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.

SubscribeGet emails when new questions are answered. Ask Me Anything!Show Bio +

Share:

Ask me anything!

Submit Your Question

1237 Questions

Share:

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

Best Rated

is it legal to write a message on the outside of the envelope of a letter im mailing ?

Asked by chaser about 11 years ago

I don't see why it wouldn't be legal. The important parts are that the destination address, return address, and postage are in the correct places and clearly readable. Besides that I believe you may write a message on the outside of an envelope.

how late does the mail carrier run pls hlp thnx

Asked by deedee over 10 years ago

I don't know where you live but delivery is usually done by 5:30 or 6PM based on my experience. I suppose if an office is short-handed or the mail volume is too high then delivery may be much later. The route which I deliver in Long Island, NY generally is done by 3:30 PM if the mail volume (including parcels to deliver) is average. So you can see there is quite a range as to how late a letter carrier route can be and there are variables that make it hard to pinpoint when delivery will be on any given day. Thanks for your question.

There was a city flyer in my mailbox it said postal customer. Does that mean the mailman brought it

Asked by seano760 almost 11 years ago

I am not sure what a city flyer is, but I am guessing it was some type of communication from your city or it was an advertisement. If it said "postal customer" on it, it likely was delivered by the USPS. Another way is to check if there is an indicia on it. That is a square usually in the upper right hand corner of the mailpiece that says "prst std, US mail, paid" or something like that. That is proof of postage. We often deliver mailings that say "postal customer". Basically it means that each address receives this piece of mail. Sometimes it is residential only and sometimes it goes to all business and residential customers.

Claims he received mail at our house that was addressed to his previous address (same town). I don't believe him, & I'm curious, could/would a postman/woman deliver post to a different address than what is marked. (Did not sign up for forwarding)

Asked by m0m2t0by over 11 years ago

I believe it would be rare for someone to receive mail at your address when they didn't put on a forwarding order and then to actually know about it. Certainly mail could be mis-delivered to your house, but how would that person know unless you contacted them somehow? I deliver mail only as addressed with a couple of exceptions. If I can see that the sender addressed it wrong (usually a wrong house #, but the correct street), I would likely deliver it to the address where the person lives. Even if someone moved in the same town but didn't put in a forwarding order, we aren't allowed to just "hand off" the mail to their new address. I did recently notice that a woman (her parents live on the route I deliver) had a piece of mail with her name on it but the address to be delivered to was in Maryland. I know the woman is now receiving mail at her parents home and likely has a forwarding order from Maryland to her parents house in NY. The letter may have been automatically re-routed to NY with the new addresses bar code put on the envelope and the letter then arrived in the computer-sorted mail for the NY address. I just delivered it knowing that the surnames matched. I hope this answers your question and thanks for writing.

While driving the vehicle to make a delivery, another motorist points towards the back of your vehicle as if something is wrong. What do you do?

Asked by Tolu Akande over 10 years ago

If I were in motion, I'd safely pull over, put on my four-way flashers, and then get out to investigate. It's possible that my gas cap is hanging out the side of the LLV, the back gate isn't secure, or maybe I'm dragging something. It could also be something that I haven't thought of. If the motorist is still around I'd ask them what they are pointing out.

What percentage of mail carriers would you say, are female?

Asked by Rose almost 11 years ago

Based on the office where I work, there are about 25% female carriers. I can't say at all what it is at other locations. Lately, the CCAs who have been hired are more like 50% female. Some of them are quite petite so I don't know how they do the job lifting heavy parcels and walking with loaded mail satchels. I give them a lot of credit. I believe you should be able to lift up to 70 lbs, but I don't think that is tested and I see some carriers give their heavier parcels to a parcel post driver to deliver. I don't think that is necessarily fair that they don't have to carry the same load as I do, but I don't care enough to speak up or cause an unnecessary conflict.

Daughter of a deceased employee submitted an employee generated mlna with letter attached indicating father had past. I did mlna on the mail, then 2 days a fwd was put thru. Do l now fwd or mlna and will that mlna come back in dps or to office.

Asked by jvitto48 almost 11 years ago

I would forward any mail you receive from this point forward since you now have a valid COA for that former employee who is now deceased. Any mail that was previously put through with the MLNA may not come back at all and was returned to the sender. If the mail happens to come back to your office I would then forward it. This is all just my opinion. I'd ask the clerk who handles forwards in your office or a supervisor, but they may also just give an opinion without knowing if there is a correct procedure.