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.
If it is truly a registered letter, a letter carrier will usually not sign for it even if you have given them written authorization because registered mail can sometimes be very valuable and individual custody is tracked along the way. If you mean a certified letter (which is often confused with registered mail) many letter carriers will deliver it and sign for you if you've given them authorization. I know that I would in this situation. Does your PO have Saturday retail hours? If so, you can pick up the item then unless that is also when you aren't home. Thanks for writing.
Jason, I'm no expert on the rules and regulations with reference to our union contract (NALC/USPS National Agreement), but I can give you my take on it and anecdotal experience. I feel that if the supervisor hasn't scheduled you before you left work on your previous work day to work your day off you have zero obligation to answer the phone or to come to work. I would probably recommend not even responding if you feel that there will be a conflict if you refuse to go to work. It makes perfect sense that you already had other plans, you are away for the day, had a MD's appt, etc, and you can't come to work. Just to be sure, you never have to tell mgmt what you were doing on your day off. My anecdotal experience is that nothing can be done with regards to discipline for not answering the phone or going to work on your NS day if you haven't been previously scheduled or mandated. I've never heard of an attempt to discipline someone for this.
If you are referring to the forever stamps which are bought in a SSK (sales and service kiosk) which come in sheets of 10 for 4.90 and then are printed out on what looks like stickers there is no information on that scan that I'm aware of. I realize it has a code that looks like it is scannable. If you purchase postage to mail a package the label that is printed out to put on the package does have a scannable USPS tracking # which can be used with the Track function on the iphone USPS app. Thanks for the question and I do buy stamps from the SSK myself. It is so easy to use.
I believe it would be okay to write in a mailbox the number of the address in case it wasn't clear. They shouldn't be writing much else either on or or in the mailbox. This is my opinion and don't know the rules about this. As a letter carrier, my main frustration in delivering mail on a route I'm not familiar with is a missing house number. I have written numbers inside the lid of a mailbox in the past, but it was with a pen and hard to discern on dark metal. I don't think the name of the occupant should be written on the box by the letter carrier.
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Did you experience the notorious 100-hour work weeks?Mike, I believe it takes several months before your probation is over and you receive a uniform allowance. I don't know for sure what the uniform regulations are, but the CCAs in my office where jeans and t-shirts mainly. They should tell you at orientation what is acceptable and not acceptable. The shoes must not be open-toed. I may have worn sneakers during my probationary period. The shoes that are purchased with the uniform allowance can easily cost $80 and up. Good luck to you and work safely.
I don't have an answer as to what the procedure is if the carrier can't deliver the mail because someone is parked in the loading zone of a building. I agree that the carrier should not be harassing anybody re: this. As far as I know they do have the right to not deliver the mail if there is no safe place for them to park their delivery vehicle. They could mention to the tenants or bldng/office managers as to the reason there may not have been delivery on a previous day, but I believe this can be done in a civil/professional manner. Is the building staff not enforcing the loading zone policy? I rarely deliver mail to an office building but I can see how it may be aggravating when a designated loading zone or short term parking policy isn't adhered to. Either way, nobody deserves harassment in my opinion.
That is true Sergio. When a letter carrier is delivering from their truck and they can't access the mailbox due to a vehicle in the way or garbage cans blocking the mailbox, they can opt not to deliver the mail. I don't think they can just leave the mail on the windshield of the car impeding access to the mailbox. If there is a note on file saying explicitly that they can do this,maybe it would be allowed, but I wouldn't count on it. Generally, however, mail must be delivered to a mailbox or doorslot.
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