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.
Jessica, yes I have a very dry sense of humor and since you don’t know me it’s important I put LOL. If I didn’t you may have been a bit taken aback by the comment. Either of the reasons given by the fill-in guy could be valid but you think it may be another reason. I think eventually that you will find out by whether or not he starts delivering to your house again. Sometimes if we have too much to deliver, the supervisor will take away part of our route and give it to a substitute letter carrier or for another regular carrier as overtime.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=My%20mouth%20just%20dropped%21%20I%20am%20definitely%20no%20home%20wrecker%20lol%20I%20know%20you%20were%20kidding.%20%20I%20do%20have%20an%20update%20lol%2C%20I%20asked%20the%20fill%20in%20guy%20what%20happened%20and%20he%20said%20that%20my%20regular%20had%20too%20much%20mail%20to%20carry%20today%2C%20then%20said%20he%20thinks%20hes%20on%20vaca..%20BS&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/19362)
Not often. I deliver the same route each day, so I pretty much know when residents move in or out. I deliver mail in an upper middle class community and there aren't many rentals and most houses are occupied. If mail begins to accumulate for awhile and I don't see any activity at the house and the grounds start to look more unkempt I may suspect a house is vacant. When most people move, they submit a change of address/forwarding order. This also gives me an indication that if I don't see a new residents name that the house could be vacant. At present, about 1% of the houses on my route are considered vacant and don't receive mail delivery. I'm sure in many other communities that aren't as well off economically there could be more vacant homes.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=do%20you%20come%20across%20a%20lot%20of%20vacant%20houses%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/17161)
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.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=my%20route%20is%20over%20a%20mile%20long%20to%20get%20to%20and%20iam%2060%20yrs%20old.my%20boss%20said%20i%20have%20to%20walk%20and%20i%20cant%20%2Crather%20take%20bus%20to%20route%20and%20he%20said%20no%20.what%20do%20i%20do&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/17033)
I don't know anything about who opens first class letters deemed suspicious by the USPSIS and the difficulty in obtaining a search warrant to do so. I'm guessing it's not something my local PO gets too involved in. I would think if the item is deemed harmless that it would continue on to be delivered to the recipient. I've never had any dealings with the USPSIS with regards to intercepting or seizing any mail that I deliver. We don't seem them too often at the postal facility where I work.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Are%20letters%20opened%20by%20the%20Postal%20Inspection%20Service%20--%20and%20determined%20to%20be%20harmless%20--%20then%20forwarded%20to%20the%20intended%20recipient%3F%20%20Is%20it%20hard%20to%20obtain%20a%20warrant%20to%20seize%20and%20examine%20First%20Class%20mail%3F%20%20Or%20is%20it%20easily%20obtained%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/17087)
Nurse Practitioner
As gender roles continue to evolve, are you seeing a rise in the % of male nurses?
Yoga Instructor
Why don’t more men do yoga?
Lifeguard
Are most public pools just gross lakes of bodily fluids?
I doubt that mail is picked up from the blue outside mailboxes on a federal holiday (02/15/16 Washington's Birthday, for example). I can only speak for where I work but I think there are no trucks with collection box mail going from most POs to a mail processing facility. At the PO where I work in Long Island, NY the building is shut on Sundays and Holidays (except for most of December when we deliver parcels from our PO) and nobody is emptying the blue outside collection boxes. In summary, whether you mail the letter this Monday (02/15/16) or Tuesday, (02/17/16) it shouldn't make a difference on the speed of processing it.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Wondering%20if%20mail%20is%20picked%20up%20from%20the%20blue%20outside%20mailboxes%20at%20the%20post%20office%20on%20a%20federal%20holiday%20%28like%202-15-2016%29%3F%20I%20figured%20I%20could%20drop%20it%20off%20tomorrow%20and%20it%20would%20be%20in%20the%20mail%20system%20and%20on%20its%20way%20one%20day%20earlier.%20It%27s%20a%20stamped%20envelope&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16471)
Congratulations on being hired as a CCA for the USPS. I can't say for sure that it's true that you won't get a day off. From what I've seen, the CCAs where I work often work 7 days a week but it seems after a couple of weeks they are given a day off. I don't know if there are any rules that you must be given a day off after working a certain amount of consecutive days. It may depend on the staffing level of your facility. I hope that you have chosen to join the NALC. Whether you have or not, a shop steward may have a better answer than I've given you on whether or not you are required to work unlimited days in a row. I'm also on a Facebook group for postal workers. One is NALC and the other is Postal Maniacs. If you join them, you could post this same question and get answers from actual CCAs. Good luck to you. Please work safely and deliver the mail accurately. Sunday delivery usually consists of Amazon.com package delivery, not regular mail.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%20was%20just%20hired%20as%20a%20CCA.%20Are%20the%20horror%20stories%20about%20literally%20never%20getting%20a%20day%20off%20true%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16443)
I'm not sure if you will like the job as a letter carrier because each person is different. There are few important things about it to know when you start out as a CCA (city carrier assistant). They include being very flexible in your schedule, being assigned different routes daily depending on staffing needs, and possibly working on Sundays and Holidays. It can be a physically demanding job and you want to be prepared for all different weather extremes depending on where you live. I enjoy the job because I'm not in an office and I can be very organized and am providing quality service to whomever I deliver mail. I recommend doing a little research on websites like postalmag.com or postalnews.com to learn of the latest issues. The USPS plans to hire tens of thousands of people in 2016, but part of the reason is that the attrition rate is high. In a recent article I read, 54.4% of CCAs didn't stay on the job for more than one year. I find the job fun, but it's been many years since I've been in a position of a different assignment each day or every few days. I do see the job as a challenge for new hires. I wish you well if you decide to become a letter carrier. Work accurately and safely, and try not to let any office negativity get to you.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=do%20you%20think%20i%20will%20like%20it%2C%20%20ive%20had%20an%20engineering%20job%20for%20years%20on%20a%20desk%2C%20i%27m%20bord%20and%20thought%20i%20would%20try%20this%2C%20i%20have%20passed%20the%20test%20and%20getting%20close%20to%20starting%20as%20a%20carrier%20%2C%20i%20hope%20its%20fun.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16515)
-OR-
Login with Facebook (max 20 characters - letters, numbers, and underscores only. Note that your username is private, and you have the option to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
(A valid e-mail address is required. Your e-mail will not be shared with anyone.)
(min 5 characters)
By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to Jobstr.com’s Terms and Privacy Policy.
-OR-
Register with Facebook(Don't worry: you'll be able to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
Browse Jobs
Host a Q&A
Search
Submit Your Question
Host a Q&A
Last 7
