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

We have a mailman that lives in our area that is home multiple times a day. What are the rules for breaks? The same mailman also delivers to our boxes and lets his kid ride in his truck and put mail in our community box. Is this against rules?

Asked by Andrew almost 11 years ago

As far as I know, the break rules for city carriers are similar nationwide. We are allowed 30 minutes for lunch, up to 2 10-minute breaks plus unlimited comfort breaks (to use a bathroom). It really wouldn't be odd if the carrier was home 2-3 times a day but only one time should be more than 10 minutes (lunch time). Some carriers may have a lot of downtime on their routes if they move quickly or the mail volume is light, but my experience is that it's not a huge amt of extra time. I'm sure others will disagree with me. To answer your second question, a child shouldn't be riding along in a USPS vehicle. If the carrier is using their own vehicle that may or may not be against the rules. Either way, nobody but authorized USPS employees should be touching the mail and putting it into a community box. I'm not sure how much would get done or how much this bothers you, but you could always call the Post Office and speak with a delivery supervisor, manager or Postmaster.

I'm waiting for mail , but the mail I'm waiting for has a different apartment number . How can I change it so that my mail gets put in the right mail box

Asked by Mary almost 11 years ago

I am not sure I can exactly answer your question properly. If the mail has already been sent, I don't know of any way to change the apt. number to the correct one. You can contact the sender so if they mail you anything in the future that they should address it with your correct apt. number. Since it seems like the mail has already been sent, you could leave a note on the mailbox of the apt. to where the mail was sent or you could could contact the post office to tell them there may be a piece of mail incorrectly addressed to another apt. # and that it should go to the mailbox that belongs to you. I don't know if either scenario will help as it probably depends on the willingness of your "neighbor" or the personnel at the USPS to assist you. I hope you get the mail you are waiting for.

Im a new CCA and im wondering what the uniform regulations are if we dont have an offical uniform yet. Do i wear board shorts, collared shirt or what? How about shoes? Leather shoes are expensive, what can i wear instead?

Asked by mike over 11 years ago

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.

Did someone in my house take my mail after it was delivered and give it to me later? A letter was postmarked 2/11/15, I got it 3/28/15- the envelope didn't indicate it had been delivered to a wrong address first. So what else could explain the delay?

Asked by Edison about 11 years ago

I can't say for sure what happened to the letter, but if it were originally misdelivered it isn't likely to have taken more than a month and a half to get properly delivered to you. The delay could be explained if the original recipient held on to the letter for awhile without putting it back in the mail to be properly delivered. It certainly is possible that someone in your house took the mail and gave it to you later, but I don't know your household dynamics or relationships.

I want to know if I have primary residence in one place and I realized that I need to send a piece of mail out but I'm out of town and I need to send this mail immediately. Can I put my primary address but be able to send it out in a different city?

Asked by daushund Iover over 11 years ago

Certainly. You may mail a letter from anywhere to anywhere as long as you apply the proper postage. You also can put your primary residence as your return address even if you mail the letter out from a different address. 

do mailman sometimes deliver the mail, then come back around and do the priority packages? Especially if it is a substitue mail carrier? Thanks.

Asked by mcmjuly over 11 years ago

Sure, sometimes a carrier may forget that they have a package for an address and come back later to deliver it. It's also quite possible that some Priority Mail arrived at the PO after a letter carrier has left to deliver their route. In that case, another (or even your own) may be around later to deliver the priority Mail, but it is sometimes just left for the next delivery day if it arrived too late at the PO to send someone out or they may not even have to be delivered that day.

Without having to invest in an online testing course how and where does one apply and take the exam for USPS?

Asked by jlynn over 11 years ago

Please go to www.usps.com for information on how to apply for a job with the USPS. On the main USPS website, there is a section on the right hand side regarding employment and careers with the USPS. I don't recommend any online sites that ask you to pay for applying. If they are providing material for how to succeed or prepare for the exam, that may be valuable, but the USPS doesn't charge to take the exam as far as I know.