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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1237 Questions

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Last Answer on February 18, 2022

Best Rated

This might be just my mother telling this to us as kids but if you have a community mailbox like in a neighborhood, is it illegal to walk up to him?

Asked by Jennifer over 10 years ago

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.

694 Votes

I am expecting a check from Prudential that was mailed out on the 29th. They said 3-5 business days but its the 6th day and its not here. My apartment number wasn't on the mail but whats more likely, the snow storms delaying mail or was it returned?

Asked by Anthony over 11 years ago

It is possible that the mail from Prudential is delayed due to the storm or because there is no apt. # on the address. I am not sure which would be more likely. I don't know how strict your post office or letter carrier is on delivering to multi-unit buildings with no apt # on the mail. I would think that if they know what unit the letter should go to it would be a good idea to just deliver it there. In general it is important to put your apt # on your address, but I think you know that. I'd recommend giving it a few more days before worrying that the check is really lost. Thanks for the question.

694 Votes

I have gotten a lot of junk mail and became kind of lazy and let my mailbox fill up a little. Today I checked my mail and everything was gone but I haven't moved. Can I get my mail back??

Asked by Desi over 11 years ago

I don't know why the mail would have been removed from your mailbox unless the box was maybe overflowing. In that case we may suspend further delivery or empty the mailbox and return any accumulated mail to the senders or discard the mail depending on the class it was sent. Maybe the letter carrier thinks you have moved. It seems the mail has been removed a bit prematurely, but I don't know of a way to get the mail back.

694 Votes

If I'm not putting my address on a letter that I'm mailing do I still have to put my city, state, and zip code?

Asked by Msjas92 almost 11 years ago

Not at all. As far as I know, there is no requirement for any return address or partial return address. It is important for the destination address to be complete. This mainly would be an issue if you wanted to receive the item back to you in case it was undeliverable for any reason. I'd recommend putting a return address on a letter that is being mailed, but it's your decision and you probably have your reasons for not wanting to put one on the letter that you are mailing.

693 Votes

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On the topic of keeping dry, have you come across a good brand of gloves that keep your hands dry and warm during these colder months of rain and chills?

Asked by Kruesser over 10 years ago

Another good question that I'll fail miserably at. It's hard to find good gloves that will keep your ha ss warm and dry plus allow you to easily finger the mail. While I walk I wear a pretty regular glove on the hand where I hold the mail and then may leave the hand I use to finger the mail exposed but put it in my pocket between houses to keep it somewhat warm. You may also purchase single use hand warmers which you can keep in your pocket and they should last you the whole work day. Some carriers wear sealskin type gloves. I've never tried some so I can't comment on how good they are. Basically I own many pairs of gloves and just do a lot of experimenting to get it right. If it's raining try and bring multiple pair so you can exchange out wet gloves for dry gloves.

693 Votes

RECENTLY A CLOSING OF ALL OF NASSAU AND SUFFOLK WAS DUE TO BAD WEATHER! MY ? WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME THIS HAPPENED HERE IN LONGISLAND? AND OR WHERE CAN I FIND A HISTORY OF INCLEMENT WEATHER CLOSINGS FOR NASSAU AND SUFFOLK. THANKS DAVE!!

Asked by ROGER over 11 years ago

Yes, we were closed in Nassau and Suffolk for Tuesday Jan 27 due to a pending snowstorm. I believe NY city POs were closed as well. I think it was a good move based on what actually fell where I deliver the mail. The roads were at least passable and most customers had shoveled their walkways to their doors and driveways. Otherwise, delivery of mail may have been extremely difficult. Now to answer your question. I don't remember a time where we were fully closed due to a snow forecast. There have been times where we have come to work and found the road conditions too difficult or unsafe to deliver the mail. I know of no database that has information about the history of when we were closed for an entire day. On Monday, I delievered apprx 80% of my possible deliveries before we were told to return to the Post Office and not report back to work until the morning of today 01/28/15. I'm not a fan of delivering in snow and ice, but we make do the best we can.

693 Votes

I asked about ken, my mailman, thanks for response. Was hoping he wasn't in trouble. Is there a place to give him a good review? :) I will.

Asked by Kathyc2012 almost 12 years ago

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.

693 Votes

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