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

I didnt see any letter come still from 10 days ago. and i miss my payment. so whats wrong?

Asked by zexing cen almost 10 years ago

I am not sure what you mean by your question but it sounds like a letter you sent or are expecting to receive for 10 days hasn't arrived. Maybe it was a payment you were looking to have credited. It is likely the item has been lost or misdelivered in the mail stream. I'd give it a few more days to see if the letter shows up, but no guarantee it will. It is important that the letter had proper postage and the correct address whether it was coming to you or wherever you were mailing it to. I can't be sure what is wrong.

465 Votes

I've lived in my apartment for five years. Suddenly I'm getting standard (advertising) mail addressed to the previous tenant. This made sense when I first moved in, but why now all of a sudden and is there anything I can do about it?

Asked by Scott over 9 years ago

I'm not sure why you have recently started getting standard mail addressed to a tenant from 5 years ago. It's possible that name and address was on somebody's mailing list which was then sold to other companies/organizations. One option is to put the mail back in the mailstream or mailbox and write "person doesn't live here" on the envelope. A conscientious letter carrier would make note of it and only deliver mail addressed to you (the current tenant). Another option is to just discard/recycle the unwanted mail. Most standard mail doesn't get returned to the sender if unwanted by the recipient. We put it into a big recycle bin at work and I think it gets shipped off to a processing or recycling facility. The rate a mailer pays for standard mail usually doesn't include any type of address or return service to notify them of outdated names on their mailing lists.

464 Votes

MailmanDave,
What would you say is the biggest pain you deal with in your job?

Asked by Jack over 9 years ago

HI Jack, that is an interesting question you pose. Since I'm pretty easy going and can filter out a lot of the garbage spewed out by some co-workers and their disruptive personalities and the sometimes incompetent management, the biggest pain to me is winter weather. As warm as I can dress for the severe cold, there are occasions where my extremities just get too cold too handle it and I haven't found, or don't use, the best gloves or shoes to insulate me properly. I think if that were figured out, there isn't too much of a pain in this job. Believe me, many other letter carriers would disagree with me and can be very petty and complain about things that I feel are insignificant. Apprx 75% of the day I'm out of the office delivering mail, listening to podcasts and getting exercise by walking. I'm getting paid a fair salary with good benefits and a high level of job security. Regarding my weather comment, there are usually just a few days per year that the weather is unbearably cold. I'm not sure how I would do in much colder climates than in NY (on Long Island). All things considered, I could be doing a lot worse for a job. Thanks for your question.

463 Votes

I was a floater who just got a route. Does my salary go down with getting a route in office as opposed to 5 different routes

Asked by jvitto48 almost 10 years ago

I think you would like having your own route. It's a lot more relaxing than having to deal with 5 different carriers and their personalities.  As far as pay goes, you are correct. It does decrease when you have your own route. It's not a significant decrease IMO. If you do a web search for City Carrier Pay Chart or Pay Scale, that should help. Also, you may go to www.nalc.org where the pay chart is available. You would look at City Carrier Level 1 and the table based on when you were hired. The yearly difference between a floater and someone with their own route probably never gets to be more than $1600, but the pay chart would show it more clearly. 

462 Votes

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Can someone put a note on a commercial mail box instructing the mail carrier to put their mail in a different box

Asked by michele almost 10 years ago

I don't know what at you mean by a commercial mailbox, but generally the mail should be delivered as it's addressed unless their is a valid change of address order filed with the USPS. I have never come across that request or situation but I probably wouldn't follow those instructions, though another letter carrier may. We generally don't like special requests like that because we aren't supposed to honor them and who knows if a replacement carrier would do that when the regular carrier is not working. I like to keep thing a simple and straightforward and that seems to work well.

461 Votes

Is there turth in the fact that a mailman needs to deliver the man no matter what (bad weather, disaster, difficult mailboxes, etc.). If so why do mailman sometimes refuse to deliver mail? Why do they request for you to pick it up, if delivery is job

Asked by Curious mail questioner over 9 years ago

It's not true that we deliver in all conditions no matter what. If a letter carrier thinks it is too dangerous to deliver mail to an address they can refuse to do so no just need to tell the supervisor when they return to the post office. It's rare that I'd not deliver mail, but some of my co-workers may not try as hard to deliver the mail. It's usually better to try and get the mail delivered. This way we don't have to bring it back another day with even more mail. I'm not sure why they request mail to be picked up. If there is road construction it is sometimes difficult to get to houses, or roads could be flooded, or snowed out. We are supposed to attempt delivery each day to each address. Our unofficial motto has to do with delivering mail in all comditions, but that is a bit more folklore than reality.

461 Votes

Thanks for the reply! And as far as anything illegal,I have been getting there mail every now and then,with a name similar to my dad's?? This person was living in neighborhood, but background indicates another current address,also very close by??

Asked by DwB44 almost 10 years ago

That certainly sounds fishy, especially with mail of a similar name to your Dad, and also nearby addresses. I suppose you could alert local law enforcement or USPS Postal Inspection Service but have no idea what their response would be. If mail arrives at your address with dad's name a little bit "off", he could open it and if it's anything like an unpaid bill he could either do nothing about or call the creditor and say that it's not him.

461 Votes

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