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.
The letter will not get to the bank because there is no way for the USPS to know where the intended address is. The fact that there was no postage on it also doesn't help matters. I don't know how you will get the letter back unless you put your return address on the envelope. If that is the case the letter should eventually be retuned to you for an address and proper postage. I can't guarantee how long it will take to get the letter back, but you should get it returned eventually. There is no way to track where that letter is. Thanks for writing.
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Shakita, I'm not sure what you mean by the postal carrier overlooked the mail. Do you mean that they looked inside it when they shouldn't have? If you know this for sure, I'd call or visit your nearby PO and speak with a delivery supervisor. It would seem hard to prove though I don't know the details in your case. If you meant that the postal carrier overlooked an outgoing piece of mail and forgot to take it, I'd recommend making it very visible to them next time and if it becomes a problem, please leave a note saying "please take outgoing mail. Thank you." I hope I have answered your question whichever way you intended it.
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Sure you can keep your uniforms as far as I know, some carriers donate uniforms to other carriers, especially if it is unused or if it's outerwear. A carrier who just retired from my PO gave me a rain jacket. Some Union branches or offices have uniform closets for items no longer needed by ole tyre carriers. The choice is yours. I just don't know where you would wear most of the items that have the USPS insignia if you aren't employed there anymore.
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I will certainly tell you my experience, but keep in mind that everybody is different in how they handle a job and how hard they want to work and under what conditions. To sum up before I get into the details, I really like the job a lot, but the management and some co-workers aren't so great. When you first start out as a letter carrier, you will likely be a CCA , a city carrier asst, which doesn't guarantee you too many hrs/week, lower pay ($15.50/hr apprx) and minimal benefits. As time goes on and others retire or leave the USPS for various reasons you'd become a FT regular letter carrier with a guarantee of 40 hrs/wk minimum plus health, retirement, paid time off benefits. The pro of the job for me is that you get decent pay and benefits and security for a job that requires a low amt of education (though I do have a college degree), exercise on walking routes and much of the day (apprx 6 hours) away from the office not having to deal with co-workers or management who can be vile or aggravating. There are some very nice people I work with. I generally just see my co-workers for a couple of hours in the AM and maybe 10-20 minutes before we go home at apprx 4:30 PMG. Over the years I've had some health issues which required extended absences. While I can't say the employer was great to deal with during the absence I didn't worry about losing my job and was paid for some of the time I was out (using paid sick leave). Depending on where you work geographically, weather can be issue and you need to be prepared to be outside for many hours per day. The staffing at my office has been a bit low for awhile and there is a lack of quality workers replacing them. This has resulted in a lot of Overtime work available (a good thing or me), but also a lot of mandatory work even for those who don't want it (not so good). It's also difficult to get time off unless you have a vacation block picked out. I also happen to be a bit of a perfectionist with regards to delivering mail accurately and this job works well with my organizational skills. From my experience, more people like to be negative about the job than positive. I understand some of their complaints and feelings, but I choose to be positive and grateful for what I have and not dwell on the little stuff. I tune out then negativity the best I can and do my job. Good luck to you and please ask any more specific questions if you have them.
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I think what you are asking me is if your landlord can put a stamp on an envelope and put it directly in your mailbox. I don't know the answer to that but mail should probably be processed through our mail delivery system. By putting postage on the envelope they are paying to have something put in a mailbox so I'm not sure that it's technically wrong. There is a possibility that if its in your mailbox with uncanceled postage on it, a letter carrier may assume it's outgoing mail and take it with them as we usually don't look at the destination address for outgoing mail. Thank you for writing.
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Tina, since this is pretty much the same q you asked previously, I have just copied and pasted the response from that question below:
Tina, when I get a question like this it disturbs me because I have to think it wasn't an innocent error that the item was scanned as "delivered" but no notice was left nor was the item. As an aside, if a notice was left, the package would have been scanned as "attempted". It could've been an error, but I will explain why I think it may not have been. When the packages arrive at our PO in the AM, they are all scanned as "arrival at unit". Then, at the end of the work day, our supervisors are supposed to make sure that each item has an additional scan such as "attempted" or "delivered" or "business closed", etc. I know at our office that if they can't find the parcel as accidentally left behind in the office they may assume the parcel was delivered and enter it as such. Amazon specifically wants their items delivered the day they arrive at the destination PO. In a way this is falsifying and undermining the integrity of our scanning system. I won't say this happens to many items nor do I know if it's widespread. Hopefully what I described above is what happened with your package and it should be delivered on the following delivery day.
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Amy, it's been awhile since I've worked in extreme heat (mid-90s and above would be my unscientific definition), but I'll just give you some generic advice. The suggestions I have are: 1) Keep hydrated. Even if you aren't thirsty just keep drinking. Many liquids are lost through perspiration, and if you need to take more bathroom breaks, you just do so. It is rare I get a headache from the extreme heat and I credit that to drinking water or other non-diuretic liquids. 2) Wear as light as clothing as possible. 3) Keep your head covered with a wide-brimmed hat to protect from the sunlight. I've found this to be more comfortable then not wearing a hat. 4) Don't exert yourself too much. The pressures of the job have some letter carriers rushing through their routes, but that could tire you out quickly if it is very hot outside. I keep a moderate, rational, pace, and if anyone ever questioned why it took longer to deliver a mail route (not common to be questioned especially in weather extremes), I'd just say it was for health and safety reasons. As an aside, the heat never bothered me compared to very cold conditions. I realize that you can cover yourself sufficiently when it's extremely cold, but my extremities still hurt when exposed. It's difficult for me to feel the mail if my fingers aren't touching the mail directly. I hope this helps. Basically, it comes down to preparation and hydration.
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