are very good considering the distance!
I hope it relieved you a little by knowing why mail from some countries takes longer.
March seemed to be a more busy month.
Partially, a foreign mail service pays to process their mail in Belgium, depending on the contract it’s processed faster or slower.
Some countries don’t have a contract with Belgium and get lowest priority.
But the mail still gets processed if it gets to Belgium.
I assume you mean for the delivery by the mailman. In Belgium, every post-item has to be delivered the same day, regardless what it is or where it comes from.
It’s the volume of mail and parcels that makes a long work day or a short one.
In very busy periods, this sometimes requires overtime we aren’t paid for but in the other hand, we can leave our job when everything is delivered. And this happens more as overtime so I consider it rude from my colleagues to complain about it…
It’s taken care of by the collegues, we devide the mail over other mailroutes from the same town or area.
Each town has it’s designated number of mailroutes and everybody jumps in to get everything delivered.
Even on these occasions, we can deliver everything without making overtime actually.
The preparations for the Mailroute of the absent carrier is taken care of by our teamleaders, so we only need to take care of the delivery.
Fortunately, this doesn’t happen to often but everyone can get sick offcourse.
I suppose the difference here is I am asking to speak to mail carriers directly about their experiences and opinions regarding Poscrossing, I’m not really asking people to tell me about experiences they have had with their own mail carriers.
You help keep us connected to the outside world and we appreciate you!
Let your voice be heard regardless of where you are in the world, while also sending out more postcards! haha (emails and phone calls are also super effective)
