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

I was just wondering. If the mail carrier delivers a package to your door, is there a reason why he chooses to leave the rest of the mail in the mailbox? I have a long driveway atop a hill, so why not bring it all up?

Asked by CJB almost 11 years ago

I am not sure why they would leave the mail in the mailbox at the bottom of the hill. One reason is that if there is nowhere to securely put the mail at the top of the hill outside of the elements the carrier wouldn't want to leave the mail outside.

700 Votes

So, I am expecting a package thats delivered by USPS. 5 days ago, it was at Jamaica(NY). It took the following route - JAMAICA(NY) -> TETERBORO(NJ -> KEARNY(NJ) - > TETERBORO(NJ -> KEARNY(NJ) - > JAMAICA(NY). No update ever since. Whats happening?

Asked by AS over 10 years ago

I don't know why the routing would keep going back and forth unless it was considered "undeliverable as addressed". I know that those are likely all sorting facilities for packages near or at airports. I'm sorry that I'd have no further information on the package. Possibly the ZIP code on the package isn't correct so the item keeps getting routed between facilities. I would recommend contacting the shipper and telling them what info you are able to get from the USPS website and see if they have maybe received it back marked invalid address. I'm not sure the shipper will have any information. Since the item originated in Jamaica, NY and is now back in Jamaica, NY, it has possibly been returned to the sender for some reason. Thanks for the inquiry.

699 Votes

I would like to know the regulations for attaching it to my house

Asked by chertz about 11 years ago

I can't quote you the regulations, but as long as the box is accessible to the letter carrier without a hazard that is usually sufficient for attaching a box to your house. 

699 Votes

Recently we had a change in postal carriers. Our old guy was very efficient and kind, always greeting us. The new guy is gruff, speeds through the neighborhood, rude, forgetting mail from time to time. We miss our old guy! Are we stuck with this guy?

Asked by Carol about 10 years ago

Unfortunatley, you are probably stuck with the new carrier. Do you know the reason that there was a change in postal carriers? Some of the reasons are: a change in the territory that makes up a route, a carrier chooses to leave their route for another one, or a carrier retires or transfers to another office. When this happens, the route often goes up for "bid", and the most senior carrier who desires to do the route that includes your street gets that assignment. It is not based on how friendly, efficient, or safe that this carrier works. There are plenty of letter carriers at the USPS who won't win congeniality awards or hard worker accolades.  There is very little corrective action that can be taken as long as the carrier shows up for work and doesn't get into any motor vehicle accidents. I don't know how you would feel about calling the delivery supervisor to voice your concerns about the new carrier and the safety of their driving as well as them forgetting mail, but you could do that. I don't know what kind of response you will get or if it will change anything, but I don't think it would hurt to mention it. Those qualities are very unprofessional and unsafe in a letter carrier. There are some of these carriers at the office where I work as well. I try to have as little as possible to do with them whatsoever. I'm sure this problem isn't uncommon in the USPS and most other companies. Thanks for writing to jobstr for advice.

698 Votes

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are mailmen suppose to come to the door with a registered letter or just leave a card for you to go to the post office to get it?

Asked by Cindy almost 11 years ago

As far as I know if a letter requires a signature to be delivered (i.e. registered or certified), the letter carrier should make an attempt to get a signature at the intended address and not just leave a PS3849 Notice of Attempted Delivery. You may call the Post Office to have the item redelivered and you may leave the signed notice for the carrier to pick up and leave the registered item if all parties feel comfortable doing that.

698 Votes

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 over 10 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. 

697 Votes

How many times is mail picked up at the post office and also does mail being sent off in the morning get to its destination sooner

Asked by kay about 10 years ago

I'm sure each Post Office has a slightly different dispatch schedule for mail being sent off to a P&DC (Processing and Distribution Center). I think that our Post Office dispatches the mail 2-3 times per day. I don't think that something mailed in the morning gets to its destination sooner than a letter which is collected prior to our final dispatch which is usually around 6PM. We have service levels which basically say if a letter or parcel is mailed on a certain date (before a final dispatch) that it should reach its destination by a certain date. This is usually 1-3 days depending on the distance between the origination and destination Post Office and the class of mail that is being sent (1st Class, Priority, Express, Parcel Post, etc).

696 Votes

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