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 11 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.

Thanks for answering my previous question about the application process in '98. I applied on-line last August and so far have heard nada. Zip. Zilch! Do you have any idea if I will get at least a reply or rejection notice? #lostinspace

Asked by FF almost 12 years ago

Do you mean that you applied 3 mos. ago? I am not sure how long it takes to get a response either yea or nay. I would hope that you would at least get some reply but I have no further info. 

If the zipcode is wrong, one city over, will i still get my package?

Asked by kaylee almost 11 years ago

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!

What would you recommend as procedure if we get someone else's mail? Write a note on it? Leave it?

Asked by Anonymous over 11 years ago

I would recommend that you leave it in your mailbox the next day preferably with either a post-it note on it saying "delivered to wrong address" or writing it on the letter directly if you don't have post-it note or piece of paper to clip to it saying "delivered in error". Please return it somehow to your letter carrier or the PO as you'd probably want the same done if a letter addressed to you was delivered in error somewhere else.

Our mailbox has no names on it, the other day on one of our letters was written "do they live here"

Does that mean the mailman has not been delivering that persons mail? Would the missing mail be held at the post office or sent back to sender?

Asked by Meg almost 12 years ago

The Missing mail would likely be returnEd to the sender and not kept at the PO. if I were the carrier and I saw mail with a name I wasn't familiar with, I think I would deliver it and if each time the letter was not returned to me with a notice saying "not here", I would assume it was a valid delivery. Unless you live on a rural route, there is no obligation that I'm aware of to notify what names are valid at a specific address. I generally deliver it until told otherwise. 

Do the mailman usually run on saturdays and what time do they usaully start and stop running?

Asked by Mark almost 11 years ago

I'm not sure what you mean by running. Saturday is a regular delivery day for the USPS. As far as I know, nobody delivers any faster or slower on a Saturday. For those carriers that have routes with businesses that are closed Saturday, they may get done with their routes sooner. In this case they are sometimes given other duties to make up for the "undertime". In my office, those carriers usually do a collection run or deliver Express Mail or help out on another route that is overburdened that day. Deliveries where I work are usually made between 9:30 and 4:30.

Is it okay to spell out single-digit street numbers on postal mail? For example, writing out Two Penn Center instead of 2 Penn Center. Or do postal regulations prohibit spelling out the figure two?

Asked by Laurel over 11 years ago

I believe it is permissible to spell out the single-digit number of a street adddress as given in your example.