Posting your mail with your mailman

[audio-spot]

I was reading the postal guide for the other thread regarding overseas letters, and noticed item L7.4:

You may lodge a small quantity of mail with a postal delivery officer engaged on deliveries if:

• the mail does not require special documentation or services

• the postage is fully prepaid

• it is practical for the officer to accept the mail.

Has anyone ever tried this? I guess it would be of great benefit for those that live rural and far away from a post box... or maybe it is the norm and I just wasn't aware of it?

[curraone]

I think it has always be there,     for outback areas they have always been able to lodge their mail with the same person who's delivering it

and I know at least one rural area here where the postie takes mail for people who can't get to town.

[davidc4430]

if it does exist don't tell APs CEO, he'll stick a fee on it.

then raise it.

[englishrosegardens]

That's always been available in country areas (out of town), or all the ones I've lived in.  If you have something for the postie to pick up you put the 'flag' out so he knows to stop if he hasn't got something for you.  A flag can be a rag on a stick that pokes out of the box or a small piece of metal that looks like a flag that you just flip up and down on a hinge.  You didn't even have to have stamps on it but could just leave the money out and they'd fix it all up, though that side of it may have changed over the years.

[davidc4430]

id never heard of it before but i knew it existed in the us of a cos they have the little flags on their post boxes.

[typhoon4u]

My parcel delivery driver refused to take my ebay satchels.......only a few 500's...

They may not be a designated "postal delivery officer"?

[lyndal1838]

Parcel delivery drivers are usually subcontractors, not AP employees and they cannot take parcels unless those parcels have been officially listed in the system as pickups.  They are then acting in the capacity of AP couriers and you pay a lot more for the priviledge of having your parcels delivered.

[sydney-diecast-kingdom]

Australia Post PDO's (posties) in major cities are NOT permitted to take mail from customers for posting.

The reason given is that a PDO cannot determine correct postage rates and if the mail is underpaid there could be issues for the customer. In addition, Australia Post does not want to put the added responsibilty on PDO's should mail become damaged or lost that is given to them by a customer. 

Having said that.... when a little old lady asks you to post a letter for her there's very few PDO's that would say no. 😉