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.
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.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=How%20do%20you%20survive%20the%20extreme%20heat%3F%20Also%20after%20a%20long%20hot%20day%20do%20you%20get%20a%20headache%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15240)
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.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%20live%20in%20a%20residence%2C%20never%20closed%2C%20but%20have%20had%20three%20occasions%20recently%20when%20an%20item%20wasn%27t%20delivered%20with%20a%20reason%20listed%20in%20tracking%20as%20business%20closed.%20Why%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16078)
If you mean that you live in an apartment complex or community where it is served by a cluster box which contains many addresses then I can tell you it isn't illegal at all to walk up to a letter carrier. It actually never is unless you plan to threaten or harm the individual and that could result in you doing something illegal. If we are putting mail into a cluster box (aka NDBCU) it could be annoying to us if we have a lot of mail to sort plus we may not give you your mail directly. I hope this answers your question.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=This%20might%20be%20just%20my%20mother%20telling%20this%20to%20us%20as%20kids%20but%20if%20you%20have%20a%20community%20mailbox%20%20like%20in%20a%20neighborhood%2C%20is%20it%20illegal%20to%20walk%20up%20to%20him%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16191)
If someone writes the wrong address but a letter carrier recognizes the name as to where the letter should go, it may be delivered correctly. If we can't figure out where the letter should go and there is a valid return address on the letter, we may send the letter back endorsed "Attempted, not Known" referring to the incorrect address that was written on the envelope.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=What%20if%20someone%20send%20u%20mail%20but%20right%20the%20wrong%20address&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/14301)
Border Patrol Agent
What's the most creative way you saw cartels getting drugs across the border?
Lifeguard
Did you ever have to perform CPR or mouth-to-mouth on a swimmer?
Personal Injury Lawyer
What's the most frivolous case you’ve handled?
Generally it would be up to 3 days for a letter to be delivered if mailed from CA to WI. To answer your question, the letter mailed on Monday AM should be delivered on Thursday. I'm not sure about this but I think First-class Mail standards are 2-4 days for delivery.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=If%20a%20letter%20was%20mailed%20from%20Wisconsin%20to%20California%20on%20a%20monday%20morning%20approximately%20what%20day%20will%20it%20be%20receive%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15588)
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.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Can%20my%20landlord%20put%20a%20stamp%20on%20an%20envelope%20and%20post%20it%20to%20my%20residential%20%2F%20home%20mail%20box%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15422)
Kathy, usually they aren't in trouble when being followed. It's a fairly normal procedure done 1x a year. As far as giving him a good review, you could write a letter to the Postmaster at your local Post Office where Ken works or possibly the website www.usps.com has a "contact us" option. To be honest I don't know what would happen with such a letter, but I hope that Ken would at least hear about it and get a copy. If you don't see Ken being followed in the future you can rest assured he probably wasn't in trouble. I realize that you often aren't home when he makes the mail delivery.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%20asked%20about%20ken%2C%20my%20mailman%2C%20thanks%20for%20response.%20Was%20hoping%20he%20wasn%27t%20in%20trouble.%20Is%20there%20a%20place%20to%20give%20him%20a%20good%20review%3F%20%3A%29%20I%20will.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/13409)
-OR-
Login with Facebook (max 20 characters - letters, numbers, and underscores only. Note that your username is private, and you have the option to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
(A valid e-mail address is required. Your e-mail will not be shared with anyone.)
(min 5 characters)
By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to Jobstr.com’s Terms and Privacy Policy.
-OR-
Register with Facebook(Don't worry: you'll be able to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
Browse Jobs
Host a Q&A
Search
Submit Your Question
Host a Q&A
Last 7
