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

How do you keep your hands warm in cold weather while carrying, holding, fingering and delivering the mail?

Asked by vbjmin over 10 years ago

Vbjmin, you ask a question that I'd love to know the perfect answer to as I've been struggling with this issue from the beginning of my postal career. Cold hands are really hard to tolerate especially when you will be out delivering hours and they must be nimble enough to finger the mail. I wear a glove (thick or thin) on the hand where I hold the mail and cradle the flats since I don't need that hand to finger the mail. The hand that I use to finger the mail and deliver the mail I try to wear a thinner and sometimes fingerless glove or one with small gripping dots on them This has worked okay over the years. Another item which can be useful is "hot hands" which are small single-use packets that form a chemical reaction and heat up for several hours. You can put those in your pocket or even inside your glove. I have rarely used these but my girlfriend, not a letter carrier, loves them. I have purchased many pairs of gloves over the years. It's just a matter of finding the ones that keep you warm enough but allows you to still feel the mail. Thanks for writing and winter is my least favorite season to deliver mail.

This is just a comment, not a question. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions so promptly, accurately and friendly. I, for one, really do appreciate your effort! Cheers!

Asked by mcmjuly over 10 years ago

Mcmjuly, much thanks for your positive feedback. This is how I try to be in life as well. I want to be accurate, and not sensationalize any part of my job. I also try to answer promptly because I prefer not to have too much pending email. Maybe touches of OCD.

how many hours a day do you work? How much is starting pay for 1 hour?

Thank you. I want to be a mailman and I am 18.

Asked by albert almost 11 years ago

Albert, your message posted 2x so I will answer it once and then copy and paste it. I currently work 7 hours a day as I am on a limited schedule for personal reasons. A regular city letter carrier can expect to work 8 hours per day (plus 30 min. unpaid lunch), 5 days per week. The 5 days may not be consecutive since mail is delivered 6 days per week. As a new hire, you will likely be a CCA (city carrier assistant) who has a very varied schedule and I'm not sure they are guaranteed any hours. I believe starting pay is about $16/hour for a CCA, with very few benefits, if any. Once you are promoted to a regular city carrier,  the salary increasea to about $23/hour and tops out at about $28.50/hr after a certain amt. of years. These salaries are set in accordance with a labor agreement between the USPS and the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), which is our union. You also get benefits once you become a regular city letter carrier as opposed to a CCA. If you visit the website www.nalc.org they have pay charts listed or you can probably just do a google search or look on www.glassdoor.com. Good luck in what is a pretty good career in my opinion. 

If someone sends ne something but one number in the address is wrong for instance 186 instead of 180, will the mailman return it to sender or will they hold it at the post office? If at the post office where i am could i go pick it up?

Asked by Nina V almost 11 years ago

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.

What recourse do I have:
I had dvd delivered to a friend. He didn't get it although tracking said it was delivered. Called located po. Super said mail carrier said gave it to woman. It went to wrong address. Woman says she doesn't have it.

Asked by Cher almost 11 years ago

I have to tell you that I don't know what recourse you have in this situation since the woman who says she doesn't have it probably can't be held accountable for actually having it. How does the super know it went to the wrong address? I'm just curious since I'm not sure how this whole chain of events can be verified. I'm sorry that I can't help you further and it is very difficult to get an item back that is misdelivered if the actual recipient doesn't admit to having it. Even if you called a local post office to file some type of complaint about this, I don't know what help they would be.

I have a rural route, a mailbox at the highway. My mailman drove into my yard, threw my package (ATV battery) out of his vehicle towards my porch, damaging it, got stuck in yard, trenching it up bad. What can/should I do about this? Thank You.

Asked by Bill about 10 years ago

I don't know what to tell you about this with regards to what you should do. You could file a complaint/written letter to the PO claiming financial damage by the rural letter carrier, possibly including the ATV battery damage as well. I don't know how this claims process works at all with respect to any damage caused by the USPS or of an item shipped via USPS. It sounds to me that maybe the carrier shouldn't have driven into your yard to throw the battery near your porch. I don't know the rules about package deliveries on a rural route. In one way, it's good they tried to deliver a package that wouldn't fit in the RR mailbox at the highway. A possible negative is that your yard became damaged due to this. I wish you well but I don't know what type of satisfaction you'll get from the USPS. I don't have a lot of faith in their bureaucracy or claims process. I hope to be proven wrong.

Saw the post about disgruntled workers, and was wondering, aren't disabled vets given a higher score on the test? Maybe some had PTS or something?

Asked by Kathyc over 10 years ago

Disgruntled workers abound at the USPS but I can't say it's better or worse than other companies. I don't feel that our immediate supervisors and our postmaster are that kind to us but I'm sure it could be a lot worse. Overall our union has done a good job protecting our work rights and negotiating for a fair wage and benefits, but you will have complainers and unhappy workers no matter what. Years ago, veterans were given 5 pts preference on Federal Civil Service exams and 10 pts if you were a disabled veteran. I don't know if that still applies and if it also is in effect for exams at other levels of government. It's hard to say what makes a veteran disabled, but I'm sure Post Traumatic Stress Disorder qualifies in certain cases. Thanks for writing.