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

My husband's ex-wife's mail continues to be delivered to our house. We purchased together so there is no reason that she would be on this address. I have done everything suggested to make this stop; it keeps getting delivered. How do I make it stop?

Asked by kingston over 9 years ago

Kingston, I'm guessing that a couple of methods you have tried is to return any mail with her name on it with the marking "person doesn't live here" or "refused" on it. Another method is to ask your letter carrier to only deliver mail with your name and/or your husband's name on it. Since the ex-wife possibly had the same last name as your husband I can see some of that mail getting through. You could discard the mail but I don't think that will have any effect on stopping the mail since a letter carrier has no idea what is done with the mail once it is delivered. If you talk to a supervisor at the PO and tell them you don't want mail for that name, I'm not sure what their response will be, esp. when last names may be in common. I am sorry that I don't have any better information as this situation isn't one that I recall coming across. Most people just refuse delivery of that mail or probably discard it. Thanks for writing. 

Around what time does the shipping start and when does the routing end in Sundays?

Asked by Angel almost 10 years ago

It probably depends on where you live and if there is package delivery on Sunday. I think you are asking me what time the package deliveries start and finish on a Sunday. It has been many years since I've done any type of delivery on Sunday, but in the office where I work on Long Island (NY), 2-3 City Carrier Assistants (CCAs) work from apprx 9AM-3PM delivering packages that arrive from Amazon.com. Again, these are just estimates since I don't have experience with this. Thank you for writing.

My mother had a bill to mail, everything was in the envelope and it was stamped. Some time after 6pm, I walked down to the blue collection box and mailed it. She didn't seal the envelope. Can I ask the carrier to open the box and find the envelope?

Asked by L.Williams over 9 years ago

You may certainly ask a carrier to open the collection box, but I don't know if they will. I don't even have keys to open one of those boxes so it's possible the carrier you ask won't have access to the collection box. If you are able to have a carrier open the box, if there is a lot of mail in there, I don't know that they will take the time to go through it to find the bill you are looking for. Bring ID with you in case they want to match up the unsealed mail with your address. As I said, I don't know what response you will get from the letter carrier, but was just giving you some possibilities. It is also possible that the bill will get to the destination unsealed and all will be fine.

Will I be disqualified for employment if I don't have a valid drivers license when I take the exam

Asked by deedee over 9 years ago

Deedee, I don't know the minimum requirements for taking the USPS carrier exam, but I do think you will need one to actually get hired. I would look on the USPS employment website to see if there is any information on it as to when you need to have a driver license. All city carriers where I work drive postal vehicles and therefore need a driver license. Good luck and thanks for writing.

My employer forgot to add my apartment number to my check can i meet the postmaster at my apartment to get it or will they not have it?

Asked by Jen almost 9 years ago

Jen, I'm not sure if the letter carrier (postman, mailman, they all are synonymous) would have your paycheck if you met them at the mailboxes for the apt. building. Sometimes if there is no apt. number on a piece of mail, it could be sent back to the sender for "Insufficient Address, Apt. # Required", or they may have it with them and try to figure out the correct apt. # if they don't already know it. Some carriers are familiar with who lives in which apt. so they deliver the mail anyway without an apt. number on the address. I think a lot will depend on who is delivering mail the day you go out and meet them. I know this doesn't help you, but in the future the apt. # is so important to put on an address to insure proper delivery. It's also a good idea to label either the outside or inside of your mailbox with your name and apartment number. Thanks for your question and I hope your paycheck arrives.

if i order a package and it is snet by usps and it says out for delivery when i look up tracking number. the mail has already come today and there were no special cards saying pick up at post office will it be delivered by truck

Asked by chandler almost 10 years ago

I know this response is likely too late to help you out for today, but I'll let you know my opinion. If all the scanning of the package is done properly, then the package should have been on some delivery vehicle (not necessarily the regular mail delivery) to bring the package to your address by the end of the deilvery day (apprx 5PM local time.) I hope you have received it. I make the qualifier "if the scanning of the package was done properly" because there are times where the information as to where the package is or "attempted" but wasn't really, comes up when you use the tracking number. That brings down the integrity of the scanning data. For the most part I believe the USPS does a very good job of giving the correct tracking information on packages, but I've heard stories to the contrary at times. Thanks for writing.

i frogot to put my returning address on the mail i sent out today, what will happen?

Asked by Emily over 9 years ago

It is fine not to put a return address on anything you mail. The issue that could come about is if the item you sent is "undeliverable as addressed" meaning that you didn't put on the correct destination address. In this case, the letter would likely be sent to the "nixie" or "dead letter" office. I don't know what it is called nowadays and I don't know what would happen to the letter, but you wouldn't get it back unless somebody opened it and your address was found on the inside. I don't even know if that is legal to do or if it is even done. Again, as long as you put the proper destination address on the letter, don't worry at all about not putting on the return address. Thanks for your inquiry.