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 am not sure why this happened and what will happen to your mail for the 3 days you mentioned. It should have been delivered until 10/8 as far as I know. After that, the forwarding should commence to your new address and will probably be a few more days before any forwarded mail arrives there. It's possible your "old" post office is holding the mail until 10/9 to forward it but I can't say for sure. I don't know if you have time to go to the PO to ask them why this happened and it's possible that by the time you find out it will almost be 10/9 and the mail will have been forwarded.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%20did%20a%20coa%20for%20October%209%20to%20stop%20mail%20at%20old%20place%20and%20start%20mail%20at%20new%20place%20for%20same%20date.%20My%20question%20is%20why%20did%20I%20get%20a%20no%20vacant%20slip%20in%20mailbox%20on%20October%206%3F%20And%20does%20that%20mean%20my%20mail%20will%20be%20forwarded%20to%20new%20address%20or%20on%20hold%20at%20post%20offic&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15698)
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)
If you want to apply to be a letter carrier, the process begins at www.usps.com and look for an employment or careers tab. It has been many years since I applied so I don't know the process now. There is an exam, interview, and medical (including a drug test). I don't believe the process is that difficult based on the quality of employees that I've seen get hired lately. If you are hired as a City Carrier Assistant (CCA), you can expect to start out just filling in where needed when routes are overburdened with mail or carriers are out for some reason (injury, vacation, jury duty, military service). It means being very flexible with your schedule and sometimes working as much as 7 days/week. We have regular mail delivery Mon-Sat and then some offices deliver Amazon.com parcels on Sunday. You can apply anytime for the position so I wouldn't necessarily drop college right away. Earning a degree can make you more marketable in other feels. Working as a letter carrier doesn't require any higher education as far as I know. When you start out the pay is approximately $16/hr and there are virtually zero benefits except a small amount of paid time off. There is hardly any guarantee of hours to work and it could take awhile before you become a full-time regular employee which can be worthwhile. I do really like the job, but I did get a bachelors degree many years earlier. I didn't know what career I wanted to have and ultimately wound up at the USPS when I was 27 years old with a lot of encouragement from my father and friends. Working safely and accurately are two important attributes to the job. Good luck to you and please post any more questions you may have!
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Hey%21%20There%27s%20a%20high%20chance%20that%20I%27ll%20drop%20college%20and%20become%20a%20mailman.%20Which%20is%20a%20dream%20of%20mine%21%20Could%20you%20be%20tell%20me%20how%20to%20apply%20and%20expect%3F%20I%27m%20currently%20the%20age%20of%2019%2C%20legal%2C%20and%20no%20driving%20issues.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15473)
Swim Instructor
Do parents ever get angry at you personally if their kid isn't learning fast enough?
Former IRS Revenue Officer
Are IRS auditors more accommodating when you're polite with them?
Professional Blogger
How long did it take you before you could quit your day-job?
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)
Your typo of putting Churchhill instead of Churchill on the eBay order shouldn't cause any delivery issues. Items mailed often have spelling errors and typos. As long as the postal service personnel can figure out what was meant by the mailer or be able to decipher unclear handwriting, the item will usually be delivered properly. The delay in the delivery is probably for another reason, but I don't know what that is. I presume the item wasn't sent with any tracking number or that would be able to provide you with some more guidance as to where the item is.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%20ordered%20an%20item%20on%20Ebay%20which%20was%20to%20be%20sent%20from%20China%20to%20Canada.%20After%20being%20over%20due%20I%20checked%20my%20Ebay%20invoice%20and%20discovered%20I%20spelled%20Churchill%20%20as%20Churchhill.%20Everything%20else%20being%20correct%20is%20that%20typo%20enough%20to%20cause%20delivery%20problems.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15618)
I was looking at the USPS website about Priority Mail Express and it says that there is a guaranteed delivery date but it's not available in all areas to be exactly the next day. We used to deliver Express Mail on Sunday but that may be only available in certain places. If you sent the item out on Friday it was possibly past the deadline for Saturday delivery and the destination PO may not offer Sunday Priority Mail express delivery. In this case the item you mailed will be delivered Monday. There is a decent amount of information about Priority Mail Express on USPS.com. Be sure to read the disclaimers as it pertains to service being available 365 days per year.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Hello%20I%20have%20a%20question%20for%20you%2C%20if%20I%20played%20for%20the%20flat%20rate%20overnight%20shipping%20with%20usps%2C%20why%20does%20the%20tracking%20number%20tell%20me%20that%20I%20won%27t%20get%20it%20for%20two%20days%3F%20I%20sent%20it%20out%20on%20Friday%20they%20said%20it%20won%27t%20get%20there%20until%20Monday.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15668)
-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
