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 have a friend who carries mail in snowy Colorado and wanted to give a gift of things to make the job easier: hand warmers? special lotion? dog biscuits? snack storage? clothing? What do you have before during after to help your day go well? Ideas??

Asked by kimba almost 12 years ago

Hand Warmers are a great gift. I just bought my girlfriend an entire box from BJs Wholesale Club in NY. They are single use handwarmers which last maybe 8 hours. Lotions are also good to keep hands moisturized. If at all in doubt about the pending weather I try to bring along as many layers as possible just in case I need extra protection. One of the least comfortable situations to be caught outside in is very cold or very wet weather.

We have a corner commercial building. The address is on one street but we want to put our mailbox on the other street for easier access. Can we do that? Will the post office still deliver?

Asked by Brian over 12 years ago

I believe if you change the location of your mailbox, it would be wise to contact the local post office that handles your delivery. I don't know the rules as to if this is allowed or not. I would think that if it doesn't create any inconvenience for the carrier, it might be possible. To be honest the rules of delivery are applied so inconsistently that I can't tell you for sure what will happen. 

If I end my mail hold on a Tuesday (for example) is my mail delivered on that Tuesday or the following day, Wednesday?

Asked by Ken about 11 years ago

Ken, the date you put down as the "end date" on the yellow authorization to Hold Mail card is the date that mail will be resumed. All accumulated mail will also be delivered on that date. Please make sure you have chosen the option for the "end hold" date as opposed to the option where you will pick up any mail that is on hold. If you choose the "pick up" option, no mail should be delivered until you pick up any accumulated mail at the Post Office. The system generally works well unless we forget to pay attention to the "ending date" on the hold which happens occasionally. Thank you for your inquiry.

I dropped a letter in a blue USPS collection box before noticing the box was no longer labeled to display pick up times or other information. This box location is not showing up on the USPS locator either. Does this mean my letter won't get mailed?

Asked by milliemo over 11 years ago

I am not sure about this. If I had to guess, I'd hope that the collection box is still in use  if it would allow you to deposit mail into it. I would suggest contacting the local post office nearest that collection box and see if they could provide you any further information. 

Is the post office manager allowed to cut open a package (a book) I was sending out (wrapped in cardboard), simply to make sure I was not using one of USPSs priority mail envelopes to ship something (non-priority)?

Asked by buffy about 12 years ago

If the item was mailed via media mail, then it is valid for a postal employee to open a package to make sure that the item being mailed qualifies for the media mail rate. As far as just checking to see if a Priority Mail packaging was used to mail an item via non-Priority, I don't know the rule on that but I'm not too familiar with that being done. I thought that most, if not all, priority mail packaging now is printed on both the inside and outside making it very difficult to use for Non-priority mailing.

A package was supposed to be delivered to my box Wed. according to tracking. I am pretty sure the postman put it in the wrong box, but regardless It was not in mine. Is there someone I could speak to that could get my package back?

Asked by Sarah In Birmingham almost 12 years ago

Sarah, I would suggest that you speak with either the letter carrier who delivers to your address regularly or call your local PO and speak with a delivery supervisor. I am not sure how either way will result in the package getting to its correct address (you), but I wish you well. As letter carriers we all do make mistakes, but I would hope they aren't too frequent and that the errant recipient of the package would leave it out for a letter carrier to pick up to be brought to the correct address. Thanks for writing.

I am expecting something in the mail shipped priority. Its was dropped off Aug18th for delivery . Its coming from New York and I live in So.California. I still haven' received it Aug 24th. Could it be delayed or lost? or maybe not actually sent?

Asked by vanagain about 12 years ago

I can't say for sure what happened to your priority mail item that you were expecting. Did the sender give you a tracking number? Most items shipped via Priority Mail would have a tracking number? As long as the mailer put the correct address on the Priority Mail and actually shipped the item, it is not likely to be lost, but not impossible.