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

Why would my mailman have a rider with him today. Sitting in a short seat right in the middle?

Asked by L. over 8 years ago

There are two reasons I can think of that there would be a rider in the middle seat. The first reason would be that a supervisor was riding along for part of the day which they may do once a year or so. Sometimes they just follow along in their own vehicle. The other reason would be if a new hire (CCA) was learning on the job from a carrier trainer and going out to deliver for the day with the trainer. Those are the two reasons I can think of. I guess another reason is if there were many packages to be delivered a helper could ride along but I’ve yet to ever see that in my office with a regular LLV (long life vehicle). That is usually done with a larger delivery vehicle or our new Dodge Promasters. Thank you for writing in with a question.

Can you tell me what is likely going on with this package? 92055901755477000028317195

Asked by mcmjuly over 8 years ago

I am just speculating that the item may not have even left PR yet. It has been scanned as being processed through the San Juan PR distribution center but that may not mean it has even been loaded onto an aircraft to the mainland USA. There are significant service disruptions for mail going to/from PR due to Hurricane Maria. I don’t have any more information then to just give you this generic answer and to be patient. If you called the USPS customer service phone #, I’m guessing you’d get a similar answer.

I subscribe to the new-ish "Informed Delivery Service3" that started in aroud 2016.
Bwwn using it now for about 4 months, impressed. One isssue: I saw the phtograph of my 2nd paycheck (a "one-ff", stipend) Monday morning, but wasnt in my box later!

Asked by Danso over 8 years ago

I have heard of this happening before. A customer showed me her Informed Delivery email and the image of an item that should've been delivered that day but wasn't. I said I had no idea why the letter wouldn't be in the mail but asked her to wait until the following day to see if the letter would arrive. The letter did arrive the next day so that issue was resolved. I hope it is the same case with your missing paycheck. I overheard from a supervisor what the problem would be. Apparently the letter is imaged somewhere in the automated mail sortation process before the very last step of being placed in a tray of mail in delivery sequence. This is one possible reason why the letter was not in the mail delivery the day it should have been. It is also possible that the letter is missorted by our automation and/or misdelivered. Hopefully this isn't too common of an occurrence when compared to the quantity of mail delivered each day. I hope this helps and thanks for writing.

Ref below. Started after sub carrier removed from my route 4 not delivering my catalogs. Reg carrier did this 2x. Other carrier(union rep) put something back in bag & went on. Not receive Red/White Kroger coupons 5/24. Time 2 write US Senator again

Asked by Just Me almost 9 years ago

I can't really comment on any specifics that are happening with regards to your mail delivery. I do agree 100% that you should be receving every piece of mail that a mailer has paid for you to get. This would include any mailing that isn't addressed but goes to each address on the route and is labeled "postal customer". As I've stated before I'm sure it goes on at the PO where I work as well. From top to bottom there are some apathetic and lazy employees. Please do write to your US Senator or the USPS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and make a report of what you believe is happening. I would first take it up with your local post office but that could prove fruitless.

Does the mail automatically get held for most businesses on Saturday because the assumption is they are closed, and is that why my mail at home seems to arrive earlier on that day, or is it a coincidence?

Asked by Scott about 9 years ago

It's not automatically held on Saturday for businesses unless the business is closed or has no place to leave the mail when the office is closed. This is how I believe it works though I have no businesses on the route I deliver so I can't say for sure. The letter carriers in the office where I work who have many businesses on their route generally get to the residential portions earlier on Saturday so your observation would be correct. Scott, I'd say you've made a very good observation. Thank you for writing an email to jobstr for Letter Carrier. If I had businesses on my route and were able to leave the mail in a safe place even if the office were closed on a Saturday, I may try to deliver it so I wouldn't have has heavy of a mail load for Monday.

A letter carrier uses my office restroom daily, slamming the seat, making a mess, and leaving it odorous in a poorly vented building. Lots of public restrooms in the area..can I ask him to stop? I pay rent and see counseling clients all day

Asked by Grossed Out over 8 years ago

It does sound pretty bad that the office restroom smells from this letter carrier. Could you put a can of air freshener in there to be used? If it was just an odor, I may actually defend what the carrier is doing because it’s a bodily function that we all do. I think that the fact that he is inconsiderate and makes a mess, it’s understandable that you don’t want him to use the restroom. You are certainly alllowed to request that he not use the restroom but it may be a bit of an awkward situation. We have no right to use any private bathrooms even though most offices do extend us the courtesy.

RE: Going Home With LLVs. 1st and last saw 5 years ago and reported. Parking between houses now. 1 postmaster said this is worst office in our state. I have had too many delivery problems so I removed mailbox. Having my mail delivered elsewhere.

Asked by Me over 8 years ago

I’m not sure what you mean about parking between houses . I guess you mean that the person doesn’t park the LLV in their driveway. It’s sad that you’ve had so many problems with your mail delivery that you have had to have your mail delivered elsewhere. I am sometimes embarrassed by the caliber of my co-workers. I’m sure other companies have similar issues. Thanks for your input. As I mentioned to someone today, I love my job and what I do, but can’t say the same for some of my coworkers and management. I’d say most are fine to deal with and do good work but the bad apples aren’t as rare I would hope.