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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1236 Questions

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Last Answer on February 18, 2022

Best Rated

i mailed a letter on tuesday morning in the box in front of my apartment complex (i live in lancaster pa) 2 head to south carolina. it is now saturday night and she has no received the letter. i am wondering if this is rare or if something is wrong?

Asked by kyle about 10 years ago

Kyle, I think the normal amount of time for a First-class letter to get from Lancaster, PA to Charleston, SC, would be 2 days. From what you wrote it has already been 4 delivery days and the letter hasn't arrived. I don't know that it's rare, but it exceeds our service goal as far as I know. Are you sure you addressed the letter correctly and completely? Letters still get lost in the mail, missorted, misdelivered, destroyed by our automated sorting machines, etc. but that is all a very low percentage of the amt of mail processed.

563 Votes

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 about 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.

562 Votes

my mail carrier mis delivered my mail to my neighbor and she threw it in the garbage. what can i do? mail has tracking but was not insured

Asked by joek over 10 years ago

I am not sure what can be done re: the mail that has been thrown in the garbage. How do you know it was misdelivered and thrown away by your neighbor? If you are sure it has been misdelivered, you may want to call a delivery supervisor at your local post office to report it. They could then ask the letter carrier about it and make him/her more aware of their delivery quality in the future. As for the missing mail, I don't know of any recourse. Thank you for your inquiry. 

561 Votes

what happens if I have a P.O. Box and I leave town for a while and my box expires before I return?

Asked by Seejay almost 10 years ago

I don't know the answer to this question. Maybe you can renew the PO Box via check or credit card. The USPS main customer service phone # is 800-275-8777. If you can manage to get a human on the phone, maybe they can help you further or send a msg. to the PO where your PO Box is located to say you are out of town and will renew it upon return. There is probably a small grace period, but I can't say for sure. If you don't get in contact with the PO and don't renew the PO Box rent, any accumulated mail will likely be returned to the sender with a label stating "Box Closed, No Forwarding Order".

559 Votes

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How do I get the full name of my postman. He won't give me his last name.

Asked by dhflannagan about 10 years ago

I am not sure how you would get the full name of your postman. I read that he won't give you his last name. I have no idea whether or not he has any obligation to do so. I gladly would give it out, if asked. It is also on my ID badge that I wear. I feel that it should be available to the public, but I am sure you will find great disagreement among my colleagues. If you were to call the PO and ask them, I have a feeling they wouldn't give it to you either. Some people get very private about certain matters, yet they will join Facebook and broadcast a lot about their personal lives. That's about all of the insight I have on this subject. Thanks for writing.

558 Votes

I would come home to an empty mailbox after work. How could I find out if mail was delivered to my house to my house the day before since I work dawn to dusk? I suspect high school kids stealing my mail when I am not home.

Asked by samantha about 10 years ago

Samantha, I don't know how you would find out whether or not mail was delivered to your house on a particular day. There are days when people receive zero mail. Is there any mail that you are expecting but don't get? Have you heard of anybody else with the same issue? It is illegal to take mail from mailbox that doesn't belong to you so I would hope the HS kids wouldn't take that chance, but I realize it does happen sometimes. Another option would be to rent a PO Box where your mail is secure. It is, however, an added expense and may not be overly convenient. While I can't comment on your personal situation, I don't think theft of mail is terribly common. I have been accused in the past of living in a fantasy world.

557 Votes

How much snow is too much in front of the mailbox? I live on a busy street and don't want to get hit by a car shoveling 6" of hard snow. I haven't received mail in two weeks! Is my mail carrier just too lazy to get out of the truck? What should I do?

Asked by Aly almost 10 years ago

Aly, I don't have a definite answer for you. If the letter carrier can't approach your mailbox without having to get out of their vehicle I don't believe they are obligated to get out of their truck to deliver the mail. You may look at it as being lazy, but picture that scenario several hundred times in a day if each of their delivery mailboxes were in the same situation. This would take a much longer time for the carrier to complete their route. While your mail isn't being delivered I wonder if the letter carrier is taking the accumulated mail each day just if case your mailbox is approachable. If not, it is likely being held at your local post office. While I can appreciate the safety concern about you not wanting to risk getting hit by a vehicle I'm not sure what the solution is. I'm not sure if the delivery vehicles in your town are the same LLVs (long life vehicle) that I use for mail delivery, but if they are I can tell you that are very poor handling any snow or icy conditions. It's possible your letter carrier doesn't want to risk getting their delivery vehicle stuck in the snow, especially on a busy road. Winter can be a very frustrating time to be a letter carrier given some of the poor equipment we are given relative to the road conditions.

556 Votes

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