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

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 about 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.

Is it possible to deliver a letter to a retail store,like Wal-mart, to an individual working there. I realize you would have to drop it off at customer service desk, if that is even possible? Or are there other options?

Asked by DavidB over 7 years ago

We deliver mail to retail stores all of the time. For the most part, the USPS delivers mail to every address in the country. I understand your question is about having it sent to an individual at the store. The letter would be delivered with all of the other mail for the day for that business. It’d be up to the business itself to get the letter to the intended recipient and that may be difficult especially in a large store

Well he flirts with and says he likes me blah blah blah! I was just curious because all of a sudden theres this other guy and It does happen from time to time but not 2 days in a row lol. ALOT of MAILMEN are attractive.

Asked by Jessica almost 8 years ago

I don’t know what could’ve happened in that situation to make the carrier leave the route. I hope that I fit into the attractive category but as I said before I’m not the flirty type. It’s also possible that you are attractive as well. I wouldn’t tell you or anyone else what to do, but if I were a letter carrier I’d proceed with caution when flirting with patrons. By no means is it forbidden as far as I know, just that it could lead to problems if it got out of control or a customer felt uncomfortable.

If you have a letter to delver marked Restricted Delivery, and on your first attempt didn't find anyone at home, and on your second attempt did but it wasnt the addressee, would you consider marking the mail piece as 'delivered' and 'no signature'?

Asked by KDS4444 almost 8 years ago

Definitely not, KDS4444. Restricted Delivery service is very specific that the signator be the addressee and nobody else. We may not release the letter unless we have positively identified that the named addressee is the person signing for the letter. This is the service that the mailer has specifically requested. In my entire career, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve had a restricted delivery item to attempt. I don’t know if it’s more common for you. I recommend not fabricating anything when attempting to deliver a Restricted Delivery item. I’d leave a PS3849 if the named addressee isn’t available to sign for the item. Thank you for your question.

I used to have a mailman that would put packages that wouldn't fit in the mailbox on my porch. My new mailman will literally leave them on the sidewalk under the mailbox. I don't think this is appropriate at all. Is this common?

Asked by Rosie about 9 years ago

I don't think it's appropriate to leave packages on a sidewalk under a mailbox. I was taught that if it didn't fit in a mailbox to bring it to the front door/porch. As to whether or not it's common, I'd hope not. I do work with some lazy people so it wouldn't surprise me if this happened every now and then by some of my co-workers. We are paid by the hour so if it takes us longer to go to a door to deliver a package we are getting paid more theoretically. The only protocol that I'm aware of is that packages should be left in a safe location. It may be subjective as to what one considers safe. I'd recommend contacting your local post office and mention to a delivery supervisor or manager that you don't like packages being left on the sidewalk if they won't fit into your mailbox. You may request that the items be brought to your front door/porch. I don't know if this will solve your problem but it's worth a try. Thanks for your question.

Hi A month ago i bidded on a route and i got the news that i got it. I started working in the route and then i hear that someone else posted for the position also and that he had more seniority than I. I am ask to give him the route

Asked by William over 8 years ago

It should be a very straightforward process as to who is awarded an assignment. Seniority is usually the main determining factor. In your case I don't know why they would say you won the bid and then later say someone higher in seniority bid for it. I would ask to see evidence of the bid and that it was submitted in time by the person with more seniority than you. I've never seen this conflict happen before where I work. If you can bid for other offices in your city I thought the process was fully automated. I am not sure what advice to give you. A union shop steward may be able to help you but maybe they are involved in person with higher seniority get assigned to the route that you got.

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 over 8 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.