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.
First of all, I want to say that it's disgusting that a co-worker would do that. It could almost be taken as a threat from a co-worker and make for a hostile environment. I think you did the right thing by taking a photo of it and getting your shop steward involved. It wouldn't have hurt for you to notify the supervisor since they are next up the chain of command. It sounds like you feel that this is serious enough to go right to the postmaster and I understand that. I don't know if your office has internal video cameras which would cover the area by the time clock. That'd give you all of the evidence you need. Be careful not to just wildly point fingers as to who you think has done the defacing, but if you have had a noticeable conflict with one co-worker you could mention that in the meeting with the postmaster and your shop steward. Nobody at work should have to put up with that kind of defacement or intimidation and I really hope that the management and NALC doesn't take this lightly.
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It doesnt sound too common to me though it doesn't surprise me at all when I hear this story. If a carrier has an item that needs a signature or needs to be handed to someone personally then they should make an attempt to ring the bell or knock on the door. If you live in an area where snow or ice would prevent them from getting to your door then it is appropriate to leave the PS Form 3849 in your mailbox. Sometimes the carriers are too lazy or under a lot of time pressure to get done so they may cut corners when it's time consuming to go to one's door. This is not a legitimate excuse, but I'm not surprised by what happens. In my office we are pretty short staffed as of late and I see quite a bit of mail not getting delivered correctly or in a timely fashion. It's pretty pathetic if you ask me. The rough winter in the Northeastern US with a lot of snow, etc. doesn't help matters. On a side note, I'm not a fan of your user name as it denotes profanity which is not very classy. Just my opinion, of course.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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That is interesting to hear yet not surprising to me. There are certain parcels that are supposed to have a scan on it whether or not it's actually delivered on a particular day. Amazon.com parcels are one of these types of parcels but it may occur on other parcels as well. I don't think it's right for the USPS to be doing this because it is misrepresenting the status of a parcel. In your case the fact that you live in a residence that is never closed makes it even more wrong to be scanned as "business closed". Sometimes a letter carrier may forget to deliver a parcel or it is missorted to another route and there is no time to get it correctly delivered on the same day. In this case, it might be scanned "attempted" or "business closed". In my opinion both of these scans are wrong and misleading to the recipient and/or shipper. I hope you have at least received the parcel the next delivery day. I've never been asked to scan a parcel wrongly and would refuse to do so. You may see this more lately as the volume of our parcel business for the month leading up to Christmas is probably double or more our normal parcel load.
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Congratulations on being hired by the USPS as a letter carrier. We often walk for 4-5 hours per day so it is important to wear comfortable shoes. The shoes that can be purchased with a uniform allowance can easily cost $100/pair. They are usually black leather athletic or walking shoes with a certified slip-resistant grip. You don't need to spend that kind of money on your own for shoes. To get an idea what the shoes look like, do an Internet search for letter carrier uniform shoes. I wear New Balance and Rocky shoes. Since the prices for our uniforms are pretty high, you can search non-uniform websites to see if less expensive shoes are available. I am fortunate to never have had any chronic foot pain from being a letter carrier, so I can't be any more specific as to what to avoid when purchasing shoes. Good luck to you Dee!
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