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 got a strange note from the mailman today that I have to put my name on our apt mailbox or it will be returned to sender. I had lots of instances that my mail has been misdirected with the correct address. My question is am I required to?

Asked by bert about 11 years ago

I don't know the answer to this officially. It would definitely be helpful to put your name on your mailbox, but if a letter were dressed accurately with the correct apt. #, I'm not sure why it would be returned to the sender. If I were delivering to an apt. complex, I wouldn't require this to be done. I live in an apt. building and do put my name on the mailbox, but I don't know that it is required.

Hi I just got hired as a cca. I've been reading post on the Internet and have seeing that cca's are hired for 1yr then fired and rehired. Is this what I should expect or is this just hear say?

Asked by Kevin about 11 years ago

I don't know that to be the case where they hire and fire CCA after a year. I have never seen anybody hired for 1 yr then fired and rehired. As long as you are doing a respectable job, it's not likely you would be fired for an invalid reason.

I recently moved to a new address old place was all bills paid so I'm a new customer to elec,Internet,cable so all those bills only no this address, all bills now have late fee mailman put return to sender w/out my permission is he allowed to?

Asked by Tina over 10 years ago

I think what you are saying is that all of your new bills for your new address are not being delivered to you. For this reason you have incurred late fees. If I read it correctly, you have paid all of your old bills. The letter carrier at your new address should be delivering the new bills to your current address and not be returning them to the sender. You may want to leave a note in your mailbox with your name advising the letter carrier that your name is valid at your new address. You really shouldn't have to do this because when I see a new name to deliver that I'm not familiar with, I deliver the mail anyway and if it's not correct the current resident would usually leave the mail out for me to take back to the PO with a note saying "person doesn't live here"

If you moved and didn't do a forwarding address and your neighbor tells them you moved...which by the way it was because my paycheck was already in the pipeline, so was coming back everyday looking for it....can they hold your mail??

Asked by kbear over 10 years ago

Kbear, from what I gather in your question, you moved and didn't do a forwarding order on purpose because your paycheck was already in the mail? If this happens, the letter carrier might hold the mail at the PO for a certain amt. of days, but that doesn't seem likely. The letter carrier might complete an Employee-Generated Change of Address form and check a box "Moved Left No Address". In that case any mail addressed to you would be returned to the sender with "Moved, Left No Address" on the envelope.   You could check with your local post office from where you moved and see what they have been doing with your mail. I don't know that you will get any resolution to your question, but it is worth a try. Good luck and thank you for writing.

My mail man left a package I ordered in one of those package lockers that need the key to open. The key the mail carrier left does not work AT ALL. I left a note asking to leave my package in another box and it was ingnored. How do I get my package?

Asked by Vanessa about 11 years ago

I am sorry that you are having this issue with the parcel locker key not working and your request being ignored re: using another parcel locker. I am not sure what the best solution is. Is the note you left very visible? If that doesn't work, maybe leave a post-it note on the parcel locker near the keyhole explaining the problem. Another option is to try to call the local post office and speak with a delivery supervisor or the national USPS Customer Support Center at: 
1-800-ASK-USPS® (1-800-275-8777)

Thank you for your question and I hope you get your situation resolved shortly.

What time does a city carrier usually have to report to the post office in the morning to start? I have a good chance at getting this position but am wondering in advance because I need to put my daughter in daycare and very few open that early.

Asked by Jess over 10 years ago

I can't speak for all POs, but from what I have experienced, most full-time assignments start between 7-8 AM and end 3:30-4:30PM. For a newly hired carriers, they might start later in the day as there may not be enough work for them to work a full day or the operations require that they work much later. I've seen a 10-11AM start time for the CCAs (city carrier assistants) when they aren't needed to cover a whole assignment  . During peak vacation time (usually summer months), many offices are shorthanded due to carriers being on vacation, so CCAs possibly start their workday the same time as other regular carriers. There are some assignments (like a parcel post or collection route) which usually start a bit later in the AM. In our office that is a 10AM-6:30PM assignment. Thanks for writing and good luck. 

I have a photograph of mailboxes in a very remote part of South Dakota. Next to the mailboxes is a large barrel. Is this where the mailman would leave packages?

Asked by Joy over 10 years ago

Hello Joy. The area where you took the photo is probably serviced by a rural carrier or HCR (highway contract routr). These positions are different than the one I am employed as even though we all serve the same function. It makes sense to me that the barrel would be used for packages because I don't think carriers are required to deliver mail to a house that is more than a certain amt of feet from the road. The barrel is a convenient way for the customer to receive packages without having to drive to a post office which is many mlies away and has limited hours. It would also protect the package from damage in inclement weather. I can't confirm this is what the barrel is for.