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 was wondering if you would know how I would go about trying to find the last name of a letter carrier from 1967 in Brooklyn, NY.

Asked by Barbara over 8 years ago

Barbara, I have no idea how that information would be found with the USPS. I also don't know If those type of HR/Personnel records are public. Before 1971, the USPS was the Post Office Department, an executive branch of the US Government. Even if the information was available I don't know who would be helpful enough in the current USPS HQ or Human Resources Department to look this up. It would seem like a needle in a haystack and I don't have confidence you'd get anywhere in your search. This is based on my personal observations of my employer, not through any knowledge of your specific question.

I have Priority Mail stickers I can affix to the outside of packaging. Do they make any difference in how the parcel is processed or handled?

Asked by Scott over 8 years ago

They do make a difference. By affixing a Priority Mail sticker, you are required to pay the Priority Mail rate which can be much higher than the standard parcel post rate or what I think is called retail ground. Priority Mail is given excellent treatment as far as how it is transported from origin to destination and there is a very high likelihood that the item will be delivered within 1-3 days of mailing depending on the destination. If the sticker is affixed to an item but there isn't sufficient postage to cover the Priority Mail rate, the parcel will be either returned to the sender for being "short paid" or an attempt to collect the underpayment from the recipient as "postage due".

How long do you get to learn a new route, before you're expected to be "effeciant "?

Asked by Ray over 9 years ago

I don't know officially how long you have to learn a new route before you're expected to be efficient. I would estimate up to about 3 weeks before you get to know it real well. Some people excel and catch on at a quicker pace then others. As far as I know there is no official amount of time before you are expected to learn a route. On the route I currently deliver I was the floater for that route before I got to do it full-time. What that means is that I filled in for the regular carrier on their day off or when they were on vacation or sick. In my case I knew the route quite well when I was awarded it full time upon the retirement of the previous letter carrier on that assignment.

what does a mailman wear
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Asked by cameron over 8 years ago

Most letter carriers wear a USPS-funded and approved uniforms. After a few months of employment, we are given an annual allowance to buy uniforms which includes outerwear, footwear, and other accessories. If you are a rural carrier or a newer carrier, you may wear your own clothes. If you did a web search for USPS City Letter Carrier uniforms and clicked on "images", it should give you a good idea of what a uniform looks like.

If the post office is close, does that mean the mailman stops running?

Asked by Aracely over 9 years ago

Generally that would be correct. If the PO is closed due to poor weather conditions it would usually mean our whole retail and delivery operations have been suspended. I don't know if there are still processing operations going on at the mail plants. It isn't too common for us to suspend delivery for an entire day, but in blizzards or states of emergency, it could be necessary for us to do so.

My neighbor's moved and did not forward their mail. Now that their mailbox is full the postman delivers it to my mailbox. Is this wrong? The mail is piling up and spilling out all over the street. The mailbox won't even close anymore.

Asked by Regina Reyna about 9 years ago

The letter carrier shouldn't be putting your former neighbors mail in your mailbox just because they moved out without putting in a forwarding request. After all, it's not your mail and you have nothing to do with it. After awhile, the letter carrier should empty the mailbox, discard any standard mail (advertising mail of a certain class) and return any first and second class mail as "unable to forward" to the sender. At the PO, that address or unit should be marked as "vacant" so no mail is left there unless a new tenant or homeowner moves in. We shouldn't be delivering mail to addresses known to be vacant. You may leave a note note mailbox saying something to the effect "please don't leave any mail for (insert your neighbors name and/or address) in my mailbox. Thank you." If that doesn't work, you may contact your post office and mention this to a manager or delivery supervisor. From what you've described , the letter carrier(s) serving your area is quite unprofessional and doesn't care to address the issue of the mailbox overflowing.

Welcome to Massapequa, anything goes, leave it at that

Asked by jvitto48 over 9 years ago

Okay, I believe it. The contract is only as good as the mgmt and the workforce and shop stewards agree to enforce it. I see things that happen in my office which may not be the correct thing if the contract were followed to the letter, but they seem like rational solutions. It's a tricky balance in our office due to chronic short staffing and incompetence of both supervisors and coworkers. Some workers are very dedicated and do the job well. They don't need to be superstars. Others seem to purposefully work against the system and try to make everything as difficult and slow and crappy as possible. They often tend to the loudest, least mature, and least educated.