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

Thanks for this forum to ask questions! I am preparing to rent some office space, but the building shares one common address. There are no suites, ect. If I place a box with my business name on it will I be able to receive mail? Thank you!

Asked by Art almost 11 years ago

I don't know the answer to this for sure. I believe the mail would be delivered to the building in one bundle with the other businesses mail mixed in if there are no specific suite #'s. For you to have your mail delivered separately, I believe you would need to have a specific address which is different from the rest of the building (i.e. the same street address, but a suite # associated with it). You could consider renting a PO Box, but that would have a cost plus would require a trip to your local PO to retrieve your mail. Most of the mail that we deliver is sorted by a machine into delivery order so if your address doesn't have a separate suite number, a letter carrier probably wouldn't segregate your mail just because you have a box with your business name on it. It's my pleasure to assist you on this forum and thank you for writing.

If I accidentally use a priority box for first class shipping, will it be sent bam to me?!?

Asked by Kristie over 11 years ago

The item may be sent back to you for more postage for the Priority Rate. Did the item you mailed weigh 13 oz. or less.(domestic) That is the only way you can qualify for first class shipping. But, if the item is in a Priority Box it needs the Priority Rate. You might get lucky and the package will be delivered with no extra fee added.

We are a small office but we have outgoing mail every day. Our mailman comes every morning before our office is open, even after asking him to please try and come after 9am. Is there any other way to remedy this, or should we just run to the mailbox?

Asked by SPS Oceanside almost 11 years ago

I must admit that does sound a bit early that the mailman arrives before 9AM daily. The more common comment is that mail deliver is later in the day that people would like. We generally have no control over the order that we deliver our mail routes. The routes are set up in a certain order of delivery and mailman are usually under a time pressure to deliver their routes and be finished in a prescribed amount of time. I believe your best remedy is to go to a mailbox (formally known as collection boxes) before the pickup time printed on the label inside the lid to ensure your outgoing mail will be processed that day. Thanks for writing.

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 over 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).

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 over 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.

if we get mail that we don't want like catalogs is there any way we can refuse it and send it back or do we have to pay postage to do that?

Asked by anonymous over 11 years ago

I'm not sure of the answer to this. I think you have to pay postage if the mail was sent to you at a rate called presort Standard. The reason is because if you just leave that type of mail in your box for the carrier to take back they can refuse to take it, or, if they do take it back, it will likely just be discarded into a recycling bin at the PO. That type of mail is called NOVM (No Obvious Value Mail). There will be no effect on you continuing to get that type of mail in the future because the mailer has no notification that you want to be taken off their mailing list. The most effective way to have these mailings cease would likely be to call the mailer or email them to be removed from their mailing list. I have found this effective for reputable emailers but have never tried it with traditional paper mailers. Thanks for your question. 

what is your favouritew thing to deliver to my mum.

Asked by will moors over 11 years ago

I usually don't know the contents of any given package, my favorite thing is to deliver packages as opposed to magazines and letters.