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.
As far as I know, there is no other PO besides the one that delivers your mail that could do anything with the information whether you have moved or not. Other mail processing facilities just sort the mail according to ZIP code to get it on its way to your local PO. They aren't concerned with the name on the mail. Do you live with anybody else who may write that on the mail and put it back in the outgoing mail? As long as your local PO knows you haven't moved, nobody should be having your mail returned to the sender. You could also put a note and tape it inside your mailbox saying "(your name) is a valid name to deliver here".
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Some%20of%20my%20mail%20gets%20%22this%20person%20has%20moved%22%20and%20returned.%20My%20local%20post%20office%20said%20they%20straightened%20it%20out.%20But%20it%20is%20still%20happening.%20Do%20some%20post%20offices%20still%20have%20me%20listed%20as%20%22moved%22%2C%20if%20yes%3A%20How%20do%20I%20tell%20all%20post%20offices%20I%20haven%27t%20moved%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/14458)
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)
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.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=regarding%20picking%20up%20mail%20thats%20showed%20up%20after%20postal%20carrier%20left%2C%20If%20the%20letter%20is%20shipped%20overnight%20express%20can%20you%20pick%20it%20up%20then%3F%20I%20heard%20from%20someone%20they%20showed%20up%20when%20the%20delivery%20truck%20arrived%20and%20was%20able%20to%20get%20the%20package%20when%20%40%20PO&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/9221)
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.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=will%20my%20mail%20be%20delievered%20even%20if%20it%20doesn%27t%20say%20APT%20but%20it%20says%20N%20%28which%20is%20my%20apt%29%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/11492)
Tattoo Artist
Have you ever messed up while giving someone a tattoo?
HR Executive
How do you feel about employees working remotely?
Hairstylist and Makeup Artist
What types of clients are the worst to deal with?
You could call the post office and see if they will give you his name. They should at least give you their first name. If you happen to see him or her you could also ask them.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=how%20do%20i%20figure%20out%20my%20mail%20mans%20name%3F%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/9763)
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 am not exactly sure what you mean by this but I'll give it a crack. I am also copying and pasting this answer as you seem to have asked the same question twice. With regards to advertising mail, or any mail, the letter carrier should only be delivering mail to your residence that has your name OR has another name plus "or current resident" on the address label. If it just has the previous occupants name and doesn't say "or current resident", you certainly have the option to leave it in the mailbox with a note on it saying "addressee doesn't live here. please return to sender". Depending on the class of mail there is a chance we don't actually return the ad to the sender, but we do discard it at the Post Office. It is called NOVM (No Obvious Value Mail). Mail that would fall in that category is in the class of Presorted Standard Mail. Most mail that is Presorted Standard and doesn't say "or current resident" and has a previous occupants name could be discarded into the NOVM at the PO. I don't know that I would call your letter carrier lazy, but maybe they aren't paying attention to the name on the mail. You absolutey have the right to put the ad back in the mail if you wish.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Are%20mailmen%20allowed%20to%20return%20ads%20from%20previous%20occupants%20to%20sender%20or%20is%20mine%20just%20lazy%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/11896)
-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
