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.
Rob, congratulations on being hired as a CCA. I am guessing it is either Hcksville or Plainview. The PROs may be that you will have many people to meet, many opportunities for filling vacancies, and large neighborhoods to get to know. A con may be that if they are short-staffed, the mgmt can ask you to fill in and do parts of several routes in one day which may be exhausting. The positive part to that is that you are paid for all of your time work including Overtime pay. I believe you can refuse to use your own vehicle to deliver mail, however, they may not then be obligated to give you a govt vehicle to deliver the mail. If that is the case, you may have a reduced opportunity to earn a paycheck. Try to be as polite as possible when given assignments and if it turns out to be too much, speak up and advise the supervisor how much extra time you may need. Always make sure to work safely as well. Try not to get too involved with any office gossip or politics. Good luck and continue asking if you have more qs.
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I would recommend that you leave it in your mailbox the next day preferably with either a post-it note on it saying "delivered to wrong address" or writing it on the letter directly if you don't have post-it note or piece of paper to clip to it saying "delivered in error". Please return it somehow to your letter carrier or the PO as you'd probably want the same done if a letter addressed to you was delivered in error somewhere else.
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I'm sorry to hear that regarding the POOM requesting that CCAs no longer report to work especially since you say they have work for you on most days. I have no idea what the reason would be for them requiring a stoppage in work. I don't know what legal protections you have as a CCA in opposing this. I also don't know how much the union will fight for your in this matter. I hope that they would fight for you. I just read a blurb in my local union newsletter (Long Island, NY) that a CCA has been converted into a regular employee for the first time in our district. I wish you well and hope that any work suspensions are short-lived.
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The Missing mail would likely be returnEd to the sender and not kept at the PO. if I were the carrier and I saw mail with a name I wasn't familiar with, I think I would deliver it and if each time the letter was not returned to me with a notice saying "not here", I would assume it was a valid delivery. Unless you live on a rural route, there is no obligation that I'm aware of to notify what names are valid at a specific address. I generally deliver it until told otherwise.
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The item may be sent back to you for more postage for the Priority Rate. Did the item you mailed weigh 13 oz. or less.(domestic) That is the only way you can qualify for first class shipping. But, if the item is in a Priority Box it needs the Priority Rate. You might get lucky and the package will be delivered with no extra fee added.
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I'm sorry to hear about your mail being stolen. I don't know about moving the location of your mailbox. I am just speculating, but if you live in a circle where the mailbox sits at the street and is serviced by a letter carrier from their vehicle where they just stick their arm out and you want to move the box to a location where the same process can still be accomplished, I don't see why it would be a problem. Does the carrier drive by your house anyway, or do they not come in the circle because all of the mailboxes are at an area where they can avoid coming into the circle. If that's the case, I am not sure it would be allowed to be moved "inside the circle". It's important that the approach to the mailbox is not blocked on any regular basis so the carrier doesn't have to "dismount" from their vehicle to put the mail in the mailbox. I'm not saying they wouldn't dismount to deliver the mail, but the general idea of mailboxes at the street is so the mail can be delivered directly from the postal vehicle. For further clarification, I'd recommend calling or visiting your local post office and speaking with a delivery supervisor.
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Congratulations on your being employed with the USPS. It depends on the staffing of a particular office as to whether you will get a set route right away or varying hours. If the office is shorthanded, it's possible you can be assigned a route to daily and that will become your route until further notice. More often than not, new hires fill in where needed to cover carriers who are on vacation or sick leave or to deliver "pieces" on routes which one carrier may not be able to complete in their workday. At a certain time, usually after probation is over, you can bid to "hold down" a route or assignment of rotating routes when a carrier is out on vacation or extended sick leave. If you "hold down" an assignment this entitles you to do that route daily and you can only be "bumped off" that route under certain circumstances which are covered in the labor/mgmt or local agreement.
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