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.
Not necessarily. Did you put the right name of your community but the wrong ZIP? If so, there is a good chance that the PO at the wrong ZIP city will cross it out and then the package will be sent to your community where it will then be delivered. If the name of the town and ZIP is incorrect on the package, and nobody at the receiving PO recognizes the address as belonging to your community then they may return the package to the sender as "NSS" meaning No Such Street or "NSN" meaning No Such Number. A lot may also depend on how savvy or caring the personnel is at the PO that originally receives the package to have it rerouted to your town where you could then get it delivered. I hope it works out for you. in the future, please remember that a correct ZIP is very important in an address. Thanks for writing!
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=If%20the%20zipcode%20is%20wrong%2C%20one%20city%20over%2C%20will%20i%20still%20get%20my%20package%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/12825)
Congratulations Daniel on finishing your training as a mail carrier including the driving evaluation. With regard to driving the 2-ton vehicle, I don't know if you will ever be made to drive it. I would hope that you wouldn't be. I know that I am in the same position as you with regards to driving it. I have only driven it a few times in my career and and am never asked to drive it. If you didn't feel comfortable driving it, I would speak up and mention that you don't think it is safe for you to drive it and see if you could get out of doing it. I wish you well.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%20have%20gone%20through%20all%20my%20training%20as%20a%20mail%20carrier%20and%20just%20finished%20my%20driving%20test.%20.Everything%20went%20well%20and%20he%20said%20I%20did%20well%20but%20im%20not%20comfortable%20with%20the%202%20ton.%20Will%20i%20be%20asked%20to%20drive%20this%20or%20was%20it%20just%20to%20familiarize%20me%20with%20it%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/11112)
I have deleted one version of this question because it was posted twice. It is a very good question and I will try to be as clear as I can with the how and why of bidding for routes. Firstly, we bid for routes (or assignments, as it isn't always an actual mail delivery route) so that we are doing the same assignment every day in accordance with a collective bargaining agreement between the USPS and the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC). It allows carriers to choose what assignment (delivery route, collection route, parcel post route, floater route (which fills in for carriers on 5 routes on their days off and pays a slightly higher wage)) they would like to work. It is based on seniority at a specific installation, not necessarily when you were hired by the USPS. For example, if you transfer from an office in Maryland to an office in Florida, you will likely lose your local seniority putting you at the bottom of the list with regards to bidding on vacant assignments. There are probably some exceptions to this rule and often in cities there may be several delivery stations that you can bid between and not lose seniority if you bid from one station to another. I am no expert in this as I have always worked in the same post office my entire career. I think it is the fairest system around and am a big advocate of seniority based assignments. The airline industry uses it for Pilots and Flight Attendants to choose what equipment they would like to fly, what routes, what cities they would like to be based in, etc. Anyhow, back to the USPS. I am sure there is a process of online bidding, but for vacant assignments in my local post office that are put up for bid, here is how it works. Management will post a sheet a paper called a Notice of Vacancy of an Assignment. The notice will specify the assignment (usually the route #), the specifics of the shift times and days off. The notice will also specify the dates that bidding is open. It is usually a 10-day period. The supervisor will have a locked box on their desk and pink bid cards (blank) available for regular carriers to fill out to bid on the assignment and put the bid in the box. Once the bidding period has expired, the supervisor and union shop steward will open the bid box and sort all of the valid bids by seniority date. The top 3 bidders based on seniority are then announced. The winner then has 3 workdays to try the new assignment and then can decide to keep it or not. If they decide not to keep it, the 2nd and 3rd place bidders can then try out the assignment. It rarely goes past the 2nd place bidder in my experience. I hope this answers your question and thank you for writing.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=how%20%26%20why%20do%20you%20bid%20for%20routes%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/12266)
I have no idea why that happened. I assume you mailed the envelope to their old address because you wanted their new address. You probably also assumed that the USPS would return the envelope to you with the new address of the person who just moved instead of forarding the letter because you endorsed the letter "return service requested". I'm sorry I have no further information and I don't know that your local PO would know a lot about this either. As a letter carrier we are taught close to nothing about what that endorsment means, except that it can be processed through the CFS (Comuterized Forwarding System) which handles forwardable/returnable mail. Normally, Standard Class mail without an endorsment can be discarded if the addressee has moved. If the class of mail has the enodrsment, then the CFS processes the said item, though I don't really know what happens to it exactly.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Someone%20I%20know%20moved.%20I%20wanted%20their%20new%20address%20without%20them%20knowing.%20I%20addressed%20an%20envelope%20with%20their%20old%20address%20and%20put%20%27return%20service%20requested%27%20above%20it.%20The%20person%20told%20me%20today%20that%20they%27re%20received%20the%20envelope.%20Why%20did%20this%20happen%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/10266)
Bodybuilder
How prevalent is steroid use in pro bodybuilding?
