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

Hey mailman, thank you for this blog! I am going for my interview for CCA. What comes after the interview and how long is the process? I am in NY as well. Thanks

Asked by I cant wait! about 11 years ago

I'm glad you like this blog. It's my pleasure to help where I can and I have a great appreciation for those who do podcasts or other websites just for fun. Their time commitments are impressive given the work it takes to maintain a blog or a website. Since I have no experience with the CCA hiring process, I can't give you any hard facts about how long the process takes. Congratulations on getting an interview. There will likely be a drug test and medical exam if you haven't gone through that process already. I imagine it would only be 1-2 months after that to be notified if you will be hired. There are about 6 CCAs in the office where I work but there is a solid turnover among them. It's not the job for everyone. It's physically demanding, pay for CCAs isn't great ($16.50/hr Apprx) and you aren't always treated that well. I still recommend it if you get hired because long-term it has proven to be a great career for me. I wish you well and have a positive attitude.

Hi, if I call the post office can they tell me what time the mail is delivers in my area

Asked by Anastasia over 11 years ago

I am not sure that they will do this. It probably depends on how helpful the person who answers the phone wants to be. Unfortunately, that is my answer with many questions that requires interaction from personnel at the PO. To give a more practical answer, it is sometimes hard to give a time of expected delivery if there are staffing shortages  at an office and a route is broken up into several "pieces" and not delivered as a whole route by 1 person. If one person is delivering an entire route then they usually follow a prescribed delivery order so it would be approximately the same time each day (usually within a 1 hour time frame.) For example, if I were to deliver my entire route, the deliveries are usually made between 1000 and 1545. Thanks for writing.

Where do you put someones mail if you cant put it in their mailbox? (Or gain access to an apartment building)

Asked by Alpha over 11 years ago

If I can find a safe place nearby like near a garage door or by the front door of the house I would rubber band the mail and put it there. If it is mail addressed to an apt building and I can't gain access I would likely bring it back to the Post Office, notify a supervisor, and likely attempt delivery the next day. Fortunately, this doesn't happen very often on the route where I deliver the mail. It is inconvenient to have to bring the mail back to the PO and try again the next day.

How long does it take to get a lost Driver's License returned that has been put in a mailbox?

Asked by Sherry over 11 years ago

I don't know the procedure for lost Driver Licenses to be returned to the rightful owner of the license. I'm not sure if each state has its own procedure for what should be done if a Driver License is found and put in to a blue USPS collection box. In my career I have never come across one or recall delivering one back to the licensee. It is possible that the license could be sent to the State Dept of Motor Vehicles (or whatever their equivalent is called in your state) instead of sent to the recipient. Looking at my own Driver License (NY) I don't see any instructions on what do with it if found. Thanks for writing.

If DOG is barking in fenced in front yard, should the mail carrier still enter when sign on gate warns of the dog?

Asked by herding hollywood over 11 years ago

I know I have sort of answered this question already, but I will again. I would say that a letter carrier shouldn't enter a yard where a barking dog is visible and not on a leash and could physically come in contact with the letter carrier. If the owner isn't present to accept the mail, the carrier is best advised to bring the mail back to the post office and notify the supervisor why the mail couldn't be delivered. The USPS wants to reduce the number of dog bites because it is dangerous to the letter carrier and costly to the USPS because of any time off required and any medical treatment needed. Fortunately where I work I don't hear of too many dog/carrier incidents, but I do realize other areas may not be as safe. 

I got a ring on ebay the mail carrier delivered it to the wrong address i call my post office and thay will not do any thing about it. i cant get my money back. so i am out the ring and 172.00

Asked by Debbie over 11 years ago

Debbie, I m sorry to hear that the ring you ordered on eBay was misdelivered. I'm pretty sure there is nothing we can do regarding reimbursing customers for misdelivered unless there is some insurance purchased by the sender. Your story doesn't surprise me, however, since misdeliveries are made all the time. It's also unfortunate that whoever received the misdelivered package didn't return it to the PO since it didn't belong to them. That would have been the right thing to do. I am also guessing that in the situation you described, the sender won't reimburse your $$ because their records show that the ring was delivered.

Hello-
Just wondering about mailing UPS or FEDEX,and if they still stamp the city name on the envelope before it is sent out like the regular mail is done? In case you wanted to mail someone,but not wanting them to know what city it is coming from?

Asked by DwB44 over 11 years ago

I don't believe that UPS or FEDEX do any type of stamping on their envelopes or parcels like the USPS does when processing the mail. I do know that both companies have very good tracking services for each item so the recipient can tell what facilities the item went through before being delivered to them. When they receive what you sent to them, they can likely go online with the item tracking # and find out how the item traveled from you to them. Thanks for writing.