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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Last Answer on February 18, 2022

Best Rated

I rent a condo and my landlady likes to use the pool so we share the pool key by leaving it in the mailbox. Is this an illegal use of the mailbox? Twice the pool key has disappeared , would the mail carrier have taken it?

Asked by Meg over 12 years ago

I don't know that the mailman would have taken it. Is your mailbox locked? I don't recommend using your mailbox for anything but mail. It may not be legal but it is unlikely that there is a penalty for leaving the key in the mailbox, except the key disappearing for whatever reason. 

Is there anyway I can stop a delieverie and have it sent back to the sender without it being delievered to me

Asked by Dawn almost 12 years ago

I don't know of any way to stop a delivery once it has been sent out by the sender. You could always refuse the item and leave it back out for the letter carrier with a note saying "refused..return to sender" and that should work.

After 13 years of doing the job does your body hurt? Do you have any job related injury due to the constant strain of your job such as casing mail or carrying your mail. If so does your work cover this if its not a specific event?

Asked by Dustin over 12 years ago

Dustin, Fortunately my body doesn't hurt due to the strain on the body and the repetitive motions on the job. There are quite a few co-workers who have hip, back, and foot pain. A couple of carriers have had joint replacement and returned to full duty, maybe a bit slower, but back at work. I don't think there is coverage for long-term illnesses if it is not specific. If the injury got to be so bad that you couldn't perform the job for more than 1-year you could apply for a disability retirement. Work, doesn't cover any short term disability. That is one reason you get 13 days of sick leaver per year. 

I picked up a 6 inch by 9.25 inch bubble mailer at the store. Do mail carriers pick these up (if I put stamps on it) or do I have to bring it to a USPS store? Is it dependent on the weight or label? Thanks!

Asked by Longlivekingrichard@aol.com over 12 years ago

If the item weighs 13oz. or less, your letter carrier should pick this up if you have put the proper postage on it and used stamps only. You can determine the proper postage by using the postage calculator at www.usps.com. If you use electronic postage such as click 'n ship or postage via eBay, PayPal, or amazon (for example) the 13 oz. rule doesn't apply and your letter carrier should take it regardless of weight. If the item weighs more than 13 oz. and contains only stamps it would have to be brought to a PO and presented directly to  a postal worker to be mailed. 

I have rebates that needed to be postmarked 1/18/14. Will the post office ever back date postage?

Asked by kks about 12 years ago

Not to my knowledge, they will not back date postage for items that were supposed to be postmarked previous days. I don't think it would be legal to be done but I can't say that a worker would never back date postage. I've never been in this situation but I would likely refuse any request for me to to do that since that may put my job at risk for falsifying a postmark date and that is usually not worth the risk.

Is it faster to have your mail picked up by your mailman, or dropping it off in one of the blue postal service boxes?

Asked by k8B over 12 years ago

I believe there is no difference as long as you don't use the blue collection box after the collection time stated on the box label. In my office, any mail picked up by a letter carrier at a residence is dispatched for processing before the end of the day. An exception may be if you go to the PO in the AM to mail letters. It is possible that those letters are dispatched from a truck that leaves hours before the end of the day. 

 

I think I put an unopened letter that was already delivered to me in a post office mailbox by mistake. What's going to happen to it? Will it come back to me, go to the sender or what? Thank you.

Asked by Miles over 12 years ago

I think it's likely to just come back to you a day or 2 later since it was unopened and didn't say "unknown" or "return to sender". I hope you get back your unopened piece of mail.