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.
Liz, I am no expert in giving advice on how to get more work as an RCA. I believe if you work, you get one-day of pay. There are no partial days. The nature of being a Rural Carrier Asssociate is that there are no guarantees of hours that I'm aware of per week. You are utilized to cover days off for career rural carriers if they call in sick, have annual leave, or have a day off each week or every other week. It can be frustrating not getting much work. My advice is to have a great attitude, be prompt in your attendance for work and do as accurate a job as possible when delivering the mail. Each office is different in how much work the employees get, especially when it's a non-career position like RCA or CCA (City Carrier Assistant). If there are CCA positions available nearby, you may want to consider it. They may work more frequently and can be paid for part of a workday if there are only a few hours of work available. From what I observe and read on FB groups, most CCAs are overworked, not underworked (which is your situation). Another option is to see if any RCA work is available in nearby Post Offices. We have one RCA who works in at least 2 Post Offices. Please mention to the manager or Postmaster that you are eager to have any available work as an RCA. Good luck and please be patient. You are brand new to the USPS.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=i%27m%20RCA%20in%20my%20city.%20I%27l%20be%20in%20the%20job%20for%202%20month.%20But%20now%20they%20only%20with%20me%202%20days%20on%20the%20week.%20I%27m%20very%20frustrated%20%2C%20i%20really%20need%20to%20work.%20They%20tell%20me%20they%20are%20well%20pleased%20with%20my%20development.%20But%20i%20need%20to%20work..Please%20what%20i%20have%20to%20do%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15400)
I'm not really sure how to answer this question because I would have suggested speaking with the letter carrier or delivery supervisor to make it clear where your apt. is and that you have no access to the packages in the front of the house as the gate is locked and you have no key. You have already done that according to your question. Is the rear apt. accessible to the letter carrier without the key? Where does the mail get delivered to? is it safe to go to the rear of the house? I agree that it's lousy that the carrier just throws the parcels to the front. Possibly a replacement letter carrier delivering the route doesn't realize they can go to the rear even though the packages say so. I would contact the PO and say that situation hasn't been resolved. I'm not sure how much help they will be but you deserve a clear answer and good service from us.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Hi.%20Though%20my%20apt%20%23%20says%20REAR%2C%20the%20mail%20carrier%20throws%20my%20packages%20over%20the%20front%20gate%2C%20that%20I%20don%27t%20have%20a%20key%20to%20open%2C%20vs%20the%20rear%20gate.%20I%27ve%20discussed%20this%20with%20him%20in%20person%20before.%20No%20change.%20How%20can%20I%20get%20him%20to%20deliver%20the%20packages%20correctly%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15656)
I don't know at all about the requirements for what vehicles are allowed for delivering US Mail. We use Postal-owned vehicles where I work. When I was first hired we sometimes used our own vehicles for mail delivery and didn't know of any requirements. We were only doing park and loop and foot routes with our own vehicles. The rural route carriers had privately owned right hand drive vehicles for mail delivery. I would recommend looking at the website or contacting the NRLCA, the National Rural Letter Carriers Association. I know that city carriers (which I am) would sign a CDOA which was a Carrier Drive Out Agreement that would stipulate what is required and what the compensation would be for using your own vehicle.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=If%20I%20work%20for%20the%20Postal%20service%20can%20I%20have%20a%202%20door%20car%20to%20deliver%20Mail.%20its%20a%202006%20Honda%20Civic%20and%20I%20plan%20to%20put%20the%20steering%20in%20the%20right%20side%20but%20I%20want%20to%20make%20sure%20that%20a%202%20door%20car%20is%20ok%20to%20Deliver%20mail%20in%20a%20personal%20car%2C%20and%20not%20a%204%20door.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16230)
Thanks for your question. We do sometimes get requests from attorneys or collection agencies or process servers which ask us to verify if a certain name received mail at a certain address. I don't know what the form is called but I believe this is legal as long as the proper procedures are followed by the requesting party. They will also ask if they have moved and, if so, what is the new address for the person in question. I receive these forms not too often. If I do get this written request, I just tell the registry clerk or supervisor what the status is of that name because I pretty much know all the names of people who receive mail on my postal route. As far as I know it's usually for a legal matter or debt recovery issue.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=The%20mailman%20just%20knocked%20on%20our%20door%20and%20asked%20my%20name%20and%20I%20said%20yes%20that%27s%20me.%20He%20did%20not%20give%20me%20anything%20he%20only%20said%20the%20form%20he%20was%20holding%20was%20for%20him%20to%20report%20something%20and%20he%20left.%20Now%20I%27m%20worried%20what%20it%20was%20he%20needed%20to%20report%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15978)
Bartender
Which customers are the worst tippers?
