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

Do you think it's a wise career choice/ change to become a cca and tough it out to become a regular with the current usps financial situation?

Asked by Hobbz over 8 years ago

It depends on what other job/career options you may have and how they compare with the USPS. I have somewhat of a bias because I enjoy working here and it has been a great career. I do realize, however, that being a CCA isn't easy and it's a non-career position and only pays moderately to begin (currently $16.06/hr). Regarding the USPS financial situation, I don't think that should impact your choice. The USPS isn't going away anytime soon. While I'm sure it's losing plenty of $$ often there is still as much work as I can remember. There will likely be changes that happen years from now but I don't know what they'd look like. I've never seen a layoff or RIF since I've been employed by the USPS. Good luck to you Hobbz whichever job/career path you choose.

420 Votes

Ive heard that mailmen have to park at the end of the street and walk the route instead of driving from house to house..Is that true?

Asked by patty about 9 years ago

Now you're speaking my language Patty. This is exactly how I deliver much of my postal route. The mailboxes where I deliver mail are at the door as opposed to at the street. If the mailboxes are at the street, the letter carrier can usually remain in their vehicle and go house to house. That is called a mounted or curbside delivery method. When the houses aren't too far apart and are on both sides of the street, I'll park at the end of a block, walk down one side delivering the mail, cross over to the other side and return to my vehicle after delivering both sides of the street. That is called a relay. From the same parking spot, I can sometimes deliver up to 3 relays of mail. The method described is called the 'park and loop' method. It is efficient because you can often cross lawns without having to continuously walk to the street and move the vehicle. The relays on the route I deliver range in length from 14-28 houses.

419 Votes

If I'm tracking priority mail will it show the package was delivered after delivery or when the mail carrier returns to the post office

Asked by Skip about 9 years ago

Most, if not all, letter carriers are now equipped with mobile scanning devices that transmit delivery data more or less in real time (I'm guessing a few minutes delay but not much more). With our previous scanning devices our delivery data was also transmitted but we had to have it paired with an older flip phone to transmit the data to our main computer system delivery database. Thanks for your question.

419 Votes

What do you do if a dog is about to bite you?

Asked by Savvy over 8 years ago

The USPS is always warning us to steer clear of dogs and don't pet them even if the owner says "my dog doesn't bite". There are some dogs on the route I deliver which I trust to come up to me. I don't pet them but sometimes they will come up to my leg. For the most part i don't get involved with dogs. If we think a dog will bite us we are taught to use our satchel (if we are using one) as a shield between us and the dog. Another item we carry is "Back Off" Dog Repellent which we can spray at the face of a dog if we are bitten or about to be bit by a dog. The dog will usually back off and get disoriented. I have never been bit except for a nip on my legs which I didn't report to my supervisor. There are many dogs on the route which I deliver but most owners are very responible in not letting them out off-leash.

417 Votes

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CAN I PUT A LETTER/note for my mail carrier on the outside of my mail box

Asked by Kali almost 9 years ago

Sure you can. I don't see any reason why you couldn't do this. It's important to clearly write the letter carrier's name or "mailman" or something that makes it known it is for them. Postage shouldn't be necessary. I sometimes get notes asking me to hold the mail for them if they are on vacation and going away. This is a free service which is offered.

416 Votes

my route is over a mile long to get to and iam 60 yrs old.my boss said i have to walk and i cant ,rather take bus to route and he said no .what do i do

Asked by Rob about 9 years ago

I don't know anything about the particulars in how you get to your route and any rules associated with that. I guess you have a walkout route which means there is no vehicle for you to use and you get your mail from relay boxes around the city. How is it possible that you can't walk to your route but you are unable to walk to deliver your route? I assume it is because of your age. I agree that one mile is a bit of a long way just to get to your delivery route. For the average person it takes about 18-20 minutes to walk one mile. Since I don't know any rules that discuss the method of transportation to get to your route, I'd refer you to a shop steward or the NALC regional office that covers your area. They may know more but don't count on it. There are just some scenarios not covered in our joint USPS/NALC handbooks or manuals. I don't know if there is some request for accommodation that could be made based on your physical condition.

416 Votes

Currently on a comp tour my ns day is on a Thursday, Feb 18,bid on a route to start Friday 19 which is that route weekend off, not on ot list, do l work that day to get 40 hours bc Monday is a holiday Feb 15.

Asked by jvitto48 over 9 years ago

I didn't know that an assignment can officially start on a non-Saturday. Saturday begins a pay week and from then until the following Friday a regular city letter carrier (like yourself) is guaranteed 40 hours of pay which could include a holiday (like 2/15) or paid sick or annual leave. In your situation I would think that you'd have to work on either Thursday or Friday to make up the 40 hours. It's a bit confusing as to know what assignment you would do considering I don't know the size of your office and how easily they could put you somewhere else for either Thursday or Friday. I don't know the contract well enough to even know if this issue is addressed. I'd recommend talking to your shop steward or supervisor to see what they think. Is it possible that the start of your bid could be delayed until Saturday 02/20/16 in which case you'd be on your comp tour on 2/19 and would be working to get 40 hours for the week ending Friday 02/19/16.

415 Votes

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