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

Asked by dhflannagan over 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.

I want to be a mail carrier (am 19 yrs)
How many hours do you work a day.
How much is starting pay for an hour?

Asked by albert over 10 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.

SENT A REGISTER LETTER IT SAID LAST WEEK LEFT NOTICE. TODAY IT SAYS DELIVERED DOES THAT MEAN THEY PICKED IT UP

Asked by MISSY over 10 years ago

Missy, I believe that the information you are getting online is correct with regards to the question about the letter being picked up. It means either the addressee went to the PO to pick up the letter you sent them or they signed the PS 3849 (notice of attempted delivery) and the letter carrier then re-delivered the letter on the next delivery day. Either way, it means that the intended recipient received the letter you sent.

When do you deliver packages to 2011 pembrooke drive on Wednesdays

Asked by Juliana over 10 years ago

Juliana, This question is too specific for this message board. I don't think there is a way to find out when packages are delivered to a certain address on a certain day. Carriers have prescribed mail routes but the time of day that items get delivered varies. Some days a route is delivered by several different people due to staffing issues so it's hard to say when they will be at a certain address. Our post office has an end of day deadline where they would prefer that all letter carriers are back at the post office by 5PM unless there are extenuating circumstances like high volume, short staffing, mechanical breakdown, etc. As a coincidence, I grew up near a Pembrook Dr in Stony Brook, NY, but it's not the same one you are referring to based on the street spelling and the house number. Thanks for your inquiry.

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 over 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".

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. 

Hi. As a flight attendant I travel a lot for work & I put my mail on hold while I'm gone (5-6 days at a time,3 times a mnth). I know there are no limits to how many times you can put your mail on hold, but is this ok? Don't know what else to do. Thnx

Asked by jx over 10 years ago

JX, what an exciting career you have. I happen to have a lovely girlfriend who is also an FA, so I can relate to you being gone for several days at a time. It is fine to put your mail on hold as frequently as you do. You probably have read online or on the card you fill out (if you request your mail to be held on a paper "Authorization to Hold Mail" Card) that there is a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 30 days to hold your mail per request. From what you've described you are following those parameters. The only other suggestion would be to rent a PO Box if you don't want to keep putting the mail on hold. It does cost money to rent a PO Box, but there is a high level of convenience knowing that your mail is secure no matter how long you are away and you don't have to fill out a hold mail request each time you travel. Furthermore, many PO have extended hours as to when the lobby is accessible for PO Box Customers can retrieve their mail. Thank you for writing and safe travels!