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.

SubscribeGet emails when new questions are answered. Ask Me Anything!Show Bio +

Share:

Ask me anything!

Submit Your Question

1237 Questions

Share:

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

Best Rated

What does it mean when the mailman skips your house? My mailman deliberately speeds pass my house. Theres nothing blocking the mailbox. This has been going on for 2 wks. Every other day or so theres a mailman who does deliver the mail. Why isn't he?

Asked by Chasity_ almost 11 years ago

It sounds suspicious or odd that your letter carrier is speeding past your house and skipping delivery with nothing apparent to block their access to your mailbox. It could be that you have no mail addressed to your house that day, but you would know better than me if you should be getting a delivery daily. I would call or somehow contact your local post office and ask to speak with a delivery supervisor or manager and mention it to them. Out of 6 delivery days a week, I would guess about 4 of them have some type of mailing that goes to each address which I service. I can't say it's the same for your town. It is also a bit strange that when you have another mail carrier they deliver the mail.

I paid off my car about 3 years ago and never received the title. I thought nothing of it til now since I am trying to sell my car. I called the lender and they said they sent it back in 2012. Is there any way I can find it throught the USPS?

Asked by Manual almost 11 years ago

I think that titles are sent by regular first-class mail. That is how I've seen it in NY state. I'm not sure your lender does it the same way. Either way, there is no way to find it through the USPS. I don't know how easy it is to get a replacement title from your motor vehicle bureau. I'm sure there is a process as titles are probably lost or misplaced often. When car owners receive a title, they probably put it away somewhere, never to be looked at again until they want to sell of or dispose the car. You could also call back the lender to see if they have a procedure for replacing your clear title, but I don't know about this either.

If schools close will you/a mailmen or women still come to deliver us our newspapers or mail?

Asked by Shayreisch@yahoo.com over 11 years ago

Yes, if a school is open or not has no direct bearing on whether or not the US Mail gets delivered. That being said, if a school is closed due to extreme weather, it is possible that we can't deliver the mail either. Generally it would take a pretty heavy snowfall and unplowed roads to stop us from delivering the mail. In my career as a letter carrier, we have only suspended delivery a few times due to poor weather. Our delivery vehicles are very poor on icy and snowy roads which is quite unsafe and makes me a bit nervous to drive in those poor conditions.

My husband has the long weekend in May - during memorial weekend. It is our anniversary. We would like to have friday, Saturday, sunday and Monday (which rarely comes around). Can the postal mandate him to work if we already have hotels booked?

Asked by Sunny about 11 years ago

Sunny, I understand how great it would be for your husband to have 4 days in a row off from the USPS to celebrate your wedding anniversary. I don't know the size of the PO that he works in and if he is on the OT Desired List. Those two factors may not matter if the office is so short handed with staff that they need your husband to work Fri and/or Sat. I don't believe that the fact you have hotels booked would have any bearing as to if he gets off or not. I know where I work if you were to take the entire week prior to Memorial Day as a vacation week pick using AL (32 hours in this case), you couldn't be mandated to work. There is a certain "pecking order" as to if your husband is mandated to work or not. I don't know all the rules and any attempt to explain it here would likely contain errors. These rules may be in the National Agreement between the NALC and the USPS. I hope it works out for you two regarding the anniversary weekend.

How do you keep your hands warm in cold weather while holding or gripping, fingering and delivering a mail bundle?

Asked by vbjmin over 11 years ago

Vbjmin, you ask a question that I'd love to know the perfect answer to as I've been struggling with this issue from the beginning of my postal career. Cold hands are really hard to tolerate especially when you will be out delivering hours and they must be nimble enough to finger the mail. I wear a glove (thick or thin) on the hand where I hold the mail and cradle the flats since I don't need that hand to finger the mail. The hand that I use to finger the mail and deliver the mail I try to wear a thinner and sometimes fingerless glove or one with small gripping dots on them This has worked okay over the years. Another item which can be useful is "hot hands" which are small single-use packets that form a chemical reaction and heat up for several hours. You can put those in your pocket or even inside your glove. I have rarely used these but my girlfriend, not a letter carrier, loves them. I have purchased many pairs of gloves over the years. It's just a matter of finding the ones that keep you warm enough but allows you to still feel the mail. Thanks for writing and winter is my least favorite season to deliver mail.

Hello I live in a townhouse and I'm receiving Registered Mail soon. where we live we have a common area where there are a bunch of postal boxes and I was wondering if I leave a note to authorize mailman to sign will they? I'm never home what do I do

Asked by Charles over 11 years ago

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.

I have read a lot of comments over mail men not delivering if there is obstruction impeding safe delivery without getting off the truck. But can the mailman leave my mail on the windshield of the car impeding access to my mailbox?

Asked by Sergio over 11 years ago

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.