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

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I was reading articles about mailmen and one person said he lifted 75 pound trays to take mail from (for sorting into bins or trays) before he goes out on his route. Do you do that? or is your mail already sorted for you?

Asked by MarthaJ about 12 years ago

Most of the mail that we take out is sorted ahead of time into trays, but there is always some "residual mail" that has to be hand sorted and sometimes collated in with the mail that has already been sorted. It is rare that these trays would be more than 20 lbs. in my estimation. Some offices have more automation than others meaning some offices still have to do a lot of manual sorting. While there are sometimes heavy packages to lift, I think the max. Is 70 lbs. and i don't see a parcel that heavy too often. The mail that I mentioned earlier comes sorted into trays is done by automated sorting machines located at a larger processing facility. 

I live in md and in my mailbox was a card saying my mail was on hold for 10 days,,i didn't put on hold..can anyone else do this..such as agency on anyone

Asked by will about 12 years ago

Nobody should be putting your mail on hold for 10 days without your permission unless there was some obstruction to your mailbox which would prevent delivery.  I believe that via USPS.com somebody could technically put a hold mail request pretending to be you, but that wouldnt be legal and haven't heard of that occurring. I hope you can find out why this happened. 

 

 

what is your favouritew thing to deliver to my mum.

Asked by will moors almost 12 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.

How late could I expect to possibly have my package arrive tonight?

Asked by Brian almost 11 years ago

I don't know if you will receive the package tonight. This time of year I'd say that most packages are delivered by 6PM, but each office probably has varying times due to mail volume and staffing levels. During the holiday season, we deliver some packages on Sunday as well. If you have a tracking number you can track the shipment at www.usps.com but I'm not sure how well it works with items that originated from another country.

can i give a mailman my package to ship off or take back

Asked by juan over 11 years ago

You can give a mailman any package that has the postage paid on it either via a computer printed label (such as Click 'N Ship) or a label where the recipient will pay the return postage. In the latter case, the label will clearly say "No Postage Necessary If Mailed Within The United States". Postage may also be a postage meter or by affixing stamps to the package to cover the postage. Every letter carrier should accept the package no questions asked. The exception to this would be a city letter carrier who may not have a USPS vehicle which they are operating from and are unable to bring the package back to the Post Office. In that case I believe you can go to www.usps.com to schedule a package pickup. Thanks for writing.

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 over 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 sent a letter, and only put my first name and the returning address on it, is that somewhat common to see on letters? or is it not right?

Asked by Adrian over 11 years ago

When mailing a letter it is always best to put a full return address on it if you want to get it back in the event the item is undeliverable for any reason. It is not wrong, however, to just put your first name and return address on the letter.  I can't tell you how common I see it since I don't often pay attention to the thoroughness of the return address. Most mail that is sent actually gets delivered as long as it has a proper destination address, including unit/apt. # (if any).  Thank you for the question.