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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Last Answer on February 18, 2022

Best Rated

I ordered an item on Ebay which was to be sent from China to Canada. After being over due I checked my Ebay invoice and discovered I spelled Churchill as Churchhill. Everything else being correct is that typo enough to cause delivery problems.

Asked by Dan almost 11 years ago

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.

If I work for the Postal service can I have a 2 door car to deliver Mail. its a 2006 Honda Civic and I plan to put the steering in the right side but I want to make sure that a 2 door car is ok to Deliver mail in a personal car, and not a 4 door.

Asked by Vianey over 10 years ago

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.

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 tareq 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. If it seemed to be some type of phony diversion tactic, I'd try to get far away from the motorist pointing and then investigate safely.

when can a mail carrier place your mail on hold without giving you notice

Asked by jennifer over 11 years ago

I don't know the policy on this as I've never thought to put someone's mail on hold without their authorization. I suppose this could come about if their mailbox was full and the carrier couldn't deliver any more mail to that address. In that case maybe a letter carrier would hold any future mail at the PO for a certain amount of time and then possibly return that mail to the sender with the endorsements "mailbox full". A letter carrier can also hold the mail at the PO if your mailbox is inaccessible due to snow. They will usually deliver all of the accumulated mail within a couple of days of the mailbox becoming accessible. We had that situation occur at our PO this past winter when snow prevented some of the driving (mounted) route carriers from being able to drive up to a mailbox without getting out of their LLV.

Is it possible for a mail carrier to overlook mail that is supposed to be delivered to you?

Asked by Ariel over 10 years ago

Definitely. Most of the time we deliver the mail that you are supposed to receive, but it's possible that the mail for you has been missorted and will show up later on the delivery route and the letter carrier doesn't backtrack the same day to bring it to you. You should get the mail the next delivery day. If the mail was misdelivered to another address it could be days (if at all) for you to receive the mail you are supposed to. The reason is because if mail is misdelivered its up to the errant recipient to put the mail back in a mailbox to be correctly delivered. They may do it right away, in a few days, or not at all.

If I write the wrong address on a letter and it comes back, can I correct the address & put a new stamp on the same envelope to remail it or do I have to use a new envelope?

Asked by LLL over 11 years ago

It shouldn't be a problem to put on the correct address and new stamp and remail the letter in the same envelope. I'd recommend crossing out any bar codes that may have been printed below the address either on the front or back of the envelope. Also, please cross out or remove any markings that may say "return to sender". If you can, maybe a new envelope with the correct address would be better, but if you follow the above recommendations I think it would be okay to reuse the original envelope.

i live in a rural area. The house that i purchased was an established riding route. The mailman wont deliver my mail stating the car is in the way. How do I request a walking route when all other stops around my house are walking stops.

Asked by lostwitoutmail almost 11 years ago

I don't know anything about how a route is established and what it would take to get it changed from a riding route to a walking route. Do you know if they are city or rural letter carriers who deliver your mail? Normally if a carrier is driving in a delivery vehicle and the mailboxes are at the street they should be able to approach and leave the mailbox without having to get out of their delivery vehicle to affect delivery. If a car is parked in the way and the letter carrier can't reach the mailbox without getting out of their delivery vehicle they have the option to skip delivery and attempt it the next day hoping there will be clear access. I am not familiar with an area where some houses are riding and some are walking when they are near each other. Usually it's one or the other. For example, all of my deliveries are to a mailbox which is usually attached to an actual residence so I walk between delivery points. Other carriers stay in their delivery vehicle and put mail in mailboxes which are along a road or curb. This is also known as curbside delivery. My suggestion would be to call the post office and speak to a delivery supervisor or manager about this. I don't know if they will be of any help. Is it possible for you to move your car or even the mailbox so the letter carrier can more easily gain access to the mailbox? You shouldn't have to go without mail delivery but there are certain regulations to be followed so the letter carrier can do their job in an efficient and safe manner.