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.
Disgruntled workers abound at the USPS but I can't say it's better or worse than other companies. I don't feel that our immediate supervisors and our postmaster are that kind to us but I'm sure it could be a lot worse. Overall our union has done a good job protecting our work rights and negotiating for a fair wage and benefits, but you will have complainers and unhappy workers no matter what. Years ago, veterans were given 5 pts preference on Federal Civil Service exams and 10 pts if you were a disabled veteran. I don't know if that still applies and if it also is in effect for exams at other levels of government. It's hard to say what makes a veteran disabled, but I'm sure Post Traumatic Stress Disorder qualifies in certain cases. Thanks for writing.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Saw%20the%20post%20about%20disgruntled%20workers%2C%20and%20was%20wondering%2C%20aren%27t%20disabled%20vets%20given%20a%20higher%20score%20on%20the%20test%3F%20Maybe%20some%20had%20PTS%20or%20something%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/13407)
Tiffany, I am not sure if that can be done. By telephone or Internet, you can put your mail on hold so the mail isn't delivered and piles up in your mailbox while you are in the hospital. As far as taking the mail out of your box and taking it back to the PO, I'm not sure. In your request to hold the mail, you'd have to ask for them to take out any accumulated mail. If I received a request like that, I would probably honor it given the circumstance. I've just never had that request. Thank you for writing and hope you are better.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=If%20your%20unable%20to%20check%20your%20mail%20can%20the%20postman%20take%20your%20mail%20out%20of%20your%20box%20and%20take%20it%20back%20to%20the%20post%20office%3F%20I%20was%20unable%20to%20check%20my%20mail%20for%20a%20little%20over%202%20weeks%20due%20to%20being%20in%20the%20hospital&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/13243)
I don't deliver my own mail because I reside in Queens, NY and Stony Brook, NY but don't work at either of those post offices. If a letter carrier does reside in the town that they work in, it is possible that they deliver their own mail. We have a few carriers at my PO that live and work in this town, but none of them have assignments that include their own residence on a daily basis.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Do%20you%20ever%20deliver%20your%20own%20mail%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/14284)
The letter will possibly just go through the mail processing system again and be sent back to you. I don't think anybody would notice that it was sent a second time and your letter carrier would hopefully just deliver it again to you. It would likely go back to the sender if somewhere on the envelope was written "person doesn't live here" or "return to sender" but that isn't the case here. Hopefully you will get the letter back in a couple of days.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=i%20accidentally%20remailed%20a%20piece%20of%20mail%20that%20was%20already%20sent%20to%20me.%20It%20did%20not%20have%20a%20new%20stamp%20on%20int..just%20the%20original%20that%20was%20canceled.%20It%20was%20not%20opened..will%20it%20get%20back%20to%20me%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/14309)
Nurse Practitioner
Could a nurse practitioner do the job of a primary care physician?
Help Desk Technician
Do the stats actually back up the "Mac's never get viruses and crash way less than PCs" thing?
Former IRS Revenue Officer
Did you ever deal with people who tried the 'Wesley Snipes' defense?
Albert, your message posted 2x so I will answer it once and then copy and paste it. I currently work 7 hours a day as I am on a limited schedule for personal reasons. A regular city letter carrier can expect to work 8 hours per day (plus 30 min. unpaid lunch), 5 days per week. The 5 days may not be consecutive since mail is delivered 6 days per week. As a new hire, you will likely be a CCA (city carrier assistant) who has a very varied schedule and I'm not sure they are guaranteed any hours. I believe starting pay is about $16/hour for a CCA, with very few benefits, if any. Once you are promoted to a regular city carrier, the salary increasea to about $23/hour and tops out at about $28.50/hr after a certain amt. of years. These salaries are set in accordance with a labor agreement between the USPS and the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), which is our union. You also get benefits once you become a regular city letter carrier as opposed to a CCA. If you visit the website www.nalc.org they have pay charts listed or you can probably just do a google search or look on www.glassdoor.com. Good luck in what is a pretty good career in my opinion.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=how%20many%20hours%20a%20day%20do%20you%20work%3F%20How%20much%20is%20starting%20pay%20for%201%20hour%3F%20%0A%0AThank%20you.%20I%20want%20to%20be%20a%20mailman%20and%20I%20am%2018.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/12861)
I don't know what to tell you about this with regards to what you should do. You could file a complaint/written letter to the PO claiming financial damage by the rural letter carrier, possibly including the ATV battery damage as well. I don't know how this claims process works at all with respect to any damage caused by the USPS or of an item shipped via USPS. It sounds to me that maybe the carrier shouldn't have driven into your yard to throw the battery near your porch. I don't know the rules about package deliveries on a rural route. In one way, it's good they tried to deliver a package that wouldn't fit in the RR mailbox at the highway. A possible negative is that your yard became damaged due to this. I wish you well but I don't know what type of satisfaction you'll get from the USPS. I don't have a lot of faith in their bureaucracy or claims process. I hope to be proven wrong.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%20have%20a%20rural%20route%2C%20a%20mailbox%20at%20the%20highway.%20%20My%20mailman%20drove%20into%20my%20yard%2C%20threw%20my%20package%20%28ATV%20battery%29%20out%20of%20his%20vehicle%20towards%20my%20porch%2C%20damaging%20it%2C%20got%20stuck%20in%20yard%2C%20trenching%20it%20up%20bad.%20%20What%20can%2Fshould%20I%20do%20about%20this%3F%20%20Thank%20You.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15055)
I don't know the legal answer to your question about whether or not the letter carrier was allowed to remove your mail after 5 days of piling up or not. Hopefully it wasn't returned to the sender and is just being held at the PO. I would contact the PO either by going to it or calling and advising them you are still residing at your address. I don't think I'd empty out a mailbox after just 5 days of nobody collecting the mail. I have never been at situation but I think I may just return any future mail (after a box is full) back to the sender with the endorsement "box full". I don't know that this is even a valid endorsement so I'd have to investigate further. In the future, please note that if you go away for several days or more (up to 30 days), we will hold your mail at the post office free of charge. Upon your return, you have the option of having the mail delivered to you or going to pick it up at the PO that delivers your mail. This service is available online at www.usps.com or going to the post office and completing a yellow "Authorization To Hold Mail" form.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%20was%20gone%20for%205%20days%20%28Mon-Fri%29%20and%20when%20I%20came%20home%20Saturday%20there%20was%20no%20mail%2C%20only%20the%20PS%20Form%203849%20Stating%3A%20%22Box%20full.%20Will%20be%20declared%20vacant%20in%2010%20days%20if%20no%20action%20taken%22.%20Can%20the%20postman%20legally%20remove%20all%20my%20mail%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/13094)
-OR-
Login with Facebook (max 20 characters - letters, numbers, and underscores only. Note that your username is private, and you have the option to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
(A valid e-mail address is required. Your e-mail will not be shared with anyone.)
(min 5 characters)
By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to Jobstr.com’s Terms and Privacy Policy.
-OR-
Register with Facebook(Don't worry: you'll be able to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
Browse Jobs
Host a Q&A
Search
Submit Your Question
Host a Q&A
Last 7
