Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

I'm a new resident in a high rise apt bldg. My mail carrier scolded me harshly today saying "I snuck up behind her" while I was checking my mail. Not a good first impression to make with your mail carrier. How do I smooth it over?

Asked by ccriscitello over 5 years ago

It doesn’t sound like a good first impression, but it doesn’t sound like you did anything malicious on purpose. I don’t know that I would ever harshly scold anyone about most things but I have a high amount of patience which maybe your carrier, doesn’t have. I suppose the next time you see her you could explain (or apologize) that you didn’t mean anything by it. I also guess you could wait until the letter carrier is completely done sorting the mall before checking on your mail, but I don’t think that is always necessary either. I’m sorry to be so vague, but it almost seems like a short temper on behalf of the letter carrier. This is based on what you’ve described not truly knowing either of your personalities. I just hope your next interaction with your letter carrier is calm and cordial. Thanks for writing.

234 Votes

Is there any condition besides a hurricane or wild fire or floods that they would say “okay don’t go out today”?

Asked by Micah over 5 years ago

There aren’t too many that I can think of where we wouldn’t go out on our routes. I believe if there was extreme cold and wind chill conditions or a snowfall that made the roads impasssable, the mgmt may decide to suspend delivery of mail for the day. I don’t keep track, but, in my career, mail delivery has only been canceled on a few occasions. The LLV that many of us use for delivery don’t handle well when snow has accumulated more than a few inches on a road. It is even worse on an incline or decline.

234 Votes

Do you have CB radios

Asked by Gentlemen over 5 years ago

The tractor trailers may have some type of radio communications, but as a letter carrier, I do not. We just have our personal cell phones and our intelligent mail device (handheld scanner) which can be used to communicate with the office. We rarely use that option. Mostly it’s phone calls or regular text messaging to communicate with each other (either carrier to carrier or carrier to mgmt).

233 Votes

Is that a photo of you sir?

Asked by Reed over 5 years ago

No, it isn’t a photo of me. I answer the qs posted here somewhat anonymously. I have no authorization from my employer (USPS) to do this forum. As you can see I do disparage them and my co-workers on occasion so they probably wouldn’t appreciate my comments. My description is as specific as I’d get and want to make sure I stay out of trouble for this. Many employers have social media policies where they want to control the message through a PR or corporate communications dept.

232 Votes

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232 Votes

Is your job really thankless? Someone told me one time that being a mail carrier is a thankless job but I am going to assume that that may have just been the area he worked. I am pretty friendly to my mail carrier.

Asked by Danny about 6 years ago

Thanks for your question and for being friendly to your letter carrier. Your instinct was correct. It probably does depend on the area where you work plus your personality. I find the job very thankful. I’m performing a fairly essential task (at least among those who still use USPS). Customers are generally cordial and often friendly when I see them. I work in a nice suburban community in NY which may also have something to do with being appreciated. Some of my co-workers have negative personalities so I’m sure they feel the job is thankless. We are paid a pretty fair wage in my opinion. I am thankful for that. I also put enjoy the job so maybe when you put forward a positive attitude, you get that in return.

231 Votes