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

Is it true that obvious outgoing mail does not have to be collected unless there is mail to be delivered at that address that day?

Asked by Sandy over 11 years ago

That is a very good question. I don't know the official answer to that question, but I know if I saw that outgoing mail was obviously there to be collected, I would collect it. Most addresses I service have at least 1 piece of mail per day to be delivered, but if it didn't I may take a glance from a distance to see if there was an obvious outgoing mail or a flag up on their mailbox indicating an outgoing item.

How many times per day does the USPS deliver mail?

Asked by Ismael V. over 11 years ago

The USPS delivers mail 1 time per day to each address. The only exceptions are if an Express Mail item has to be delivered by a separate letter carrier because it arrived at the PO after the regular letter carrier has already left to deliver their route or if the regular letter carrier wouldn't be able to make the delivery guarantee time on the Express Mail. In that case another letter carrier would deliver the Express Mail but not regular mail to the address. So the main answer is 1x per day Mon-Sat.

Can I legally require a USPS letter carrier to NOT WALK ACROSS MY YARD (50' lot). I've gone to great expense and care to sod, then RESOD when prev. carrier wore a path in my lawn. I hate to erect a iron fence,but I may have to!

Asked by Ruth in Memphis almost 12 years ago

I believe it is legal to advise the USPS to not have their employees walk across your yard. It would be better to put signage up stating that is your request. While we generally aren't too enthused about not being able to cross a lawn, we need to respect the property of our postal patrons and honor such requests as long as the letter carrier can still access your mailbox and comply with your instructions not to cross your lawn.

Is the post office manager allowed to cut open a package (a book) I was sending out (wrapped in cardboard), simply to make sure I was not using one of USPSs priority mail envelopes to ship something (non-priority)?

Asked by buffy almost 12 years ago

If the item was mailed via media mail, then it is valid for a postal employee to open a package to make sure that the item being mailed qualifies for the media mail rate. As far as just checking to see if a Priority Mail packaging was used to mail an item via non-Priority, I don't know the rule on that but I'm not too familiar with that being done. I thought that most, if not all, priority mail packaging now is printed on both the inside and outside making it very difficult to use for Non-priority mailing.

I am expecting something in the mail shipped priority. Its was dropped off Aug18th for delivery . Its coming from New York and I live in So.California. I still haven' received it Aug 24th. Could it be delayed or lost? or maybe not actually sent?

Asked by vanagain about 12 years ago

I can't say for sure what happened to your priority mail item that you were expecting. Did the sender give you a tracking number? Most items shipped via Priority Mail would have a tracking number? As long as the mailer put the correct address on the Priority Mail and actually shipped the item, it is not likely to be lost, but not impossible. 

Hi! I need your recommendation for a good pair of walking shoes. I just started working @ my local MACY'S Dept. Store and the concrete floors are killing my feet! I need black, slip-on or lace up, shoes that will be comfortable.

Asked by Colin about 11 years ago

New Balance 706 Men's Postal Walking Shoe MK706B is the only shoe I've been wearing for the last few years as a postal letter carrier. My feet don't ache at all, but I must stress that everyone is different. Also, my most recent pair wore out very quickly, but I am wondering if that is because it was in storage for years before I actually used it. I'm not sure and they are about $100/pair. I'm sorry that I can't give you any other recommendations than that. The ones I mentioned are black, leather, lace-up and have a slip resistant grip with the SR/USA safety certification. There must be many choices available at a work clothes store like Work 'N Gear or Work 'N Play, or Cabela's. The trouble with ordering from a catalog is if you choose the wrong size or the shoes just don't feel right you have to return them via mail which could be a pain or have a fee involved for return postage. Again, I really like the shoes I mentioned above, but I have a new found concern about their longevity. Colin, thanks for writing.

I live in a 3 family house that uses 1 mailbox for all 3 floors. Lately my mail has been going missing. So I am putting up a separate locked mailbox with my name on it. How do I go about making sure that my mailman puts MY mail in my mailbox?

Asked by Kaur almost 12 years ago

I don't know for sure how you can make this happen, but I have a suggestion. If you happen to actually see the mailman, you can mention to him/her the problem that you seem to be having and that you would like to have mail for your family put in the locked mailbox. I don't know if you will be successfull in having this done but it is worth a try. If this doesn't work, you might want to look into renting a PO Box which is very secure but you'd need to go pick up your mail from a PO instead of having it delivered to your house. I wish you well in having this problem resolved.