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.
I don't know anything about cards that need to be submitted so that mail can be received at rural mailboxes, but I'm also not familiar with rural route procedures in general. I don't see why mail that has a valid address regardless of the name of the resident/business which is on the mail wouldn't be delivered unless the recipient refuses it. I have no authority as a city letter carrier to decide who qualifies to receive mail. I deliver mail to an address unless it's a previous resident or an unknown name which the current resident doesn't know or want to accept. It's very normal to have someone run a business from their home. I think it was proper of you to check with your local PO to ask about this but I wouldn't have thought you would receive the answer you did. If you wanted to, you could tape a small note inside of your mailbox saying "accepting mail for (name of business)". That would remove any doubt in the mind of a rural carrier whether or not the business name is valid at your address. To answer the first part of your q, I hope the postal worker wasn't drunk, just giving you wrong info.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%20wanted%20to%20add%20my%20business%20to%20my%20rural%20delivery%20box%20vs%20a%20po%20box.%20I%20was%20given%20the%20driver%27s%20cell%20number%20and%20told%20that%20if%20it%20was%20o.k.%20with%20him%2C%20I%20should%20then%20submit%20an%20updated%20card.%20Was%20she%20drunk%20or%20do%20drivers%20decide%20who%20qualifies%20to%20receive%20mail%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16536)
I believe it's allowed for a letter carrier to take home the mail vehicle to your own residence as long as it's within a reasonable distance of where you deliver the mail, I delivered mail to a letter carrier's home who delivered mail on a nearby route. He'd bring his vehicle home daily (I could set my watch by him) and eat lunch. Our normal lunch break is 30 minutes and that includes the time it takes to get to and from your postal route. If the carrier was there for more than 30 minutes, that may not be appropriate but I can't really speak for anything that I don't personally know since the rules are so often enforced arbitrarily.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Are%20mail%20carriers%20allowed%20to%20take%20mail%20truck%20home%20everyday%20during%20their%20route%3F%20Curious%20because%20my%20neighbor%20does%20this%20daily%20and%20usually%20in%20his%20truck%20for%20a%20bit%20like%2010-15%20min%20then%20goes%20in%20his%20house%20for%2020-30%20min.%20Then%20leaves.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16933)
Asking me and other letter carriers will likely get you 2 different answers. I think it's great to get the smartpost and surePost parcels to deliver alongside our regular mail. I view it as more business for the USPS, my employer. If my employer can get more business that would hopefully translate as better for the workers. I don't find it an annoyance whatsoever and know it's part of my job. If the volume of parcels gets too high I would possibly take longer to complete my route which translates into overtime pay which would be beneficial. The volume of parcels that I deliver is not overwhelming except around the holiday season. Amazon uses the USPS as well as other delivery companies to complete their delivery fulfillment. There are some coworkers who don't want to do any extra work and complain about everything so the extra parcels would annoy them. I feel they are close-minded and lazy. In so many cases I don't see the importance of US Mail nowadays with regards to financial statements and bills. That has been able to be done electronically for so many years now. Parcels are what our business should be happy to be delivering. Don't ever feel bad about ordering too much online. I know I wouldn't.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=How%20do%20you%20and%20the%20other%20letter%20carriers%20you%20know%20feel%20about%20all%20these%20extra%20parcels%20from%20SmartPost%20and%20SurePost%20that%20you%27re%20expected%20to%20deliver%20alongside%20the%20mail%20every%20day%3F%20Is%20it%20an%20annoyance%3F%20Sometimes%20if%20I%20order%20too%20much%20from%20Amazon%20I%20feel%20bad%21&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/17193)
In my opinion you can ask a letter carrier anything you want but you may get a whole variety of replies that run the gamut from helpful to not being interested. I don't know any rules on what they can and can't help you with but the letter carrier should always protect the confidentiality of the customer and any mail they receive. That is pretty sacred. To give you a personal answer, nobody has ever approached me about getting leads about anything except maybe real estate agents. To be fair, I wouldn't be interested in helping anybody get potential leads for anything. I feel it is entirely unprofessional to do. A real estate agent may say to me I'll give you a referral commission if I know of anybody selling their house. I may accept their business card but not do anything else. To sum up, I don't know what you can and can't ask a letter carrier, but I feel it's unprofessional and possibly unethical to assist salespeople working in the area.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=What%20draws%20the%20line%20with%20that%20I%20can%20and%20can%27t%20ask%20the%20mail-carrier%3F%20%20More%20specifically%2C%20%20I%20wanted%20to%20ask%20them%20about%20potential%20lawn-care%20leads%20on%20their%20route.%20Im%20a%20college%20student%20starting%20small-time%20gig%20in%20a%20competitive%20market.Is%20this%20Exploitation%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/17503)
Social Security Employee
How do you check to see whether someone claiming disability is actually disabled?
