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.

SubscribeGet emails when new questions are answered. Ask Me Anything!Show Bio +

Share:

Ask me anything!

Submit Your Question

1235 Questions

Share:

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

Best Rated

I was supposed to be getting mail from somewhere but I see that they have the wrong apartment number for me...is this a problem if my name is on the mail and obviously my mailbox?

Asked by Candy over 9 years ago

Candy, I'm not sure whether or not you will get the mail you are looking for. It depends on how well the letter carrier knows the names that are in the apt. building, the size of the apt. buidling (if it's a very large building, they may not be able to see all of the names on any directory), if they can clearly see who belongs in each apt, and if the regular carrier is working that day. Some carriers will treat a wrong apt. # the same as if the letter was mailed to a wrong address and either deliver it as addressed (to the wrong apt. # in your case) or return it to the sender. There is no clear cut answer as to what will happen to your mail. There are so many inconsistencies at this job that I can't predict what someone else may do. Also, if it's not the regular letter carrier working on the day your mail arrives and they aren't familiar with the apt. #'s/names, they may just deliver the mail to the apt. # written on the piece of mail. In that case, maybe the tenant who receives it will get the piece of mail to you.

I have seen postal service workers leave notes saying that they attempted to deliver a package and no one was home. But i was home and they did not attempt it. Why are they doing this? they didn't have any other mail on them.

Asked by scoobs almost 10 years ago

If this is actually taking place, I believe that it is wrong to do. Are you getting the information online by using a tracking number and the status says "attempted delivery"? I have heard of what you are claiming but don't know of anybody who personally has done that. If it happens repeatedly I would make a complaint with the USPS, either locally or through their 800 number. Is it possible that you just didn't hear the knock on the door or the doorbell. By no means am I disputing what you are saying, but I hope that this is not a common occurrence or widespread since it is misrepresenting what is actually happening with that package.

How often do mailman empty out the big blue usps boxes they have outside usually in every street in the neighborhood?

Asked by Leora over 9 years ago

Those are known as collection boxes and on the label which is usually inside the pull-down lid or outside the lid is a schedule of the pick-ups from the box. It is usually 1-2 times per day in the office where I work in suburban Long Island, NY. I've rarely seen it be more than that but in busier urban environments it could be more. Our app for iPhone has a "location" option where you can search for Blue Collection Boxes and the last collection time is posted.

If I sent a letter to the wrong address, or address that doesn't exist, how long would it take, approximately, for me to receive it back?

Asked by BP almost 10 years ago

I would guess about 2 weeks if you were to get it back at all. Theoretically if you sent it to the wrong address and it was delivered there, it is conceivable that the recipient may not return the letter to the mail carrier even though they should.  If you sent the letter to an address that doesn't exist, the item should be returned with the endorsement "No Such Street" or "No Such Number". I am just not sure of the actual time frame it would take for it to get back to you. It may depend on the workload of the nixie (not deliverable mail) at the destination PO. Thanks for your inquiry. 

Can a mailman still find your house without a house number as long as they have the street name?

Asked by Candi almost 10 years ago

Most of the time I would say the mailman could find a house without a house number, but it is highly recommended that you have the number posted somewhere on the house, painted on the curb, or on the mailbox. I would never assume that the house could be found without a visible number posted. I rarely come across the situation where I can't find a house number, but if I did the method I would use would be to find an adjacent house (and hopefully that has a number visible) and then add or subtract 2 (the normal interval) to figure out the house number without a visible number. Now that I think of it you may have been asking if I have a name of a resident plus a street name, but no street number, could I find the house. The answer would be "possibly". If the mailman was familiar with the names on the street they could probably deliver the mail to the right house. Again, I would never assume that mail will get to the correct destination without a complete and proper address. Thanks for writing in.

Someone help! I applied for the seasonal work in 2 diff counties. I have an interview tommrow this is the one i really want. And in my email today i see another interview invite for the 23rd of sept. This position already sent the rug/bacgrnd info

Asked by Cindy over 9 years ago

Cindy, I dont know how to help you in this situation as I am not even sure what you are asking.  Good luck on both interviews. I do realize you want one of these positions much greater than the other. Unless you get offered the job for the first interview on the spot, I highly recommend attending both interviews. The reason is that you may get an offer for the latter interview than at your preferred location. This is likely better than having no employment.

What happens after a postman returns to the post office after finishing his route? I gave my postman a package that had a pre-paid shipping label and was wondering when I can expect it to be scanned.

Asked by Mischa almost 10 years ago

Mischa, I deleted one of your questions because it came up as a duplicate on this website. When we return from our routes, we put all of the outgoing (collected) mail in a dispatch area usually divided into flat, letters, parcels, priority, metered, stamped, etc. With regards to the prepaid shipping labels which is usually called Parcel Select Return Service I put the item in a separate area and our dispatch clerk knows what to do with it. I don't know when it is scanned at our post office. I would suspect that the package would be scanned at least in 1-2 days. Some packages which are being sent back as a return are transported by a 3rd party company that picks up those packages at our post office. Other packages are transported by the USPS back to the company where the package is being returned. I know when I pick it up from a customer as an outgoing return package I do not scan the item at all. I hope this helps but please keep checking USPS.com to track your package for any scans.