Firefighter
How can you tell if a fire was arson?
Claims Adjuster
Do you ever feel bad for the people whose claims you deny?
I sometimes listen to an iPod while walking but not driving. While walking I usually only cover one ear for safety reasons. You aren't permitted to listen with earphones while driving, but maybe a portable radio or CD player is allowed when driving. Your local post office should advise you of any rules regarding this. Safety is very very important. I don't remember the driving test too well. Keep to the speed limit, buckle up, both hands on steering wheel, use turn signals,and use your mirrors as necessary. On Ice, just go very slowly. Same with rain and use the windshield wipers and headlights. Ice and Snow are the most difficult conditions for the LLVs. Rain isn't too bad as long as you drive cautiously.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Can%20you%20listen%20to%20music%20or%20CDs%20in%20the%20postal%20truck.%20How%20about%20while%20you%20are%20walking.%20Can%20you%20listen%20to%20music%20or%20CDs%20while%20you%20are%20walking%3F%20Also%20what%20is%20the%20driving%20test%20lke%3F%20What%20is%20the%20best%20way%20to%20drive%20on%20ice%20or%20heavy%20rain%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/8760)
My brother works at a PO and I believe he uses the many alarm clocks method (including one across the room). There are apps that will give you a wake up call. I just set one alarm and Try to get 8 hrs. Sleep so getting up and to work on time isn't too hard for me. Promptness and attendance is an important part of staying employed.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=How%20do%20you%20make%20sure%20you%20get%20up%20in%20the%20morning%3F%20Do%20you%20have%20a%20lot%20of%20alarm%20clocks%20going%20off%20at%20different%20times%3F%20Do%20you%20have%20someone%20give%20you%20a%20wakeup%20call%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/8763)
For the first 1-2 of hours each morning, letter carriers are busy sorting mail in delivery order so that when we go on our routes, the mail is organized. Each route has a pre-determined order of delivery and we have carrier cases (think of a desk with vertical dividers fof each address or building). After we are done sorting the mail we take it out of the carrier cases and put in trays or rubber band it so it stays organized. Before we actually put the mail in a customer's mailbox, we should be going through the mail we sorted to verify that it is the right mail going to the right house. The vast majority of the mail that we deliver is already sorted by a machine at a regional mail processing plant. The mail arrives at our local post office in delivery order (I'd say a fairly high level of accuracy) and as we go deliver the mail we merge that mail together with the mail we have sorted manually at the post office. The amount of mail we manually sort is so much lower than it used to be either because of automation or a decline in mail volume. When I started working for the USPS only letter size mailing was able to be put in order. Now we have machines that can sort flats (magazines, catalogs) in delivery order which is impressive as well.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=How%20do%20you%20organize%20the%20mail%20so%20you%20know%20you%20give%20all%20the%20mail%20to%20the%20right%20house%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/12357)
-OR-
Login with Facebook (max 20 characters - letters, numbers, and underscores only. Note that your username is private, and you have the option to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
(A valid e-mail address is required. Your e-mail will not be shared with anyone.)
(min 5 characters)
By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to Jobstr.com’s Terms and Privacy Policy.
-OR-
Register with Facebook(Don't worry: you'll be able to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
Browse Jobs
Host a Q&A
Search
Submit Your Question
Host a Q&A
Last 7
