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

Can I give my mailman the key to a new lock mailbox I just bought? I live in a 3 family house and someone is stealing my mail.

Asked by LA almost 12 years ago

LA, it is awful that mail is being stolen. I don't know what good it will do, but I would recommend reporting that to your local post office or the Postal Inspectors. To answer your question, I don't know that a mailman would get involved with being responsible for a key to a private mailbox. If everyone on their route did that, how would they keep track of all of those keys? Furthermore, if that mailman was off/sick/vacation, how could you be sure that the replacement mailman would get the key? I just don't think it will be feasible or practical or possibly even allowed. Another option (though less convenient) would be to rent a PO Box which would definitely be secure.

a letter was picked up at my employers office in burbank,ca. in the afternoon. when should i get it in downtown l.a.(about 20 miles apart)

Asked by Cboy4200 about 12 years ago

I believe the service standard for a letter from Burbank to LA is 1 day. It is not a guarantee but most letters probably meet that standard. 

I am considering getting into the postal service as a mail carrier, but I want to start out in this position rather then work my way up. Is this possible or do I have to start at the bottom?

Asked by Amanda almost 12 years ago

No, you don't have to start at the bottom. Many mail carriers start out in that position. Nowadays, you are likely to be starting as a CCA (City Carrier Assistant). I think that the position is one you are just paid per hour worked and I don't know that there is any health insurance or other benefits or guarantee of hours either. As full-time positions become available in an office, a CCA is often promoted to the position of Full Time Regular Letter Carrier which has many benefits as well as a guarantee of 40 hours per week.  If you visit www.nalc.org and look at the left hand side of the page there is a section that says "Welcome, New Hires!" which should answer any CCA questions in greater detail.

What time are you coming to el cajon ca today

Asked by netta over 11 years ago

Netta, this q and A website deals more with questions about a job or career with the USPS as a mailman. I don't have specifics about customer service issues or delivery times. In most places, I'd guess that mail is delivered between 0930 and 1630 barring any staffing or weather issues.

Looking to relocate from small town in Kansas to somewhere in the Houston Texas area. Is it possible to apply for and get a job in another state before actually moving there?

Asked by jadrian almost 12 years ago

I am sorry but I am not familiar with the application process and how it would work if you didn't live in the area. If you go to www.usps.com and look at careers that may give you an idea. I hope in your case that it is possible.

HI MailmanDave,its me again.The letter was to cuny for college admissions.I have recently checked my status in cunysite and it still says i didnt mail in my highschool transcript yet....

Asked by victor over 11 years ago

Victor, I am not sure what to tell you about what happened to your HS transcript being mailed to CUNY. Either it has been lost somewhere or the CUNY bureaucracy is slow in updating their site, but I would hope that isn't the case when it comes to something as important as college admissions application. Mail does go missing and is misdeliveered sometimes but we are generally a good delivery service, just not perfect.

Can you ask mail carrier to deliver a letter/envelope with affixed postage to an address that's on her route right down the road that same day? Or does it have to go all the way to the post office 100 miles away to get sorted? Thanks!

Asked by Gracie over 11 years ago

Gracie, you certainly can ask a letter carrier to do what you have mentioned. I don't know if they all would oblige and I don't know the rules concerning this. I have never had this requested of me, but if I did, I probably would do it because it is such a rare occurrence and wouldn't have any measurable impact on my day with regards to taking longer to deliver the route than normal. During my mail delivery I sometimes look at the outgoing mail and see that there are letters/cards going to addresses which are also on my route. This happens more commonly during the holiday season. I don't, however, segregate that mail out for any special handling. I let it all go to our mail processing plant which will usually run the mail through an automated system which will then put the mail in delivery order for the next day's delivery. This is called DPS (Delivery Point Sequencing) Mail and is fairly accurate in my opinion. Humans make plenty of mistakes and machines make mistakes so I wouldn't disparage the use of DPS machines because they really save on a lot of labor costs in sorting mail. To me it is am amazingly efficient technology when it comes to sorting letter-size mail and flats (magazines and catalogs). Thank you for your inquiry.