Tattoo Artist
Have you ever messed up while giving someone a tattoo?
Nurse Practitioner
As gender roles continue to evolve, are you seeing a rise in the % of male nurses?
As much as I hate hearing stories like this I know it all too much to be true. We have many employees who don't care about delivering mail properly or accurately or have an attitude. Unfortunately I don't know how effective complaining about a letter carrier is. Our management often is indifferent or powerless to effect major changes in someone's work ethic. I know this sounds damning of many co-workers but I just get that feeling at times. I don't mean to sidestep your question but wanted to explain that none of this surprises me. I'd start by contacting your local post office and ask to speak with a delivery supervisor or manager. Tell them your story but don't exaggerate it. If your service continues to be poor or you don't think you're getting mail that you're supposed to or that items you mailed aren't getting to their destination, I suppose the next step would be to contact the USPS Consumer Affairs division. I honestly don't know how effective any of this is, but worth a try. Hopefully I'm wrong in the not-so-rosy picture I painted. If you visit www.usps.com maybe there will be information on how to contact your local PO with a complaint because it's not always so easy to find the phone number of your local PO. Linda, thank you for your question.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%27ve%20been%20having%20a%20very%20hard%20time%20with%20my%20mailman.%20One%20day%20last%20winter%2C%20he%20threw%20my%20mail%20on%20my%20concrete%20step%20in%20the%20snow%20because%20he%20said%20it%20was%20to%20snowy%2C%20it%20wasn%27t%20at%20all%21%20I%27ve%20had%20numerous%20bills%20and%20mail%20that%20never%20was%20delivered.%20who%20do%20i%20call%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/17816)
Bronco, I can't give you any definitive answer on this because I don't have knowledge of workers comp/OJI rules with respect to delivering a route or holding a route. I think because it was an OJI, the carrier's route is protected indefinitely unless they voluntarily give it up or retire on disability. This is a comment made with no reference to documentation so I don't know that I'm correct. I know being a CCA is not very desirable but if you have patience then eventually you will become a full-time regular. The size and seniority of your office makes a big difference in how quickly you will become regular. Your union (NALC) rep may know a little more about this subject but I make no promises about that either. Furthermore, they will correctly want to protect that route for the injured carrier as much as they are allowed to. This is probably not the answer you wanted to hear but it's my best guess. Patience is a virtue.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Carrier%20injured%20been%20on%20partial%20duty%20for%20Two%20years%20has%20been%20deemed%20unable%20to%20carry%20by%20doctor.%20When%20must%20she%20vacate%20the%20route.%20As%20of%20now%20she%20is%20casing%20for%2040%20min%20in%20the%20morning%20so%20I%20am%20not%20made%20full%20time.%20Frustrated%20cca&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/17290)
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.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Can%20someone%20put%20a%20note%20on%20a%20commercial%20mail%20box%20instructing%20the%20mail%20carrier%20to%20put%20their%20mail%20in%20a%20different%20box&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16543)
-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
