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.
This is a very thorough question and i don’t know that I can give you an absolute answer, but I can try. I can assure you that any mail given to a clerk at PO or out in a collection box (blue box) or picked up by a letter carrier from your residence will go the same day to the mail processing plant in Columbus, OH. I guess an exception would be is if the letter carrier picked up the mail so late in the day due to our staffing shortages that the mail may not be dispatched from your local post office to the regional processing center. I haven’t seen this happen too often but I can’t speak for any office other than the one I work with. Another thing to point out is that there is possibly more than one truck per day that takes outgoing mail from your PO to the Columbus mail processing facility. I’m not sure about your office. I still don’t think for the most part it would make a difference if the mail was dropped off at the PO or picked up at your house. Thanks for your question, Roger.
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That’s funny. Some people would say why don’t I ever see the mailman working. We definitely take breaks during our delivery day. Contractually we are entitled to 30 minute lunch (unpaid) and two paid 10-minute breaks. Some assignments are allowed a one-hr lunch but it is still unpaid. We are also allowed as many bathroom breaks as needed. To answer your question, I’m not sure why you don’t need see them on a break. I am on one right now answering your question. To maximize the time I have for a break/lunch, I generally just sit in my postal vehicle and eat or use the Internet. Some letter carriers meet for lunch and buy food. If your letter carrier is a rural carrier, you may not see them take a break because they can go home as soon as their deliveries are finished. City carriers (which is what I am) are “on the clock” so we generally take our authorized breaks.
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It is very unlikely someone would mail a bomb, but Im sure it has happened. Recently, a man sent quite a few inactive devices that looked like explosives ito famous people or politicians. I’m sure that there have been some explosives detonated at their destination or possibly before, but I don’t know the details. We are sometimes told to be on the lookout for suspicious packages, but, to be honest, it’s never really on my mind. Keep in mind I tend to look through rose-colored glasses and think that kind of thing doesn’t happen here.
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While his videos are entertaining, he picks and chooses the FedEx Ground events that were higher profile. I think overall they do a decent job, but the quality of people hired by these contractors can be lousy. The FedEx Express company is a different story. They are usually much more polished company employees. I think any delivery employees should be trained better on proper handling of their freight and safe driving. The USPS has some lousy employees as well.
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You can get weekends off as a regular carrier depending on the office you work in and the bid assignments available. In our office, there is one delivery route which consists mostly of office buildings and that carrier is off each Saturday and Sunday (unless they want to work OT on Saturday.). The other assignment is a parcel post collection route which is also off on Saturday and Sunday. Furthermore, some post offices have fixed days off for all assignments. I don’t know how those offices determined that is what they will do. I work in an office that has rotating days off. I like this schedule so I can sometimes schedule appointments or events during a weekday. The flipside, of course, is not often having two days off in a row. In summary, it’s generally not too easy to get both Saturday and Sunday off.
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These are 2 good questions which, as always, don’t have definitive answers.
1) On the subject of backing into parking spaces it has been so many years since I was trained on driving a postal vehicle but I do think that is what I was taught. I do this almost always when driving a postal vehicle or personal vehicle. While it is definitely refrained on by management to back up the vehicle, it is recommended to park this way so when we leave the parking space, it’s much easier to see the situation. When we back in we often will know the current situation so can back in more safely to a space. Most of our vehicles don’t have backup cameras so there are some more difficult areas to see when the vehicle is in reverse. I think it’s a great idea to back in as often as possible as long as you aren’t delaying traffic behind you. I often use my hazard flashers when I want a car to pass me so I can put the vehicle in reverse.
2) in general, if you strike an object or get into an accident, you won’t lose your job. I’ve never seen a letter carrier fired for this reason unless they were in their first 90 days (the probationary period). Most of the time, you are prohibited from driving a USPS vehicle until you get some remedial training or watch some safety videos. I suppose if you had multiple motor vehicle accidents or were find to be willfully negligent with the operation of the vehicle, you could be terminated. We are represented by a union so most terminations would be challenged via grievance procedure. If one were found to be under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs while driving a postal vehicle, that may also lead to termination.
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I guess that happens sometimes on these kind of sites.
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