Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

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.

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1236 Questions

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Last Answer on February 18, 2022

Best Rated

How do you keep your hands warm in cold weather while holding or gripping, fingering and delivering a mail bundle?

Asked by vbjmin almost 10 years ago

Vbjmin, you ask a question that I'd love to know the perfect answer to as I've been struggling with this issue from the beginning of my postal career. Cold hands are really hard to tolerate especially when you will be out delivering hours and they must be nimble enough to finger the mail. I wear a glove (thick or thin) on the hand where I hold the mail and cradle the flats since I don't need that hand to finger the mail. The hand that I use to finger the mail and deliver the mail I try to wear a thinner and sometimes fingerless glove or one with small gripping dots on them This has worked okay over the years. Another item which can be useful is "hot hands" which are small single-use packets that form a chemical reaction and heat up for several hours. You can put those in your pocket or even inside your glove. I have rarely used these but my girlfriend, not a letter carrier, loves them. I have purchased many pairs of gloves over the years. It's just a matter of finding the ones that keep you warm enough but allows you to still feel the mail. Thanks for writing and winter is my least favorite season to deliver mail.

How long does it take for package to leave the international sorting center to be delivered

Asked by Christina about 9 years ago

I have just copied and pasted the answer I posted from a previous q with similar wording:

I don't know the answer to this. My guess is as long as it isn't being held in customs for further inspection, then it should clear in a couple of days. When I see items from overseas that is postmarked it seems that it took 7-10 days total from when it was mailed. I'm just going on observation here and don't have any inside knowledge on what the goal is to clear international packages for delivery.

Has the mail already been delivered on Stonesboro Rd Ft Washington Maryland today 4/8/2016

Asked by Sophia Woodland over 8 years ago

As I'm writing this reply on April 12, I'm pretty sure that the mail has been delivered on stonesboro rd in ft Washington, MD by now for April 8. ???? This q and a isn't for USPS customer service or any real-time questions. I mostly answer questions about being a letter carrier and possibly make suggestions if someone has a customer service problem that doesn't need immediate attention. With regards to your question, I think that only your local PO would know when and if mail was delivered to your street.

An X roommate put a vaction hold on my address. They do not even live here. ..What can I do? And can I press any charges.

Asked by moriah about 10 years ago

Moriah, that is pretty rotten that an ex-roommate would put a hold on all of the mail to your address. I believe you may have to call the USPS help line or visit your local post office to say that your mail shouldn't be held. They shouldn't give you a hard time if you prove that is your address. As far as pressing any charges, I don't have any legal background on what the crime would be and if any charges would stick. The USPS CS # is 800 275 8777.

How long will it take for mail to get to California from Arizona

Asked by Heem about 9 years ago

I think it should be 2-3 days for First Class Mail from California to Arizona. Our mail transportation is pretty reliable when it comes to meeting our delivery service goals as long as the mail isn't missorted or misdelivered.

How to spy?

Asked by whatsapp almost 10 years ago

I am not sure if you are joking in this question. I am a city letter carrier and don't spy on anybody. It is true that we may know a lot about the people we deliver mail to, but that is confidential in nature and wouldn't share that with anybody. You would never want your personal information shared with others about what you receive in the mail, would you? We must remain professional so we have the trust of the people we serve.

We have a neighbor who we don't get along with.they have recieved some of our mail and instead of returning it to USPS to send back they held onto it for 1 mo. &placed it on our recycletrash bin with a rock on top. Is there any rule they can do that?

Asked by Brownie over 9 years ago

I don't know of any rules of what the recipient of errantly delivered mail is required to do. Ethically it would be correct to put it in the outgoing mail to be (hopefully) delivered correctly the next time. Since it seems you probably don't speak with your neighbor, my suggestion would be to call the delivery supervisor at your PO and explain the problem. I don't know that there is much that can be done about except for an alert to be given to your letter carrier to be more careful with mail for your address. We shouldn't be misdelivering mail with any great frequency, but I know it is a problem in some areas or with some personnel.