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

Good Morning.
My mail box is a slot in front door. Up until 3 months ago, there was never a problem with delivering my mail there. Now my mailman has told me I have to have my mail box in the back, so that he doesn't have to walk up my steps.

Asked by Matt over 10 years ago

Matt, I am not familar with any real details about where a mailbox has to be with regards to steps. I just know that the box needs to be accessible to the letter carrier. I have never heard anything about steps being an issue. You may call the post office to ask if there is any regulation about the placement of a mailbox or mail slot. If they give you an answer that seems like it is made up, you may ask to see where this regulation is in writing or ask for the number to the regional or area office that oversees your local post office. Without having any more information than what you provided me, I'd say that the request by the mailman is invalid, but I just want to reiterate that I'm no authority on all of the rules on this subject. Thank you for writing.

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. 

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 about 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".

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 have recently mailed a letter through one of the blue mailbox near my neighborhood.Its been 4 days now and i went to check online to a website called MailboxMap.com near my location.To my suprize, I did not see the bluemailbox i mailed to on theMap

Asked by Victor over 10 years ago

I don't know the accuracy of the website mailbox.com. I don't believe it is sanctioned by the USPS. Either way, if you dropped a letter in an official USPS collection box, you can rest assured the mail would be picked up and sent on its way. Where was the letter going to? It can sometimes take up to a week for a letter to reach its destination but 1-3 days is the norm if properly addressed and had sufficient postage. I recommend a bit more time and hopefully the letter will reach its destination. 

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.