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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1237 Questions

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Last Answer on February 18, 2022

Best Rated

Can a mail carrier talk for hours on the job(2–3) with just one person,give people rides in her mail truck, and take car rides with neighbors while still in uniform? This is the worst mail carrier I've had. Everyone in my apartment also gets few mail

Asked by Caroline almost 11 years ago

I am appalled at these observations of a mail carrier. If they are a city letter carrier, they aren't allowed to do any of the as far as I know. The actions seem completely unprofessional and probably against postal regulations. I would never give someone a ride in my mail truck or even have enough time to talk to one person on the route. If I talk to someone for even a few minutes I start to get anxious that I'll be late returning to the PO from my delivery route. I don't think it is against the rules to take a ride with someone while you are in uniform as long as the mail is secured in the postal delivery vehicle. We are authorized a 30 minute lunch break, two 10-minute breaks, plus whatever bathroom breaks are necessary. I have heard stories like you have told while reading some Facebook Forums or message boards. They are definitely working somewhere I'm not familiar with and with a management who doesn't care to do anything about this. I believe in an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. People like you have observed have probably been ripping off the USPS and the ratepayers for years. There are definitely other USPS workers who would disagree strongly with my comments, but this is how I see it. If you know for sure you aren't getting all of your mail, you could bring it to the attention of the delivery supervisor of your local PO. I would question how you would know you are missing anything. It's possible that your apartment complex residents don't receive a lot of mail. Thanks for writing.

I have an interview Thursday to be a city carrier, is it possible for me to carrier four days and go to school the other two?

Asked by N ADAMS over 10 years ago

I don't know this answer since I don't work in the hiring area and don't know what the conversations are like. My guess from what I've seen is that it's not likely that a 4-day schedule will be allowed and then 2 days at school. The CCAs in our office have to sometimes work on Sunday delivering Amazon.com packages. I think that CCAs are supposed to be available on a very dynamic schedule so I don't know if you could get an agreement from the USPS to guarantee no work on the days you'd like to go to school. It doesn't hurt to ask and just because I haven't seen it done doesn't mean it's not possible. Good luck.

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 over 11 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.

I sent out 100 postcards on Monday across the usa and my own state how long should it take for them to arrive?

Also. I'm sending out a 100 more tomorrow across the usa should they arrive by Monday?

Asked by Patrick over 10 years ago

The most anything should take across the USA is 3-4 days I think. If you mail the postcards on Thursday I think there is a good chance they will arrive by Monday. Most first-class mail, which would include your postcards, usually takes 2 days locally and up to 4 days nationally as far as I know. As long as the postage is sufficient (.35 or .49) and the mail is addressed properly, the USPS does a very good job of meeting those service standards.

If I'm not putting my address on a letter that I'm mailing do I still have to put my city, state, and zip code?

Asked by Msjas92 over 10 years ago

Not at all. As far as I know, there is no requirement for any return address or partial return address. It is important for the destination address to be complete. This mainly would be an issue if you wanted to receive the item back to you in case it was undeliverable for any reason. I'd recommend putting a return address on a letter that is being mailed, but it's your decision and you probably have your reasons for not wanting to put one on the letter that you are mailing.

I am expecting a check from Prudential that was mailed out on the 29th. They said 3-5 business days but its the 6th day and its not here. My apartment number wasn't on the mail but whats more likely, the snow storms delaying mail or was it returned?

Asked by Anthony about 11 years ago

It is possible that the mail from Prudential is delayed due to the storm or because there is no apt. # on the address. I am not sure which would be more likely. I don't know how strict your post office or letter carrier is on delivering to multi-unit buildings with no apt # on the mail. I would think that if they know what unit the letter should go to it would be a good idea to just deliver it there. In general it is important to put your apt # on your address, but I think you know that. I'd recommend giving it a few more days before worrying that the check is really lost. Thanks for the question.

If schools close will you/a mailmen or women still come to deliver us our newspapers or mail?

Asked by Shayreisch@yahoo.com over 11 years ago

Yes, if a school is open or not has no direct bearing on whether or not the US Mail gets delivered. That being said, if a school is closed due to extreme weather, it is possible that we can't deliver the mail either. Generally it would take a pretty heavy snowfall and unplowed roads to stop us from delivering the mail. In my career as a letter carrier, we have only suspended delivery a few times due to poor weather. Our delivery vehicles are very poor on icy and snowy roads which is quite unsafe and makes me a bit nervous to drive in those poor conditions.