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.
FH, thanks for your question. I’ll start by saying your mileage may vary. I don’t know if there is a correct procedure as to how to handle mail delivery to a business which is sometimes open and sometimes closed. I would usually go inside to deliver the mail and ask if there is any outgoing mail if a receptionist or other personnel are available. I mostly deliver to residences so I don’t have a lot of experience in this situation. It’s possible that the business owner has an exterior mailbox and prefers or doesn’t mind if the mail is left in the mailbox whether or not the business is open. I suppose a carrier who delivers to the same business daily knows what is preferred but there are often substitutes delivering the mail so if there are no instructions left for that substitute and no sign on the mailbox saying “please come inside if the office is open” then I’m not sure what that letter carrier would do. We are often told so little how to do certain procedures which is why i almost always put in the disclaimer of “your mileage may vary”.
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Some letter carriers may handle it differently than others. This is my comment in most situations as to “what would we be done if....”We can rubber band the mail and leave it on the ground or on a bench by a door. Technically, the mail should be endorsed “NMR” which means No Mail Receptacle and returned to the sender, if applicable. Certain classes of mail would just get discarded at the PO and maybe sent out for recycling.
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I am not sure about this as I’ve never encountered this situation. I would think that you would just get out of the vehicle (making sure to shut the engine when you do so as per USPS procedures), walk around to the keypad and enter the code to open the gate, return to the driver side of the vehicle, start the engine, and drive through the gate. The issue you may be thinking about is if the gate remains open long enough for the postal vehicle to drive through. I don’t know the answer to this. I deliver to a couple of gated neighborhoods on occasion, but they are usually staffed by a person or could go up automatically without a code.
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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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Fortunately this has not happened to me and hope it doesn’t but of course it could. If we get into an accident we would call 911 if necessary and definitely call our supervisor. The supervisor would come out to the scene take some photos take a report and then we would either go to an emergency room if necessary or just go back to the office. If there is more of the route to still be completed, other letter carriers will probably have to finish up the delivery, likely with OT pay. More often than not, the letter carrier Who was involved in the accident may not be able to drive a postal service vehicle until they have gone through some driver refresher training. If the accident was clearly not their fault they may be able to skip this step. I have had some close calls, but fortunately the only collisions i have had were minor involving side-view mirrors striking some tree branches and breaking the mirror.
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I guess that happens sometimes on these kind of sites.
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I am pretty sure the Grumman LLV is allowed to drive on a highway. I think I may have accidentally driven one on a highway once. It’s a bit of a scary experience because the engines or transmission aren’t that strong to go 55 MPH or above. They definitely can go that fast but it doesn’t feel as comfortable as if you were in a regular car. I have rarely seen them on a highway, but I work in the suburbs and most post offices serve a nearby community which wouldn’t necessitate getting on a highway to get to a delivery route. Thanks for your question.
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