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

On mail box cluster Iw do know which solt each person's mail goes in

Asked by Mark about 10 years ago

If a neighborhood has cluster boxes, it's usually a group of 6-30 addresses per cluster box. I actually made up that number. Where I deliver to cluster boxes, they range from 4-16 addresses per cluster box. As the letter carrier, I have a key which opens up the cluster box fully and then i can sort all of the mail for those addresses at one time. The boxes are usually well labeled inside (with the cluster panel open) to know where to put the mail. It's important for the letter carrier to know whether to put the mail either above or below the address if the slots are stacked vertically. I have seen my fellow letter carriers, and I'm sure myself make errors in deliveries to cluster boxes. I also live in an apartment building where mail is delivered into cluster boxes near the elevators. It can get more tedious than walking from door to door delivering mail but it is more efficient to deliver mail to cluster box units.

625 Votes

So I do a lot of business postcards for my online business. And I send them to churches, schools etc. what happens if it's a Saturday and the school or church or insurance office is closed. How do you deliver that Mail to them?

Asked by Andrew over 11 years ago

If the mail arrives at the PO for delivery on the Saturday and the recipient's office or building is closed, we hold the mail at the PO until the following delivery day (usually Monday) and deliver it then. We will do the same thing if a business or institution is closed any other day of the week. We will hold the mail until the next delivery day that they are open. On some occasions the facility will have a door slot or mailbox. In that case we can deliver the mail anytime since there is no need for the facility/office to be open to receive mail delivery. Thanks for your inquiry.

625 Votes

They give my returned letters back asking me why i am returning it. Isnt that a breach of privacy rightt; flagging my mai? Do i have to explain harrassement to themnand why i am returning it?

Asked by donna faulkner almost 11 years ago

You don't need to explain to any USPS employee why you are returning the mail. It is none of our business. As long as it is an unopened, first-class letter, you should be able to just write "refused" on it and have it returned. Personally I would just discard any unwanted mail. I've received debt collection letters in the past and have just ignored them and not returned them. There are certain classes of mail where we won't return to the sender because the sender has paid a pre-sorted standard rate (which is lower than the first-class rate). In that case, we just recycle any unwanted mail.

625 Votes

I recently sent a pkg. to my grandson. The tracking # says it was delivered and put in the lock box but my daughter says there is no key in her box. I am so afraid someone else got the key by mistake. What do we do? This is a priceless gift. Thanks

Asked by S.M.S over 10 years ago

The only suggestion I'd have is to have your daughter or you contact the PO which delivers the mail to her and see if the key may still be in the mailbox for another resident and/or the package is still in the lockbox. It is disconcerting that if another resident errantly got the key and/or package that they wouldn't deliver it to the intended recipient. As a letter carrier I can tell you we make delivery mistakes on a somewhat regular basis. I am pretty accurate (though not 100%..nobody is) in my delivery, but some carriers don't care as much or are unfamiliar with an area and sometimes rush which can result in mistakes. I understand that the tracking is only somewhat helpful because it shows as delivered to the lock box but that doesn't help if your daughter didn't get the key.

625 Votes

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I work front desk & the mailman is very creepy. He constantly asks me out (mentioning his wife is out of town)! He knows my first and last name from work mail -- does he have the ability to locate my home address (its in a different town)?

Asked by lavender91 over 10 years ago

I only wish I had the problem of being asked out on dates! Just kidding, and I don't mean to make light of your question. You shouldn't have to feel uncomfortable when the letter carrier comes into your office. They shouldn't be flirting with you or asking you out on dates unless it somehow seems that the feeling would be mutual. It's not a bad idea to make it clear that you aren't interested in going out with him. I know that is easier said than done. You could call the delivery supervisor or postmaster to report this but I have a feeling that might make things worse. His behavior seems quite unprofessional. I don't think it's forbidden to ask a customer to go out socially, but they shouldn't push the issue or make the customer feel awkward if they aren't interested. To answer your question about locating your home address, we don't have access to any better resources than one would have doing an Internet search. If he ever showed up at your house unexpectedly, I think I'd alert law enforcement that you may have a stalker and to let them know where he knows you from. Maybe they could tell this letter carrier to knock off that inappropriate behavior. Furthermore, we shouldn't be using information we see on mail to get information for our personal use. That is also unethical and may violate some privacy regulations. I wish you well and that the creepiness will cease.

625 Votes

How can I get a letter to a specific mail carrier. Not necessarily the one on my route.

Asked by Jane over 10 years ago

If you know their name and what PO they work at you could mail it with their name, c/o the PO where they work and hopefully they will get it. You could mark it Personal if you want to. I have lost a lot of faith lately in things getting delivered to where they should but you could try it. I would think if our supervisor or PM saw a letter addresses to an employee they'd give it to them as long as it wasn't habitual. iVe never been in that situation so I can't say for sure. Thanks for your question.

624 Votes

Can my mailman hand my package to my neighbor for her to give to me, without my permission ?

Asked by sunnywithachanceofrain over 10 years ago

I generally wouldn't do that unless I knew the neighbors were friends with each other and could be trusted to give the package to the correct recipient. I've never been in this situation since I can leave packages at a customers house without someone home to receive it. I don't know technically what we are allowed to do without your permission but we are trusted to protect the US mail and deliver it safely to the correct address.

624 Votes

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