MailmanDave
17 Years Experience
Long Island, NY
Male, 43
I am a City Letter Carrier for the US Postal Service in NY. I've been a city letter carrier for over 17 years and it is the best job I've ever had. I mostly work 5 days per week (sometimes includes a Saturday) and often have the opportunity for overtime, which is usually voluntary. The route I deliver has about 350 homes and I walk to each of their doors to deliver the mail. Please keep in mind that I don't have authority to speak for the USPS, so all opinions are solely mine, not my employer.
As far as scanning the flats and letters, this is a sampling request andthe Postal Service tracks how long it takes for mail to get from origin to destination by sampling some deliveries. At least I believe that is the case. I am not sure of the procedure if a house is on hold or vacant. What I usually do is say that it is a valid address for that day but I type no more to scan. The mgmt has never advised us what to do nor have I asked. The only thing they ever bring up is if we completely ignore a sampling request.
I like the new scanners but I know everyone has a difference of opinion. They work so quickly and I think they pick up many barcodes more easily.
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Sure. I listen to podcasts mostly while delivering the mail. We aren’t really supposed to wear ear buds, but I keep one ear uncovered. I do know many co-workers listen to music or podcasts or maybe streaming news during the day.
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Inappropriate or irrelevant question to being a letter carrier.
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Mike, I’m not saying it hasn’t happened, but I’ve never heard of a USPS vehicle being pulled over by a police officer for missing a license plate. Each vehicle has an ID number and I think that suffices as a license plate. I imagine if I rcvd a ticket for that I would give it to my supervisor and let them deal with it. That being said, I wouldn’t mind if we got held to the same driving standards as everyone else and were pulled over for moving violations. I don’t even hear of that happening too often. I drive the USPS just as I do with my own vehicle. That means obeying all traffic rules, driving defensively, and courteously. Fortunately, I’ve never been involved in an MVA while at work, but it doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Nobody is above the law or above making an error.
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Mike, I’m not saying it hasn’t happened, but I’ve never heard of a USPS vehicle being pulled over by a police officer for missing a license plate. Each vehicle has an ID number and I think that suffices as a license plate. I imagine if I rcvd a ticket for that I would give it to my supervisor and let them deal with it. That being said, I wouldn’t mind if we got held to the same driving standards as everyone else and were pulled over for moving violations. I don’t even hear of that happening too often. I drive the USPS just as I do with my own vehicle. That means obeying all traffic rules, driving defensively, and courteously. Fortunately, I’ve never been involved in an MVA while at work, but it doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Nobody is above the law or above making an error.
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Not to my knowledge. I don’t know what the correct procedure is for parcel delivery in multi-unit buildings. I live in a similar sized apt bldng with no doorman to accept parcels and no parcel lockers. The letter carrier usually will leave the parcels near each unit door or in the lobby of the bldng or near the mailboxes. Package theft in our bldng hasn’t been a huge issue, but has occurred occasionally. If package theft is an issue, I believe the letter carrier will attempt delivery but then leave a notice that delivery was attempted and nobody was home to securely receive an item. At this point, a resident may sign the notice for redelivery or retrieve the package at a nearby PO as stated on the PS Form 3849. Package lockers are a great convenience but I know of no requirement that a landlord install them. Thank you for your question.
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Kara, the unofficial motto of the USPS is: Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.
It isn’t true at all. For the most part, we strive to get all of the mail routes delivered each day. Due to bad weather or staffing shortages or maybe some other reasons, we don’t always deliver the mail. The LLVs are infamously poor to drive in when there is snow on the roadway. They don’t get much traction and fishtail easily. Add an incline or decline and it becomes that much more difficult.
There was a snowstorm recently in the NY Metropolitan Area where I work. The storm increased in intensity during the morning while I was out delivering the mail. At around 1130 I received a text message on my scanning device which said “all carriers return to the post office”. We didn’t finish delivering our mail routes that day. We aren’t superheroes and I think it’s smarter for us to suspend delivery when it isn’t safe to continue so we may get home and safely return to work the next day to deliver the mail.
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