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.
I only drove a two ton van a few times in my postal career and that was many years ago. I didn't feel comfortable driving such a large vehicle but some of my co-workers don't mind it. I believe they aren't that hard to handle. As far as a woman of short stature I don't know if a lady carrier can drive it. We have females that drive the two ton postal truck and do it fine. They are probably 5' 5" or taller so I can't say how the visibility is for a short person. I don't know about the adjustability of the seat height.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Have%20you%20ever%20drove%20a%202%20ton%20postal%20van%20and%20do%20you%20think%20a%20lady%20carrier%20can%20drive%20one%20if%20short%20in%20stature%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15902)
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 think it is inappropriate to solicit your own business while delivering a route for the USPS. I haven't heard of anyone being disciplined for doing this, but I would think that it is technically not allowed. I know of a couple of co-workers who do home improvements, landscaping, or sprinkler work as side jobs but don't know if they actually try to get business while delivering mail. If they want to do a postcard mailing to try and get business I suppose that would be fine as long as proper postage was paid for the mailing and they didn't just put their own postcards in mailboxes while delivering the mail and not affixing postage to it.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=if%20you%20are%20a%20us%20postal%20service%20worker%20can%20you%20solicit%20your%20own%20business%20while%20delivering%20your%20route%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/16018)
Cliff, mail gets delivered if a letter carrier is on vacation. There is usually a replacement letter carrier who will cover the route of the regular letter carrier who is on vacation. If there isn't enough staffing available, the route which the regular carrier is on vacation from my be split between other letter carriers. For this reason your mail should still be delivered but possibly at a very different time than the regular letter carrier does.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Does%20your%20mail%20still%20get%20delivered%20if%20the%20carrier%20is%20on%20vacation%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/17911)
Toll Collector
What happens when a car blows past a tollbooth without paying?
Swim Instructor
What are the physical traits that make for the "ideal swimmer's body"?
Stand-Up Comedian
How do you fend off hecklers?
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)
-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
