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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Last Answer on February 18, 2022

Best Rated

My mail carrier frequently delivers mail to my house for my neighbor. I have been walking it over, but it is happening almost daily now. How can I solve the situation? Is it rude to leave it to be re-delivered when the address is so close to me?

Asked by MB over 11 years ago

Your postal carrier shouldn't be misdelivering the mail at all. We all make mistakes but it shouldn't be a regular occurrence as you imply happens with your neighbor's mail coming to you. I think it's nice of you to bring it to your neighbor but you certainly don't have to. It is not rude whatsoever to leave the mail in your mailbox so the carrier can see it and hopefully deliver it correctly. I know you may not feel comfortable leaving a note in your mailbox with the incorrectly delivered mail stating that this is a regular occurrence and please be more careful with your delivery, but this type of note would be entirely appropriate. I care so much about delivering properly that I appreciate it when a customer tells me about an errant delivery or leaves the letter in their mailbox to be re-delivered. I wish all of my co-workers felt the same way. Some do and some don't. Thanks for your question.

699 Votes

The mailman at my office came in to deliver mail and I told him that we had moved our postage machine from one location to another and he told me that they get paid by the foot and his supervisor measures it once a year. Is that true? I doubt it!

Asked by Shan over 11 years ago

I have not had an office to deliver on a regular basis so I can't comment as to how far a letter carrier is supposed to go I to an office to deliver or retrieve outgoing mail. Usually I'd expect to mostly deliver to a mail room or reception desk. As far as getting paid by the foot, I can assure you if it is a city letter carrier they are being paid "on the clock" meaning it has nothing to do with distance traveled on foot, but only by time working. A rural letter carrier may have a different way to calculate their pay where I don't know the details. If your letter carrier is wearing the traditional blue uniform, it is likely they are a city carrier and if the location of your postage machine took them longer to access, they'd actually be paid more money because it took them longer. I am being picayune but I hope you understand the point. Some mail carriers are just lazy, will feed you a line, or genuinely know some of the rules about office delivery.

699 Votes

I am from Paraguay and have sent four items to the US, all with tracking numbers. They went through the Miami ISC but it's been more than a month and there has been no further updates. What may have happened and what could I do?

Asked by renef09 over 11 years ago

I am thinking it may be held up in Customs, but am not sure if that happens before or after it gets to the ISC, or is maybe based in the Miami ISC. Do you know if the recipient is still looking for their items? Sometimes it doesn't get any more bar code scans before it is delivered but actually has been delivered. You could go to www.usps.com and maybe do an inquiry as to where the items could be but I don't have a lot of confidence that you will get any more info than is what you already have.

699 Votes

Daughter of a deceased employee submitted an employee generated mlna with letter attached indicating father had past. I did mlna on the mail, then 2 days a fwd was put thru. Do l now fwd or mlna and will that mlna come back in dps or to office.

Asked by jvitto48 about 11 years ago

I would forward any mail you receive from this point forward since you now have a valid COA for that former employee who is now deceased. Any mail that was previously put through with the MLNA may not come back at all and was returned to the sender. If the mail happens to come back to your office I would then forward it. This is all just my opinion. I'd ask the clerk who handles forwards in your office or a supervisor, but they may also just give an opinion without knowing if there is a correct procedure.

699 Votes

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Are the people at the counter in the post office obliged to ask me what I am sending in a Large Letter ?? thank you

Asked by Werlygig about 11 years ago

I don't believe they can ask you what is actually in the large letter, but I know if it's over a certain weight or size, they can ask something to the effect of "is the item you are mailing liquid, fragile, perishable, or potentially hazardous?" and you self-certify the answer with a yes or no. Certain batteries have to go by surface only and can't fly on airplanes. So I would take exception of they actually ask you what is being mailed if it's first class or Priority Mail. If you are mailing something via Medial Mail they can verify or even open a package to inspect that it is media (books, CDs, cassettes, video, DVD). I hope this answers your question.

699 Votes

I'm a CCA in Ohio that survived the winter (YAY!) and this will be my first summer working for the USPS. Do you have any tips for surviving the heat?

Asked by Bradan over 11 years ago

Bradan, Congratulations on surviving the winter! That can't have been fun at all. I'm just glad it's over also. As much as the heat isn't fun, I prefer it over the cold. I know there are others who feel quite differently about that. As far as tips go, my main tips are: 1) Drink plenty of water or some other liquids. I've heard different schools of thought whether or not Gatorade is good. My joke is that on the internet you can find anybody to support your opinion. I would guess that it works but there is a very high sugar content. The key is to stay hydrated.

2) Wear a hat to block the sun off your head and face. I wear a cowboy-type hat which works well. I fold the edges up by the ear so it doesn't look so funny but there is a tradeoff in that I'm exposing more of my face to the sun. I'm not sure what the official name of the hat is. You could also wear a white mesh pith helmet. Baseball caps will help as well but not cover too much of your face or neck for sun exposure. I also wear sunglasses most of the time.

3) Wear as light clothes as possible. I usually wear shorts in the warm weather and a short-sleeve uniform shirt with a t-shirt underneath.

Those are the basic tips that I can think of. Make sure to ask or take a cue from your fellow carriers, as I'm far from being an expert on this. On the very hot and humid days I consume water without even thinking about it, usually bringing about 2 liters with me plus some orange juice to drink with lunch.

Good luck to you. During July and August there is so much extra work to do because of our fellow workers going on vacation. We never seem to have enough help. I'm sure that story is repeated in many Post Offices nationwide.

699 Votes

We are having our front steps removed for some landscaping and the mailman won't be able to get to our mailbox that is right by our front door. What do we do?

Asked by Melissa over 10 years ago

If it is a temporary change, you could put a replacement mailbox or cardboard box (or anything labeled US mail) in an area visible and accessible to your letter carrier. I had a resident recently move the mailbox to near his garage because his whole front steps area of the house was being ripped out, expanded, and rebuilt. Your letter carrier shouldn't give you a hard time about this. If you get a chance you can mention it to them ahead of the construction beginning, or post a note by your present mailbox that you'll soon be providing a temporary alternate area to deliver the mail. Thanks for your question and consideration.

698 Votes

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