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

If the letter hasn't been mailed within the 1-3 day span, should I just send another letter or wait more days to see if it has arrived?

Asked by BWras almost 12 years ago

I would wait several more days because letters do get missorted, or misdirected. Hopefully the letter will reach its destination in a few more days. 

Is it illegal for a mail carrier to photograph or video: mail, employees, managers and operations? Is withholding information about their DWI while employed as a driver still bad even if it happened 5 years ago. Is it bad conduct to video customers

Asked by Kris over 11 years ago

Kris, I don't know the answer to your question regarding the legality of photographing or videotaping mail, employees, managers or operations. I have never seen anybody do it while "on the clock", but I don't think it would be looked upon well by others. Also, I also don't recommend videotaping customers. It could be reported to management and it may not be allowed. With regards to a DWI while employed as a driver, I don't recommend withholding information that would be available on a driving record from a state dept. of Motor Vehicles. I don't know if a DWI stays on permanently. On the other hand, if the USPS couldn't find out about a past DWI and disclosing it would result in disqualification from being hired, it would be better not to disclose it.

I recently became a new CCA in Denver. I've always thought it would be great to live in NY, but I'm wondering how you make ends meet given the salary for Carriers is the same nationwide. Do you have a two income household, etc?

Asked by Salty about 12 years ago

It would probably be hard to live in NY on a CCA salary starting at $15/hr. I know some regular carriers work second jobs or work as much OT as available. My situation is a bit different as I am single, have low overhead (I own a co-op apt), and am very conservative with my spending. The NY metro area can be very expensive with regards to rental apts/houses and property taxes. 

If my mailman hasn't been showing up to deliver mail who do i contact in order to receive my mail?

Asked by msoulheart@aol.com about 12 years ago

I would call 800 ask USPS, or see if you can get the number to your local PO to advise them of your concern About not receiving your mail. Hopefully, they will have a lucid explanation and can rectify this matter. 

Hi, first off I would like to thank you for all this info you give out. Great stuff! I just took the test for a CCA. My questions are, in your opinion, what are the biggest mistakes new CCAs make? I'm going to add a part 2 to this.

Asked by Sparky66 almost 11 years ago

Sparky, Thanks for writing and I appreciate the comments. Please keep in mind that anything I say here doesn't come from any expertise. It is just from my experience in one office with one set of co-workers and management and a lot of it is opinion. The above is called a "disclaimer" which I'm a big fan of. Good luck to you in getting hired as a CCA. They are the future of the USPS and hopefully will lead you to a career position with better pay and benefits. The few things I can think of when it comes to being a CCA are: be on-time for work, don't miss work unless it's an emergency or you are very sick, work safely with regards to driving a motor vehicle and walking a delivery route. Be respectful of your co-workers and management and try to deliver the mail accurately though you may not be given the clearest set of instructions how to do your job. We've had a few CCAs quit for their own reasons, but I don't think our office has let more than a few go involuntarily. I believe once your probationary period is over (90 days), it is difficult to be terminated. Management can sometimes control how many hours you get to work if they aren't happy with your job performance. Again, in as long as I've worked at the PO, there has never been an overall shortage of work available to the carriers who wanted to work.

Thanks for the reply. Wanted to let everyone know I just received the envelope back the middle of February. everything intact. floated around somewhere for 3 months! see original post at http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman#question_10600

Asked by reiat over 11 years ago

I am very happy that you received the envelope a couple of weeks ago with everything intact. I'm sorry that it took so long to get to back to you since it was undeliverable as originally addressed due to the intended recipient moving. Thanks for the update on the status of the envelope.

I live in NYC in a house that has been converted to 3 apts. We have 3 mailboxes for the different apts but our mailman has started putting all of the mail in mine. We have never had a problem untill recently. How should we address this?

Asked by Katie Blackcoffee about 12 years ago

I think the mailman should be delivering to all 3 mailboxes if there are 3 legitimate apartments. Please make sure that each box is clearly labeled with the name or apt # of who lives there. if you happen to see the mailman, you could ask why this happens. Now if you were 3 people all living in the same apt and had 3 separate boxes, that wouldn't be allowed. I hope your situation can be resolved.