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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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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I am not sure anything can be done about it. I don't know why the neighbors would sign for the item without knowing who it was for, unless they thought they were doing the intended recipient (you, in this case) a favor. I also don't why your neighbors would open a package that clearly didn't belong to them. You could call or email the sender them that you received the package (which I think you eventually did unless your letter carrier was the one telling you the story) and that the item is damaged. I don't know if the problem can be remediated or not. If the item was sent with insurance, maybe a claim can be filed. Apartment number is sometimes as vital as the street address itself.
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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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Audiologist
How come people with hearing aids still can't seem to hear?
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Why is an advanced degree required to dole out pills at a pharmacy?
Track and Field Coach
How often are your athletes tested for PEDs and is it easy to beat?
I don't know much about the DDC. If I took it at the USPS, I don't remember. There could be a quiz but it's probably not too difficult especially if you've taken a DDC before outside the USPS. Important things are to always wear a seatbelt, don't drive distracted, keep a safe following distance, only back up when necessary, and always turn off the vehicle when getting out of it. I'd imagine there would be some videos. There is an entire procedure to follow each time you leave the USPS delivery vehicle which should be taught to you eventually. It is vital to follow that for safety reasons and stopping preventable accidents. Good luck!
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You are doing it correctly by choosing "no" when the question comes on the MDD asking "is this a duplicate mailpiece". The next screen should say "label scanned in error" and then let you choose "delivered". I get this message when I accidentally have scanned a mailpiece twice in a row. The scanner is asking if you have 2 mail pieces with the same USPS tracking number which shouldn't happen. It has nothing to do whether or not it was ever scanned in the office by a clerk. The MDD doesn't hold that information. I think the only time you'd get two packages with identical tracking numbers is if the mailer printed out the same label twice and attached it to two separate items. This would be cheating the USPS out of revenue. I've seen this happen before but it is rare.
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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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