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.
When you mail a letter it goes through a fairly extensive sorting process until it reaches the destination post office that does the actual delivery of the letter to the addressee. That is the way it works in the US and I imagine it is similar in other countries. Once the letter reaches the final post office, it is then sorted to the route which covers the address. The letter carrier for that route usually will have a map with them or a GPS or smartphone to help them find the address if they aren't familiar with the area. In the post office where I work, many of the streets are delivered by the same letter carriers each day so we know where the mail goes to. It is also helpful and important if the street signs are clear as well as the house/apt #'s are labeled well.
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I would say congratulations if you've been hired as a CCA with the USPS. It may seem a bit thankless at times as a CCA given that you are paid less than the regular career carriers and the benefits are also lighter. My tips would be to try to have a great work attitude, be on time for work, be flexible since your hours may be quite variable, work safely, and be respectful of your co-workers. This doesn't mean let yourself be stopped on taken advantage of by management or your co-workers. You will likely be filling in for carriers who are out temporarily or doing "pieces" on a route when the mail volume is too high. If you think you are being given too much work in too short of a time window, do your best but then call the supervisors if you won't be able to make it. They may not be happy about it, but as long as you are safe and not making many delivery mistakes, it should be okay. I also recommending to join the NALC who will advocate for your rights as a city letter carrier. Please write more if you have additional questions or you need me to be more specific. Good luck to you!
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Congratulations on getting hired as a CCA. I understand what you are saying that your small office won't have any openings for a career position anytime soon. I don't know if there are offices in the nearby area where you could inquire as to whether they would have any older carriers retiring soon which would create more internal movement. I'm sorry but I have no knowledge about the process for converting from CCA to regular carrier, except a lot of patience. I wish you well in your new position.
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Emily, I'm not sure what combination lock you are referring to. Is it one of those old fashioned ones on a PO Box? Whether it is that one or one on a mailbox at your residence won't change my answer. I was just curious. I haven't heard that it is technically illegal to hand someone mail but I'm not versed in the legalities of this subject. I can see that the USPS may be hesitant in handing mail to someone without confirming their identity or being personally known to the employee. If you have a physical disability which prevents you from getting your mail, it would make sense to have some alternate method provided but I don't know how far the USPS is required to go in accommodating you. If you are unsatisfied with the response from your local PO, I would recommend going up the chain at your PO such as talking to the Postmaster or their boss. I don't know what their response will be given the varied nature of our personnel.
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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.
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It is hard to say for sure what will happen if it is one number off like in your example. If the mailman recognizes your name and knows what the correct address should be, they will often deliver it to what should be the correct address. If they don't look at the name and strictly deliver by address and the address that was written on the item actually exists then it is possible the item will wind up there and not where it was intended. It's not likely for the item to be held at the PO for pickup. It could be returned to the sender with the endorsement "Attempted, Not Known" for the address that was written on the envelope. I hope this helps you.
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Great question and you are correct about having to use the bathroom during the course of the delivery day. We don't have a bathroom in the postal vehicle, though that would be a nice touch. When I need to use a bathroom, I usually drive to an office building, gas station, or library near the route where I deliver. I also deliver mail to a dentist's office so I can use their toilet when the office is open. The next method some will find gross, but I wouldn't necessarily agree. Some males carry around bottles with them and will discreetly urinate in them and then dump out the contents when they get a chance. It's pretty easy to do in the environment I work as there aren't many people around and one can go inside the back of the postal vehicle for privacy. It's also a good idea to carry hand sanitizer or handi-wipes for use after urinating. As far as what woman do, I'm pretty sure it's not that simple and they must usually find a facility to use.
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