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.
Krissy, thanks for the question. The letter would likely take 2 days to be delivered to the person you are mailing it to even in the same ZIP code. It used to be delivered the next day but mail processing standards for first class mail has been changed from 1 day to 2 days a few years ago. When a letter carrier picks up outgoing mail from a customer, they generally aren't looking at the destination ZIP code. Upon return to the post office, outgoing mail is usually just put in a large hamper and sent to a regional mail processing center. From there it is sorted using automated equipment and takes about 2 days for mail in the same ZIP to be delivered.
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No gift is necessary for a letter carrier, but if you'd like to give one I'm sure it will be gladly accepted. Most postal routes have the same person deliver it 5 out of the 6 delivery days per week and then someone else fills in on the regular carrier's day off. If there is a staffing shortage some routes may not have the same mailman each day. Anyhow, 2 common gifts I receive for the holidays are cash (average $20) or a gift card to a coffee chan like Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks. Thanks for asking about this.
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It depends on what other job/career options you may have and how they compare with the USPS. I have somewhat of a bias because I enjoy working here and it has been a great career. I do realize, however, that being a CCA isn't easy and it's a non-career position and only pays moderately to begin (currently $16.06/hr). Regarding the USPS financial situation, I don't think that should impact your choice. The USPS isn't going away anytime soon. While I'm sure it's losing plenty of $$ often there is still as much work as I can remember. There will likely be changes that happen years from now but I don't know what they'd look like. I've never seen a layoff or RIF since I've been employed by the USPS. Good luck to you Jerz whichever job/career path you choose.
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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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You're not supposed to wear your own shoes while you're a letter carrier. As part of your yearly uniform allowance you may order USPS-approved SR/USA shoes. They are almost always black in color and are slip-resistant. I'm not sure how strictly it is enforced but I always wear the approved shoes. If you were to fall while delivering mail one of the first things that will be looked at is whether or not you were wearing the proper footwear. I don't take very good care of my footwear and I deliver mail on a walking route so my shoes tend to wear out quickly. I pay apprx $110/pair for the USPS-approved work shoes. On a yearly basis we are allotted apprx $450 for our uniform purchases.
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Harris, for last couple of years the number of catalogs and magazines we deliver has decreased quite a bit so they generally aren't a pain at all. Some weekly circulars have loose ads that are oversize or fall out of the main circular and those can be messy, but in the whole scheme of things aren't too bad. Some people love to complain about anything so I'm sure if you poll my coworkers you'll get different answers. Just this past week, IKEA distributed their yearly catalog to many residents where I deliver mail. These are pretty thick, but since that day didn't have a lot of other catalogs or circulars it ran smoothly. It was a heavier than usual load due to the IKEA catalogs, but we only get them yearly and I can't think of another catalog mailers that puts out such thick catalogs in such quantities. In case you missed it, Victoria's Secret ceased mailing any catalogs earlier this year and they were a large mailer of catalogs in the past, I'm sure other catalog companies are following suit as they realize many consumers prefer to browse online. This is a great question. I feel the future for print advertising will continue to decline, but it may not be too precipitous. Another big catalog mailer is Bed, Bath, and Beyond though their ads are very thin so don't add much weight.
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