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

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.

308 Votes

What would you do if you had to deliver mail to Trump?

Asked by Kurt almost 6 years ago

I would deliver his mail as I would anybody else. Being the President, I’m sure the White House has their own procedure for receiving mail as it must get thousands of pieces of mail daily and has its own ZIP code.

306 Votes

My mailman retired in July of 2020. I now have a new mailman who everyday brings mud to my steps and refuses to wipe his feet on the mat I provide. I have filed complaints with the post office but they do nothing. Is there anyone I can speak to?

Asked by Michael over 5 years ago

I understand your frustration that the letter carrier does not wipe his feet before going to your door and there is mud on your steps. It is quite inconsiderate for them not to wipe their feet especially as you have provided a mat for that purpose. You could put up a sign near the mailbox saying “please wipe your feet on the mat provided” or if you see the new letter carrier you could mention it to them directly. I don’t know why they wouldn’t oblige to a simple request. Is there anywhere to move your mailbox so that they don’t have to walk up your steps and get the area all muddy. I rarely pay attention to what I’m walking through and tracking to a customers door. I’m pretty sure if they said something to me, I’d be more considerate. I don’t work in a particularly muddy area so I don’t know that this would pertain to me. You could take your complaint to the district level which oversees individual post offices. I don’t know that your complaint will get anywhere. My confidence level in satisfactory resolution of USPS customer complaints is a mixed bag. Thanks for writing.

302 Votes

Do your trucks have radios??!

Asked by Jimmy over 5 years ago

I drive an LLV (Long Life Vehicle). There is no radio. Some of our newer vehicles do have radios. The ProMaster has a radio and I believe the stopgap fleet replacement vehicle made by Mercedes Benz also has a radio. I believe when we get the new massive fleet replacement vehicle it may have a radio. It’s not a big deal to me. I can listen to podcasts or music on my personal electronic device or bring a portable radio. I am not in my vehicle too much anyway as most of my delivery route is walking from house to house or getting in and out of the postal vehicle every few hours (known as dismount or scouting delivery).

300 Votes

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What do you do if someone is parked in front of the mailboxes?

Asked by Sally almost 6 years ago

I will get out of my vehicle (known as a dismount) and walk to the mailbox and deliver the mail. I don’t know that we are required to do so and if it’s a chronic issue, I’m sure that it is annoying. Fortunately, the route I deliver doesn’t have any curbside deliveries so I only come across this scenario when filling in on other routes I just don’t like bringing back mail to the PO that should be delivered. Among my coworkers, I think it’s a mixed bag. Some will deliver to each house, no matter if the box is blocked or not. Others will skip the house and try again the next day or maybe even suspend delivery to make a point. One thing to keep in mind is that the owner of the car which is blocking a mailbox may not have anything to do with the address whose mailbox is blocked. If it’s a public street, anybody has a right to park anywhere barring any local restrictions.

299 Votes

If you where not a Mailman (city letter carrier) what job could you see yourself doing?

Asked by Question to all almost 6 years ago

I’m not really sure but that it a good question. My career goal before I wound up at USPS was to be an air traffic controller. I love aviation and thought it would be a great career. It turned out not to be the right fit for me. While I was greatly disappointed at the time I am quite satisfied now with where I landed. I also like working with the public and I have a love for NY City so maybe i could work at one of their cultural institutions or be a guide. For the skill level I have and the stress levels I can handle (not good with stress and responsibility), being a letter carrier is probably the best choice i could have made. A lot of it was by luck and a father who was always pro-civil service or Government jobs.

299 Votes

I know the motto is they run no matter what happens the mail comes come hell or high water. But has it ever been so bad that they delayed or even did not send mail trucks out?

Asked by Kara about 5 years ago

Kara, the unofficial motto of the USPS is: Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

It isn’t true at all. For the most part, we strive to get all of the mail routes delivered each day. Due to bad weather or staffing shortages or maybe some other reasons, we don’t always deliver the mail. The LLVs are infamously poor to drive in when there is snow on the roadway. They don’t get much traction and fishtail easily. Add an incline or decline and it becomes that much more difficult.

There was a snowstorm recently in the NY Metropolitan Area where I work. The storm increased in intensity during the morning while I was out delivering the mail. At around 1130 I received a text message on my scanning device which said “all carriers return to the post office”. We didn’t finish delivering our mail routes that day. We aren’t superheroes and I think it’s smarter for us to suspend delivery when it isn’t safe to continue so we may get home and safely return to work the next day to deliver the mail.

297 Votes

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