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

hello what does it mean when a package is in transit?

Asked by Patrick about 12 years ago

That means a package that has been sent is traveling from it's origin (where it was mailed) to the destination post office. The package could be on a tractor-trailer or an airplane or in a sorting facility. When a package arrives at the destination post office, it will usually be scanned "arrived" so if one were to look up the package status, they would know it has been rcvd at the destination and PO and will be delivered that day or the next delivery day.

A year ago, I had a rural mail carrier who used her own vehicle. It was a normal jeep; it had the steering wheel and gas pedal and brakes on the left side. She sat in the passenger seat and operated it with her left hand and leg. Was this acceptable?

Asked by Fred almost 12 years ago

I believe that this was acceptable but am not familiar with the rural carrier vehicle regulations. The USPS would likely not let this carrier deliver the mail from that vehicle if it wasn't approved. They can see what vehicle is being used when she leaves the Post Office and returns from her route. The rural carriers in the office where I work also used to use their own vehicles but I don't remember whether or not they were right hand drive (modified for mail delivery) vehicles. In the past few years they have been given LLVs (USPS-owned vehicles) to deliver their routes and don't have the option of using their own vehicle to deliver the mail. Thanks for writing.

My question was can mailmen take things out of letters. Because twice, I found a letter that was supposed to have a gift in it, but there was a huge hole in the envelope and the gift seemed to taken out

Asked by Sarah almost 12 years ago

It is strictly against the law for any letter carrier to take anything out of the mail. That would be considered tampering with the mail. If the gift was just put in a paper envelope and the envelope was bulging it is possible that if it went through mail processing equipment the machine could have damaged the envelope and caused the gift to fall out. It would be hard to prove that an item was stolen out of the mail, but if this happened on multiple occasions and you suspect something wrong, I'd report it a delivery supervisor at your local post office. I don't think much will be done about it but at least they'd have a record of it. I would hope that any theft from the mail by USPS employees is rare and dealt with in a severe and prompt manner if proven. 

My fiancé is a CCA and we planned to go out of town for the weekend after he got off work Saturday. His boss told him on Thursday he had to work Sunday. Can they force him to work or fire him for not showing up even though Sunday isnt a reg work day?

Asked by Mmmmm over 12 years ago

I don't know for sure whether or not your fiance's boss can make him work on Sunday. I know when I was a PTF (Part-time Flexible) we did work Sunday's on occasion and during this time of year (December) it would be pretty common. He should speak to your boss and say that you already made plans to take a small trip which would include Sunday and could he possibly have off of work that day. I do understand that being a CCA is difficult with scheduling because you are expected to be available on virtually any day. Please make sure he asks off ahead of time for the wedding (If you have a date scheduled).

will my mail be delievered even if it doesn't say APT but it says N (which is my apt)?

Asked by Noemi about 12 years ago

It should be delivered without the words "APT" on the delivery address. As long as there is a space after the actual street address or the apt. # is on the line above or below the street address, the abbreviation "APT" is superfluous and your mail should get to you properly. I live in an apt. building and when I write my address, I put my apt. # directly after my street address followed by a space and have never had a mail delivery issue. I will say that having the apt. # on the delivery address is very important, especially in a building with many units. Without an apt. # on the mail, it is possible that the mail is returned to the sender marked "insufficient address" Thanks for writing.

My rural mailman put an international express in my neighbors box (the mail carrier sign it!). I was tracking it and when the post office was notified they said she signed it so what now. Neighbor said they didn't get it; maybe they did ???

Asked by dat over 12 years ago

I apologize that I don't really know what further action for you to take. Were you able to contact your rural carrier to see if they recall where they put the international express item? Did they, in fact, remember putting it into your neighbor's box (and why)? If your neighbor claims that they didn't receive the item, I don't know what else you can do to prove that they did. I suppose this is one of the risks of allowing a rural carrier to sign for certain mail items.

regarding picking up mail thats showed up after postal carrier left, If the letter is shipped overnight express can you pick it up then? I heard from someone they showed up when the delivery truck arrived and was able to get the package when @ PO

Asked by anagain almost 13 years ago

That is true. On our website you can track if a package has arrived at the delivery unit (your PO) if it is an express mail piece, it maybe can be intercepted before sent out for delivery (usually by a parcel post driver or someone other than the regular carrier). Often, the Express Mail items go out for delivery not long after they arrive at the PO after the carriers have started their regular routes.