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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1237 Questions

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Last Answer on February 18, 2022

Best Rated

Should someone have a degree to do this job?

Asked by Bobby almost 6 years ago

It is definitely not a requirement whatsoever to have any higher education for this job. No college degree is needed and won’t likely help or hinder your chances of being hired. I have a Bachelors degree (4-year) from s public university in NY. Most of my work colleagues don’t need have college degrees. The job as a letter carrier can be taught in a very short amount of time. You must be in reasonably good physical health and having good organizational skills and being a safe worker are important. I think having a degree helps me understand more about the USPS in general. I am curious by nature so I like to learn more than just how to do the job. Many of my coworkers aren’t that well educated and tend to believe things too easily they may hear through the rumor mill and spread it as fact. I really don’t like misinformation.

309 Votes

What are some types of questions you wished people would stop asking

Asked by QUESTION TO ALL almost 6 years ago

I am not sure if you’re referring to this forum or out while I’m delivering mail. Either way, the answer would be the same. I am very patient and I don’t get annoyed by questions. I triy to put myself in the shoes of the person asking it and if I can I will educate them. I deliver mail on the same route each day so I know most of the residents. There usually aren’t many questions and most of the time I don’t see a lot of people during the delivery day. I admit I get annoyed if people just want to talk in general because I don’t have the time to do that on my postal route and sometimes you are just a person that they want to talk to and you could be anybody. While I am friendly it is not my job to be a social worker. Fortunately, I don’t have many incessant talkers that I deliver mail to. I either avoid them if possible or just walk away after maybe giving them a minute or two of my time.

303 Votes

Is it ture that your in line to be the president. Wayyyy down the line and unlikely but are you?

Asked by Coool dudeeeee almost 6 years ago

Lol. Not me. The Postmaster General of the United States used to be in the line of succession for the Presidency. I believe that to no longer be the case since 1970 when the position was removed from the Cabinet of the President. That is around the same time that the USPS was created. Prior to that, the organization was the US Post Office Department which was an executive branch agency. When I looked on Wikipedia for Presidential Line of Succession, the Postmaster General was nowhere to be found on the list.

303 Votes

Keep a eye out I think there is a troll asking questions over and over look through and see how much of the questions are the same writing styles, posting links, and asking the same questions over and over in a different way among other non sense

Asked by Jessica over 5 years ago

Thanks for the heads up, Jessica. Trolls are the bain of the Internet.

302 Votes

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What would happen if a mailman or woman was caught stealing or at least snooping through someones mail?

Asked by Henry almost 6 years ago

I don’t know for sure what would happen if a letter carrier was caught stealing or snooping through someone’s mail. If the postal inspectors are involved, they could have the employee arrested and then have a prosecutor charge them with a crime. To me, this is the same as discarding mail that you don’t want to deliver. I would like to think that most of the time, the letter carrier would be fired from the USPS, but our union often fights a termination and the employee may keep their job. I do wish we were more punitive when a postal employee tampers with the mail at all, but they sometimes just get warnings and are back on the job.

301 Votes

Hello, so I ordered live caterpillars for a kids science project and they arrived in my mailbox sooner than expected in 105 degree weather. I check the mail but they were dead. How can I ask that live perishables be delivered to my door in this heat

Asked by Nicole over 5 years ago

NIcole, I don’t know for sure about how to guarantee that next time any live perishables are delivered to your door. I do have a suggestion which could work if your letter carrier is conscientious. When you place the order for the caterpillars (or any other live animals), place a visible note (maybe on an index card) and clearly write your request. You could even note that last time the caterpillars were dead likely due to the extreme heat. If I saw that note, I’d pay attention to it and oblige. Unfortunately, i don’t have the same faith in many coworkers. I hope this helps. Thank you for your question.

299 Votes

What do you think of mail in voting? This is a complicated issue. I figure someone who deals with the post office would know mail in voting and sorting through mail instead of Democraps and Repulsicans

Asked by I’m so sick of hearing it over 5 years ago

At least you were an equal opportunity basher of both major political parties. I believe there has been a lot of doubt purposely introduced into the voting-by-mail process by President Trump. My opinion is that voting by mail is very safe and reliable. There are a few important points I’d like to make. If you vote by mail, please follow the instructions given on the absentee/mail-in ballot regarding deadlines and signing your ballot. Also, voter fraud via mail or in person is quite rare. Several states have been doing almost full vote-by-mail for a number of years with minimal issues.

I plan to either vote by mail or vote early this year in NY State. If you are concerned about a mail-in ballot being received by your local election authority, I recommend dropping it off at a ballot collection box. I don’t believe there should be any issue as to how the USPS processes election mail. I think of it as just like having another couple of pieces of mail per address to deliver. We absolutely have the capacity to handle this in my opinion.

My bottom line—have confidence in the USPS in handling election mail for this coming 2020 General Election.

Thanks for your interest. This is a very important issue in the year of COVID-19 where mail voting will be utilized more than ever.

298 Votes

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