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

What does it mean when my postman says he is going to report me to USPS. What does this mean, and what will happen?

Asked by Slayerrocks almost 12 years ago

I am not sure what that means when the postman says that he wil report you to the USPS. Did you have some type of conflict with him? Do you have a dog that bit him or is loose when the letter carrier comes to make his delivery? Depending on what he is reporting you for, you may get a letter or phone call from a supervisor or postmaster to discuss or rectify a situation (though you didn't mention what the situation is or you may not even know). It could also result in suspension of mail delivery for a period of time. 

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 almost 13 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. 

I am rca.no benifits.sick or vacay time on my paystub is big fat zeros next to retirement. I have been a sub for 8 years. My boss says i am req to do sundays. If i say i do church can he still force me 2? I cant re the last sat i had off this job sux

Asked by energy almost 12 years ago

I am not familiar with the RCA (Rural Carrier Associate) position and the requirements of when you have to work. I do know that it is similar to the CCA position for city letter carriers which don't get any benefits as far as I know, except a uniform allowance. The CCAs in the office where I work sometimes have to work Sundays to deliver Amazon parcels. I would recommend contacting the NRLCA (National Rural Letter Carriers Association) at Phone: 703-684-5545. Their website is www.nrlca.org and they are the union which represents Rural Letter Carriers nationwide. I copied the following from a USPS brochure on RCA hiring: Rural Carrier Associate Facts Variable Work Hours As an RCA, you will replace a regular rural carrier on his or her scheduled day off (primarily Saturday), on vacation, or on other leave. Work hours will vary depending on the office and route to which you are assigned. You must be willing to work weekends and some holidays and be available for on-call employment. You may be assigned to other carriers’ routes, increasing the number of hours you work.

I would like to know if I put my mail in the mailbox to be picked up and I mistakenly put the wrong mail in. Once the carrier pick it up, is it too late for me to retrieve my mail before it is sent. Thanks

Asked by Tomy Black over 12 years ago

Generally, if an outgoing item has been picked up and is in the mailstream to be delivered it is close to impossible for it to be retrieved. If you happen to see the letter carrier and he/she still has the item (meanining they haven't yet sent it out for dispatch), you could ask them to retrieve it but I don't know if they are obligated or even if allowed to give it back to you.

 

If I don't pass the exam the first time, is there a mandatory wait before I can try again? Also, please excuse my spelling on the previous question...thanks.

Asked by Jeremy over 12 years ago

I don't know of any mandatory waiting period after you take the postal exam which you must wait to take it a second or third time. Good luck to you in taking the exam. There may be a mandaory waiting time, but I just am not familiar with it.

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 almost 12 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.

For the Q above, if it's already been 6 days, do i still have a chance of retrieving it from them tomorrow? Or would they have thrown it away or returned it by now?

Asked by Sally over 12 years ago

I am not sure if they would still have it after 6 days. Generally, they wouldn't have thrown it out if the item was mailed a certain class and a return endorsement like "return service requested" but there is no way to know how it was mailed. Hopefully it will be returned to sender and if there is a way to contact the sender they could tell you when they received it back. It wouldn't hurt to go to the PO to see if it's there. Has there been any update to the tracking information besides "arrived at your local USPS facility"?