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

Mailman Dave

I am a cca 4 month now, called in on my day off which i often am and am fine with that but was sent on a nightmare route that i was un familiar with and was unable to complete, am i doomed?

Asked by Rich over 11 years ago

I don't think you should be doomed if you were unable to complete such a large route. Usually the management would request that you call the post office if you require any extra time or assistance in completing a route that you are unfamiliar with. I would hope there would be no discipline in the situation that you just described.

when is the latest time a mail carrier should deliver the mail. We do not get our mailed until 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. He arrives at the mailboxes and it takes him 2 to 3 hours to sort the mail and put it in the boxes. We live in an apartment complex

Asked by Jules over 10 years ago

I can't give you an exact answer because operationally and geogrpahically the delivery times and deadlines are varied. I can make some generalizations but they will be based on what I experience or read about. At the PO where I work, most letter carriers are back and "off the clock" by 5PM meaning your mail should arrive no later than about 4:40PM. This is if the weather isn't severely hot or cold, our staffing level is sufficient, and the mail volume is not out if the ordinary. Where you live, it may be a very large apt complex that receives a lot of mail, staffing at the PO may not be up to where it should be, or the worker could just be slow. These are reasons, or possibilities as to why you receive your mail about 5:30 or 6:00 PM daily. It does sound slightly late to me, but not extreme, and I don't have any information on a standard cutoff time as to when mail should be delivered. Thanks for your question.

What does the carrier or post office do if my home-based business gets too much mail to fit in my cluster mailbox (on a regular basis)? I can potentially see getting two or three crates of mail daily.

Asked by James over 10 years ago

I am not sure what your post office or letter carrier will do if you are unable to provide a large enough receptacle for your daily mail delivery. Since you live in a place with only cluster boxes, it seems you have no choice in the matter. If I were able to get to your actual unit or apt. door, I'd likely leave the mail by the door and maybe ring your doorbell. I don't know the procedure for where you live and from what I hear on this Q and A board and from other msg boards, the delivery procedure is far from uniform in multi-unit dwellings. One option is to rent a PO Box which come in different sizes, but that would require an extra cost and a trip to your Post Office on a regular basis. If you stop in to your local post office and present this question to a delivery supervisor, hopefully they can give you a better answer. Good luck with your home-based business.

Hey Dave! Just wanted to share because I've seen your page. I'm currently in central ny about to undergo my first day of carrier academy. I will be a Cca in a small city in upstate New York. I was wondering if you know as a Cca i would get lots hrs?

Asked by Ny cca over 10 years ago

Congratulations on getting hired as a CCA! I don't know how many hours you will get in your particular office as each office is unique. Usually, a CCA fills in for a regular carrier when they are out sick or on vacation to deliver their route. They are also given "pieces" or "splits" on routes when a regular carrier may not finish their route within 8 hours and they don't want to work overtime or when management doesn't authorize overtime for the regular city letter carrier. CCAs may also work on Sundays to deliver Amazon.com parcels. They don't do this in every office so I don't know if yours is included in that service. In the office I work at, the CCAs all get plenty of hours due to a bit of short staffing. I am not sure of the minimum hrs/shift or minimum hours/week that a CCA is guaranteed. If you go to www.nalc.org, or more specifically http://www.nalc.org/workplace-issues/city-delivery/cca-contractual-issues, they have details about being a CCA. It may be a bit technical, but it's a good reference. Good luck, be on time for work, and work safely. Try not to get involved with any office drama.

I have recently been promoted to a career carrier position after working as a CCA for 10 months. I reserved a vacation for the weekend and now have been mandated to work. They are threatening to write me up for taking my days off. Is this legal?

Asked by Bryan over 10 years ago

Bryan, congratulations on being promoted to a "regular" carrier. It is much better than being a CCA, but 10 months sounds like a pretty short amount of time to be promoted. That is a good thing. With regards to your vacation I don't know the legalities of them mandating you to work when you have reserved a vacation. If you put in a request for annual leave and it was given back to you within a certain amt. of time (marked denied I mean), then I believe it is approved and generally can't be revoked. If you chose at as a full vacation block (usually in 1-week segments), that also is non-revocable by management as far as I know. I would recommend asking your shop steward for advice in this situation as I don't know in the NALC/USPS National Agreement where this is discussed, or possibly in the ELM (Employee/Labor Manual). One other suggestion is to ask on a FB message board that I belong to which you may find helpful. The group is called USPS Postal Maniacs. I've seen other USPS employees post questions and problems there and receive some advice. I will warn you that much of the talk on there is negative towards management, but there are many good people on there who can often steer you in the right direction. Good luck and thanks for writing.

Do you know people who work at the post office yet have a dream of doing their own business? Do some people work at the post office and work on their dream at night until they get a breakthrough in the area of the dreams?

Asked by JTDN over 11 years ago

I am sure This happens a lot. While it is a very secure job to have, it's not what everyone wants as a career. Some of my co-workers have left for jobs with other govt agencies, to become police officers. I don't know of anyone who started a business once they got a breakthrough. But we are a huge company so it has likely happened. Not too many people resign after being on the job more than 5 years. 

Does the mail man take a envelope with a old date

Asked by yellie over 10 years ago

I am not sure exactly what you mean regarding taking an envelope with an old date. If you mean a postage meter date, I imagine most letter carriers don't look at the date and if the envelope doesn't appear to have been used before, they would take it. I believe that a postage meter date should reflect the date of mailing. If an envelope has a postage meter with an old date and looks to have been reused, I would refuse to take it and possibly write on it "invalid meter date or reuse of postage." I don't think I've ever encountered that situation. If an evnvelope has postage stamps and has been postmarked already, that would mean that the stamps are used and can't be used for mailing. Again, most letter carriers don't look at the date of an envelope when accepting it for mailing. Thanks for writing in with your question.