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

How do I sign up for Postal Exam? I made an profile on usps.com. I called the post office and they told me to do it online. Do I take the exam before applying for any jobs??

Asked by cjz about 12 years ago

I Don't know when and how frequently the postal exam is given. you did the thing to create an online profile at USPS.com. I just have no idea what happens after that. Most employees hires today are considered Postal Support Employees or City Carrier Assistants. Good luck. We are definitely hiring City Carrier Assistants in the NY area. 

I got a letter from MA with a self addressed return envelop inside, which I'm sending from NY. But it's pre-stamped with postage that says "mailed from zip code 01107" which is the MA code. Should I put a new stamp on it to send it from NY?

Asked by Lisa almost 12 years ago

I would suggest that you can put that letter with pre-paid return postage in the outgoing mail. Technically I suppose you should put on a new stamp to send it from NY, but it's probably not necessary. mail processors generally don't look at each piece of mail to See if a metered letter was mailed from the correct zip.

I was just hired as a RCA today. How do the raises work? Do I even get raises or benefits as an RCA?

Asked by Donald about 12 years ago

From what I understand RCA get certain types of leave (maybe sick or annual), an hourly wage and i dont think any other benefits. The hourly wage might be converted to the rate for the amt. of hours a rural route is evaluated for. An example would be that you get $120 for the day no matter how long (or short) it takes to complete the route. A good source on this might be the NRLCA, the bargaining unit that negotiates contracts with the USPS. you can look them up on the web. Good Luck!!

what do you do when mail is being delivered to someone who never lived at that address- a relative, and former tenant did- in violation of now expired lease, former tenant allowed persons to occupy apt, and now mail comes in the relative's name-

Asked by arverneny14 almost 12 years ago

I have to be honest in that I don't really understand your question entirely. If you mean whether its okay or not okay for someone to receive mail at an address where they don't reside, I would generally say that is okay as long as those who actually occupy the unit/house agree to accept mail for that person. That is common for automobile insurance. One may physically live in high risk neighborhood for auto theft or vandalism, but tell the insurance company that they reside somewhere else. That other place, in this example, will have agreed to receive mail on behalf of the policy owner. It is prety unethical on the part of the automobile owner, but I can't comment on the legalities of it.

I live alone in an apartment complex that has about 40 other apartments. Sometimes I forget to pick up my mail, and my mailbox gets really full. What do you guys do when this happens? Does it happen often? How do I know if this happened?

Asked by C. Davis almost 12 years ago

I have rarely come across this situation but I would say that after awhile, the letter carrier could hold the mail at the PO and say "box full" and put in the mailbox has bringing the overflow mail to the PO. we would usually hold the mail for 10 days before  returning it to sender. 

How heavy a package can you pick up from my house? I heard no more than 14 oz. once; another time I heard no more than a pound (16 oz)?

Asked by Peg. about 12 years ago

If the Package only has stamps, I believe 13 oz. is the maximum weight for pickup. If you use an electronic shipping label (eBay, Amazon) then the maximum is 70lbs. Also, people sometimes return merchandise with a pre-paid return shipping label. That, too, has no limit. the reason for this rule has to do with aviation security aNd being able to track down a sender should a package contain illegal or dangerous contents, including explosives. 

are mailman allowed to hand mail stay to a person or is he suppose to put it in the mail box

Asked by jbo about 11 years ago

I believe it is fine to hand the mail to a person if they are reasonably sure that is the person who lives at the address where the mail is going to or authorized to receive the mail. We are advised not to hand mail to young children or if there is a dog present who could possibly lunge at the mailman's hand as it is being given to a patron. That is mostly for safety reasons.