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

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 about 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.

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.

Recently found blue tape with name printed on in inside my mailbox. Would this have been left by mail carrier?

Asked by Parker logan almost 8 years ago

I think that is probably the case that the carrier put your name on the blue tape inside of the mailbox. I believe this is very common in apt buildings or cluster box units. The reason for this is probably so the carrier knows what name to deliver to your mailbox even though one could argue that all names should be delivered unless a known forwarding request is on file. In general I think it’s a good idea to have the current residents name(s) inside a mailbox to provide more accurate service though I know some people will disagree with me. On the postal route I deliver, there are no names inside of the mailboxes. I deliver to all single family houses.

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.

Hey Dave! Remember me? Well I've been working as a letter carrier on long island for just over 3 months now. I have two questions for you.
1. Is it legal to be scheduled to work 7+ days with no days off? I've worked a total of 26 days straight.

Asked by Dee about 9 years ago

Hello Dee. I guess you are a CCA. I see from your post that you are working quite a bit. 26 days straight does seem excessive even though it's Christmas month and it's busy with parcel deliveries and more. I don't know the rules as to how many days in a row a CCA can be scheduled to work. In my office it seems they max out at about 13 days in a row, but I don't know if it's a rule or not. If there is an NALC steward in your office, you may ask them. Furthermore, the nalc.org website should have some q and a for CCA which may address your question.

Is it true it's legal for the mail truck to run a red light

Asked by Henry about 9 years ago

I have never heard that before and I'd say it's not legal for a USPS vehicle to run a red light. We are supposed to follow the traffic laws like any other vehicle. I'm sometimes disgusted the way I see some of my coworkers operate the USPS vehicles. I feel we should be professional representatives of the USPS, but I see some people don't care and drive like jerks in the USPS vehicle as they do in their privately owned vehicles.

I'm a rrc and have every other Saturday off. Can I be scheduled to work on my day off if another employee wants to use a vacation day on that day

Asked by Matt about 9 years ago

Matt, I'm a city letter carrier so I believe we have different work rules and leave usage policies. I don't know how it works for rural route carriers and working on your scheduled day off for extra pay. It doesn't seem to me that rural route carriers get paid OT or extra days pay too often in my office, but again I admit I'm not familiar with the rules that govern rural routes. You could contact a union rep from the NRLCA and maybe they can give you that info or even ask your supervisor or manager. As a city carrier this scenario happens all of the time. A city carrier will request a vacation day and then another city carrier will work on their scheduled day off for a minimum of 8 hrs OT pay.