Border Patrol Agent
Do you ever feel sorry for the illegals you catch trying to cross the border?
Certified Nurse Aide
Are there social cliques (like "cool kids") in old folks homes?
I'd recommend that if you received the mail for someone who previously lived at your residence but didn't put in a forward for you to put the mail back in your mailbox and you can write on it "moved" or "doesn't live here anymore". The letter carrier should take it and not redeliver it to you. You also have the option to discard since nobody would really know but I feel that is the wrong thing to do. By putting the mail back in the mailbox you alert the letter carrier that the person has moved from that address.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=if%20someone%20moves%20and%20don%27t%20put%20a%20fwd%20what%20should%20i%20do%20with%20there%20mail&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16253)
I must first start with my disclaimer that we are poorly trained in what the regulations or SOP are when it comes to certain situations that come up. I can't say what is legal or not regarding your question. I do think it is inappropriate for the postal worker to ask you anything about returning mail.
You don't need to explain to any USPS employee why you are returning the mail. It is none of our business. As long as it is an unopened, first-class letter, you should be able to just write "refused" on it and have it returned. Personally I would just discard any unwanted mail. I've received debt collection letters in the past and have just ignored them and not returned them. There are certain classes of mail where we won't return to the sender because the sender has paid a pre-sorted standard rate (which is lower than the first-class rate). In that case, we just recycle any unwanted mail.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%20return%20harrassing%20mail%20and%20postal%20worker%20sends%20it%20back%20to%20me%20asking.%20%20Is%20this%20legal%3F%20%20My%20mail%20is%20mine%20and%20can%20return%20any%20mail%20i%20believe%20is%20hsrrasment%20from%20some%20esp%20if%20i%20hae%20already%20dealt%20withnthat%20company.%20%20Do%20o%20have%20to%20explain%20this%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15255)
They really shouldn't be taking your mail into their unit or house or apt if you don't shared the same living space with them and they aren't responsible about giving it to you. It may not be easy but you could politely ask the landlord and girlfriend and son to maybe leave your mail in the box or slip it under your door if that's accessible or appropriate. I agree it's not good for you to need to be concerned if someone is taking your mail and giving it to you at their convenience. I know it's not the answer you'd like to hear, but a PO Box rental would solve this issue. The drawback is that it costs money and is probably less convenient than getting mail at your residence. The USPS would probably not get involved in separating out your mail and putting in to a different mail receptacle unless the unit was officially designated an apt for mail receiving purposes. I don't know how one would go about doing this or the complexity of it. We have a database of authorized addresses that we go by to deliver the mail and if there aren't multiple units designated in the same dwelling, all of the mail would normally be put together.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=My%20landlord%20%26%20I%20have%20the%20same%20mailbox%20%26%20for%20some%20reason%20his%20girlfriend%20%26%20son%20continue%20to%20take%20my%20mail%20into%20the%20house%20%26%20when%20I%20ask%20about%20the%20landlord%20says%20no%20your%20mail%20isn%27t%20in%20my%20house%20%26%2010-15%20mins%20later%20he%20appears%20with%20my%20mail&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16080)
-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
