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.
Shawn, I'd say that this isn't common. Even if "one street over" meant a different town it still shouldn't differ by more of a day in my opinion. It's likely that the letter was missorted somewhere along the way or missdelivered, both which aren't rare. Hopefully the letter will arrive soon. Thank you to your S/O for her service to the country.
Sparky, Thanks for writing and I appreciate the comments. Please keep in mind that anything I say here doesn't come from any expertise. It is just from my experience in one office with one set of co-workers and management and a lot of it is opinion. The above is called a "disclaimer" which I'm a big fan of. Good luck to you in getting hired as a CCA. They are the future of the USPS and hopefully will lead you to a career position with better pay and benefits. The few things I can think of when it comes to being a CCA are: be on-time for work, don't miss work unless it's an emergency or you are very sick, work safely with regards to driving a motor vehicle and walking a delivery route. Be respectful of your co-workers and management and try to deliver the mail accurately though you may not be given the clearest set of instructions how to do your job. We've had a few CCAs quit for their own reasons, but I don't think our office has let more than a few go involuntarily. I believe once your probationary period is over (90 days), it is difficult to be terminated. Management can sometimes control how many hours you get to work if they aren't happy with your job performance. Again, in as long as I've worked at the PO, there has never been an overall shortage of work available to the carriers who wanted to work.
Usually mail won't be forwarded unless there is a forwarding order on file by the former residents. You can try putting the new address on the mail and putting it out for the letter carrier but I don't know that it will get to the new address. Another option is to mark the mail "no longer at this address" and put it out for the letter carrier to take. Thank you for your email question..
No, a lettter carrier isn't supposed to accept any gift of substantial value from someone on his route. It doesn't mean that it isn't done, just that it's not supposed to be done. I don't know of anybody losing a job due to this but they aren't supposed to appear to be accepting gifts from customers.
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the letter carrier is going to bring the letter back to his post office and eventually (1-2 days) it will get to the addresS where it was intended to go. That's what we do.
I would contact the PO that is in charge of servicing that blue collection box and hope they haven't emptied it out yet. If you could prove to them that it belongs to you and was dropped there in error, it's possible they could get it back to you but I'm not sure. Good luck to you! I hope you can get that envelope back.
I would recommend not tipping the letter carrier when they bring the mail along with the package. It is a very nice service of him to do. We are technically not supposed to accept any gratuities but I haven't heard of this being enforced to any great extent. Whether or not you get good service from your letter carrier shouldn't depend on a tip. We are professionals that are paid a decent salary (i.e. we aren't paid a low salary such as a bartender/waiter/bellboy who rely on tips). I know some of my fellow USPS employees will disagree with my comments here, but this is how I truly feel re: tips.
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