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

lost a certified in outgoing mail, when came back from route will it come in dps or back to post office. could they discipline me or just let it go if the letter turns up

Asked by jvitto48 over 10 years ago

I would hope they let it go, but I can't say for sure what will happen to you. It should come back in the DPS or via your registry clerk. Hopefully it won't just disappear. I haven't heard of anybody being disciplined for this, but I work in a pretty small environment and don't know what happens in other offices. I hope it shows up, works out for you, and learn to be a bit more careful in the future with the accountable mail.

I was also wondering...The flag on my mailbox is broken. Is there another way to let the mailman know that there is outgoing mail? Or should I either buy another flag or put a note saying there's out going mail?

Asked by Izzy almost 10 years ago

I don't know the answer to this, but if you bought a replacement flag that is able to go up and down, it would certainly help. As long as I'm stopping at a house to deliver mail and there is outgoing mail which is easily visible I will know to take it with me whether or not a flag is raised. The possible confusion comes on a day where there is no mail to be delivered to your address. In that case a letter carrier may not stop if there is no flag to notify of outgoing mail. Where I deliver mail (Long Island, NY) most addresses receive some type of mail daily (a local flyer or gov't mailing, advertising, etc) so this is rarely a problem. In your part of TX, this may not be the case so I can't really comment on the significance of having an operational flag.

Does a mailman deliver mail everyday? Like to the same address? What if you live in an apartment and lost your key, could you ask a mailman to open it for you or even deliver it to your suite?

Asked by Kailey over 9 years ago

As long as there is mail to bring to any address we deliver 6 days per week (Mon-Sat). It's not always the same letter carrier who goes to the same address each day but it often is. If you live in an apartment and lost your mailbox key, I don't know that the letter carrier would open the mailbox for you or make any special delivery arrangements to deliver it to your suite or apartment unless they knew who you were and were willing to help until a replacement key could be acquired. I'm not even sure who would get you a replacement key, but I think it is the building management or the landlord.

If you go to deliver mail but see there is a For Sale sign out by the mailbox will you keep the mail or still deliver it to the mailbox?

Asked by G-hoard about 10 years ago

When a house is for sale, I will continue to deliver mail there unless the current owner/occupant has moved out and I don't see a new name on incoming mail. In this case, I mark any incoming "resident" mail as "vacant" and either discard it or return it to the sender depending on the class of mail. Once I see a new name on incoming mail, I commence delivery to that house. I don't know if this is the correct procedure, but it seems to work out fine. Thanks for writing.

I did a temporary forwarding address online 3 weeks before we left. My neighbor found the postman had taken off my mailbox blocking material & stuffed a whole lot of mail in it. Can my neighbor just put my new address on the mail & redeposit it?

Asked by Phil over 10 years ago

That's good that you have a neighbor looking out for you. I don't know why the letter carrier would do what he did. Is it possible they didn't receive your forwarding order? If you did it online and received a confirmation then they likely got it. Furthermore there should be zero mail in your box if you have a temporary COA in effect and there are no other residents at your house who are receiving mail. It sounds like an oversight or carelessness. To answer your question, I would say no. Mail has to go through our CFS (computer forwarding system...or centralized forwarding system) to be redirected. You aren't allowed to handwrite the new address and then just redeposit it. One suggestion I have is for the neighbor to rubberband your mail and leave it in either your or their mailbox putting a note on top saying "please forward this mail as this addressee has a temporary COA in effect and no mail should be delivered to your permanent address until further notice". I hope that works out for you. Thanks for writing.

Mailman, My son mailed a letter to a bank and forgot to put a stamp and sender's address. Please, how do I get back the letter so I can mail it properly.

Asked by Emem over 10 years ago

The letter will not get to the bank because there is no way for the USPS to know where the intended address is. The fact that there was no postage on it also doesn't help matters. I don't know how you will get the letter back unless you put your return address on the envelope. If that is the case the letter should eventually be retuned to you for an address and proper postage. I can't guarantee how long it will take to get the letter back, but you should get it returned eventually. There is no way to track where that letter is. Thanks for writing.

i live in pearsal tx does mail pass new years

Asked by victor over 10 years ago

There is no regular mail delivery on New Year's Day.