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 can't say why your letter carrier does what you are mentioning. It's unfortunate that you have an issue with her. By saying that she is still delivering mail, I assume you mean that she still is working for the USPS as a letter carrier but not physically delivering mail to your residence because your mail is being forwarded to a PO Box. A vacant card is appropriate to be put in your mailbox so that anybody who is delivering mail on a route that includes your address would know not to leave any mail in it. It's also unfortunate that you have to now go to a PO Box to retrieve your mail plus pay a rental fee. Is it possible that the letter carrier is checking the mailbox to make sure no mail has been accidentally left there by someone else? I doubt that is the case because it seems like you and her were in a conflict and that she probably isn't going out of her way to help you. While I'm only hearing one side of this conflict (yours), I can certainly say there are some bad workers for the USPS and nothing would surprise me about the actions of some letter carriers.
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This happens sometimes if a route is divided up for the day and perhaps the "dividing line" is near your house. This happens a lot when we are shorthanded, so other carriers may deliver their own route and then a part of another route. I know it may look inefficient and random, but that's what happens when people do "pieces" on other routes. It is sometimes inefficient and random due to poor management or short staffing. Some POs face this issue more than others. It is especially common in the summer months when many co-workers go on vacation but it certainly can be an issue year round.
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First I'd like to say that it's unfortunate that you letter carrier accidentally stepped into the concrete you just had poured for a new driveway. I have done this myself but only with a recently resealed driveway and the result was just I tracked some sealant around the bottom of my shoes for a short while. I can't answer your question as to whether or not the USPS would be responsible for the cost to fix the driveway that was damaged by the letter carrier. I'd recommend calling or even visiting your local PO and speak with a delivery supervisor or the postmaster and tell them what happened. Bring a photo that you may have taken of the damage or have it on your mobile device. I wouldn't hold out much hope that the claims process is easy or that the person you speak with even knows about it. I'm guessing you may have to be a bit persistent or go up a chain of command to get someone who is knowledgeable about the USPS liability, if any. We are required to cut across lawns to deliver the mail when it's feasible to do so. For this reason I can see how a letter carrier may not realize that a new driveway has been poured as we often have our head down getting the mail ready for delivery at the next house. I just don't know if the USPS has any responsibility to fix your driveway. I can't imagine it's too inexpensive to have the concrete cut out and repoured.
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My pleasure Dee! Again, good luck to you in training. Always keep in mind that whatever I tell you is anecdotal and what I've experienced. There are many inconsistencies within the USPS depending on where you work and the personalities you come across. It shouldn't be this way but I'm sure that happens in other organizations just as much. I enjoy so much of this job because I'm out on my own for about 6 hrs a day not dealing with too much internal politics, etc.
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Lara, today I had a similar situation today with one of the customers I deliver to. They showed me their USPS Infromed Delivery email and an item shown wasn't in their actual mail. It was a specific letter they were waiting for. I don't know what to do if the letter doesn't show up. Your question seems to also ask about not getting any delivery whatsoever on Saturday. That shouldn't happen. We deliver on Mon-Sat excluding national holidays. I know some offices are having a staff shortage, but that's not a great explanation. I have little faith In the quality of work done by some coworkers and supervisors. Many have an "I don't care" attitude. This is nothing new but seemingly more prevalent lately.
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I don't know how this works in all offices, but I can tell you what happens in the office where I deliver mail in Long Island, NY. This may not be a nationwide policy. When a letter carrier (usually an unassigned regular or CCA) opts, or holds down, an assignment they get that assignments day off. Our office has mostly rotating days off so that won't change. What may change is the "days off" group that carrier falls into. This is usually a low impact issue when a carrier opts for a group since almost all of us have rotating days off. Only 2 assignments at the PO where I work has 2 assignments with fixed days off (Saturday). The remaining 40 (approximately) assignments have rotating days off. Thank you for the question.
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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.
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