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

Why did I get a letter with the return address having an X over it?

Asked by rae almost 11 years ago

Rae, I don't know why you would receive a letter with an X on the return address. It doesn't really make sense to me. One theory would be that it was mailed and then our automated letter sorting system accidentally read the return address as the destination address. Maybe if a letter carrier saw that they would put an X through the return address so that the only address that could be read by a machinery or person would be your address. This is just a guess on my part. Thanks for writing. 

Hi,
Which part of Long Island do you work? Just curious because I live on LI. Also, do letter carriers spend their whole workday delivering mail, or do you also work inside the post office?
Thank you!

Asked by Name over 11 years ago

Thanks for your question. I work at the Syosset, NY 11791 PO. City Carriers usually spend 1.5 to 3 Hrs each day in the office sorting the incoming mail into delivery order and then spending apprx. 5-6 Hrs each day "in the street" delivering the mail. A lot of mail these days comes pre-sorted into delivery sequence which has reduced the amount of hours that carriers spend in the post office compared to many years ago. The volume of mail over the years also hasn't remained as high so there is less mail to sort in the post office and deliver. For myself and most of my co-workers there is certainly still 8 hrs/day or more of work.

How many times per day does the USPS deliver mail?

Asked by Ismael V. over 11 years ago

The USPS delivers mail 1 time per day to each address. The only exceptions are if an Express Mail item has to be delivered by a separate letter carrier because it arrived at the PO after the regular letter carrier has already left to deliver their route or if the regular letter carrier wouldn't be able to make the delivery guarantee time on the Express Mail. In that case another letter carrier would deliver the Express Mail but not regular mail to the address. So the main answer is 1x per day Mon-Sat.

I was wondering if I put my mail on hold for 10 days am I allowed to pick my mail up before the 10 days

Asked by dee over 11 years ago

When you put your mail on hold there is an option to either "pick up your mail" or "have the mail delivered to you" on a certain date. If you choose the latter, you may go to the Post Office with proper ID and see if they will give you the mail that has been held and notify your letter carrier to resume delivery the following day. I know that would likely be allowed at the PO which I work at. I can't speak for any other Post Offices. Your best option is to choose "Pick up mail" and then the mail can be held for up to 30 days at the Post Office and you don't have to worry whether you pick up the held mail in 5 days, 15 days, or anytime less than 30 days.

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 almost 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.

So If I send a letter and its in blue pen, but it has the stamp.and everything writen right. But the pen color kind of.fades a little, will they still mail It?

Asked by shaane almost 12 years ago

As Long as the address can be made out okay and there is proper postage, it should be fine. If you haven't already mailed the letter, I recommend finding a better pen and darkening the address. 

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 almost 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.