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.
If a neighborhood has cluster boxes, it's usually a group of 6-30 addresses per cluster box. I actually made up that number. Where I deliver to cluster boxes, they range from 4-16 addresses per cluster box. As the letter carrier, I have a key which opens up the cluster box fully and then i can sort all of the mail for those addresses at one time. The boxes are usually well labeled inside (with the cluster panel open) to know where to put the mail. It's important for the letter carrier to know whether to put the mail either above or below the address if the slots are stacked vertically. I have seen my fellow letter carriers, and I'm sure myself make errors in deliveries to cluster boxes. I also live in an apartment building where mail is delivered into cluster boxes near the elevators. It can get more tedious than walking from door to door delivering mail but it is more efficient to deliver mail to cluster box units.
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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".
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As long as you've passed the 90-day probationary period, you'd be eligible to become a career employee once a position becomes available. They usually convert CCA to Regular "career" employees in the order which the CCAs were hired. Depending on how quickly older workers retire or other workers transfer or leave the USPS will often decide how long it takes to be converted. Where I work, it has been usually less than 18 months to be converted but your mileage may vary greatly. It is very good to become a career employee because you have guaranteed number of hours you'll work each week, plus you get health insurance coverage.
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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.
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I think it would be great if you scored well on any exams you take for employment with the USPS. Many new hires today are hired as CCA (city carrier assistant) which is a letter carrier position. I think you apply for certain positions so you may have a choice to be a CCA or PSE (Postal Support Employee). A PSE is a position where you generally work inside doing mail processing, distribution, or retail sales and service. Most, if not all, of the letter carriers who I work with were hired as carriers first. I don't, however, have any more insight to the hiring practices except what I posted here. I know I'd always like to see motivated and competent individuals hired by the USPS.
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You certainly are paid when you go to orientation. The current CCA pay rate is approximately $16.10/hr. You will likely have to file HR paperwork if you'd like direct deposit or maybe it's all done electronically now. It sounds like you are hired, however there is a 90-day probationary period where you can be fired with not much recourse. If you can't perform sufficiently enough in the LLV or whichever vehicle they are training you in its possible you'll be terminated. Also, if you don't perform your job duties sufficiently and safely enough within the first 90 days you can also be terminated. Being on time and regular in attendance is also important. Many CCAs quit or are let go during this probationary period. I'd guess the attrition rate where I work is 50%. I truly like this job a lot though many others don't. As a CCA it's particularly difficult because each day you could be doing something different in an area you aren't familiar with. In my opinion it's worth it because most CCAs I've worked with become a regular career carrier within 18 months. Again, your mileage may vary. Once you are a regular carrier there is a guarantee of at least 40 hrs per week of work, benefits, and pretty solid job security. Dee, take one step at a time. Report to orientation and see how that goes and if you like it. The NALC has a brochure you can access online called "City Carrier Assistant Rights and Benefits" nalc.org That is the national union that represents City Letter Carriers nationwide,
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That is unfortunate that you need to move because of nosey neighbors. Your mailman should not be giving any information whatsoever to the nosey neighbors as to where you moved to. I don't have access to the new address when someone moves. I mean there is probably a way for a clerk or supervisor to access the computerized forwarding system and find out someone's new address but in general the letter carrier isn't given this information. In our office the letter carrier just gets notification via a white sticker given to us by a clerk that a certain person or family has moved as of such date and to begin submitting their mail for forwarding. I can't say for sure there is anyway to prevent your very sweet and friendly mailman from trying to internally find out that information but they shouldn't be doing that and it is a violation of our rules to be giving out that confidential information.
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