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! over 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 almost 12 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.

Hi there,

I just sent out my rent check to my landlord and realized everything was correct except I wrote 362 Box Street rather than 462 Box Street. Will it still be delivered? Or should I cancel the check and resend?

Asked by AmandaB over 11 years ago

Amanda, I can't say for sure what will happen with your rent check that was misaddressed. If the letter carrier delivers both of those addresses on Box St. and is familiar with the names on their route, they may deliver the letter to where it is intended (meaning it will get to your landlord). It's also possible that different letter carriers deliver to those 2 addresses and the letter carrier at 362 Box St. will just deliver it to 362 Box St. or return the check to the sender (you) as "Attempted, Not Known". I would recommend not canceling the check and waiting several days to see if the landlord received the check. Is there a way to contact the landlord and tell them what you did and it's possible they will ask you to resend the check or wait a few days to see if they receive it? I say this also to maybe save you money because putting a stop payment on a check often has a fee associated with it.

Someone help! I applied for the seasonal work in 2 diff counties. I have an interview tommrow this is the one i really want. And in my email today i see another interview invite for the 23rd of sept. This position already sent the rug/bacgrnd info

Asked by Cindy almost 12 years ago

Cindy, I dont know how to help you in this situation as I am not even sure what you are asking.  Good luck on both interviews. I do realize you want one of these positions much greater than the other. Unless you get offered the job for the first interview on the spot, I highly recommend attending both interviews. The reason is that you may get an offer for the latter interview than at your preferred location. This is likely better than having no employment.

My mother had a bill to mail, everything was in the envelope and it was stamped. Some time after 6pm, I walked down to the blue collection box and mailed it. She didn't seal the envelope. Can I ask the carrier to open the box and find the envelope?

Asked by L.Williams over 11 years ago

You may certainly ask a carrier to open the collection box, but I don't know if they will. I don't even have keys to open one of those boxes so it's possible the carrier you ask won't have access to the collection box. If you are able to have a carrier open the box, if there is a lot of mail in there, I don't know that they will take the time to go through it to find the bill you are looking for. Bring ID with you in case they want to match up the unsealed mail with your address. As I said, I don't know what response you will get from the letter carrier, but was just giving you some possibilities. It is also possible that the bill will get to the destination unsealed and all will be fine.

if i didn't put in a change of address at the post office where i used to live and then i send a letter to the irs using the address at a motel i am temporarily staying at will it still reach its destination

Asked by william almost 12 years ago

Sure, the letter should reach its destination as long as it has the proper address and ZIP code. The only issue could be if the letter would need to be returned to you for some reason and you no longer are at the motel and there is nowhere to send the letter to. You don't need to put a return address on the letter to begin with. It's your own choice.