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

A certified letter was sent out to me on Jan 13 and it's the 21st. Still have not received it and when I try to track it all it says it's in transit. Desnt say where it is. I called local post office and all they say is its on the truck. What do I d

Asked by Ann over 9 years ago

It's odd for someone to say "it's on the truck" when the tracking seems very non-specific and sounds like it hasn't been updated. 8 days is too long for a certified letter to reach you unless the item was missorted en route and was either misdelivered or is sitting at a PO and nothing is being done with it. I don't know what to tell you to do except to wait a few more days. After that, you could contact the sender and say you never received the letter though they would have the same information as the online tracking.

I use the surge rival gloves for delivering mail but was wondering if there is a really good made glove that is good for hot summers as well ?

Asked by MailmanChris over 9 years ago

Chris, I'll be honest that I don't know anything about gloves to wear for delivering mail in the hot summer. I use my bare hands probably 99% of the time. I don't concern myself with the cleanliness of the mail whatsoever and it's never been an issue for me. I have noticed in very cold weather that I need to cover my extremities well so I just wear as warm gloves as I can but don't know any brand. Some coworkers use sealskin gloves. it is difficult for me to finger the mail with a gloved hand so I hold the mail in a gloved hand and keep the hand that I use to finger the mail in my pocket as much as possible with no glove. I don't do too well in the extreme cold. Thank you for your question.

Can you refuse delivery due to a dog barking? Dog is inside behind a metal security door and the box is next to the door. He’s not loose and there’s no way he can get out. The main door is usually shut, but not always. I’ve never received a notice.

Asked by RJ almost 10 years ago

I don't think we should refuse delivery for that but I can't say for sure what we are allowed to do. As long as I felt that the door was secure enough and the dog wouldn't get out I would make the delivery. When you say you've never received a notice, do you mean you have never been told that the dog is an issue? I'm not sure what kind of notice you mean. Maybe the letter carrier refused mail delivery and never said the dog was an issue. I have a few places where I deliver to very loud barking dogs but I have never really had to refuse delivery due to this. It is often stressed by postal management to be very careful near dogs so I can understand if a letter carrier is apprehensive about it, but I can't say what they should do in the situation you described.

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 10 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.

If i put a mail such as a letter in the mailbox will the mail carrier get it make sure it sent to the person . We they even get the letter out the mailbox . Do i have to write return to sender even though its a letter that i wrote for someone .

Asked by temorrow about 10 years ago

As long as you addressed the letter properly and affixed the correct postage the letter should make it to its destination correctly. When letter carriers pick up outgoing mail we generally just put it in a basket with all of the other outgoing mail and a processing facility sorts the mail based on where it is going to. It's recommended that you put a return address in the upper left hand corner of the letter just in case it doesn't reach the intended recipient. This way the letter would be returned to you, the sender. A return address isn't mandatory.

I am in carrier orientation. I was told if I don't deliver mail on time that has a time guarantee my pay will be docked. Is this true?

Asked by Diane over 9 years ago

I've never heard of your pay getting docked for not delivering mail on time. I think only Express Mail (aka Priority Mail Express) does have a delivery time guarantee and the sender can request a refund if that commitment isn't met. We can get disciplined at our office (letter of warning/suspension/termination) if we fail to deliver a time guarantee mail item, but I've rarely ever heard of anyone getting anything beyond a warning for this. This type of mail is a premium service so we must give it our utmost attention and care. Good luck in orientation. Here is just a life lesson in general: Don't believe everything you hear. I'm a big skeptic in so much I hear at work unless a reliable source. I actually might annoy people because I believe so little at times.

Hey do mailman's pick up first class packages no matter the weight & size as long as it fits in the mailbox?

Asked by Jazmin Landeros about 10 years ago

The mailman should pick up any first class outgoing parcel just like they would any other item you wanted to mail as long as there is sufficient postage. An exception to this would be any item weighing over 13 oz that had postage stamps on it (as opposed to a Click 'N Ship label). This would be a Priority Mail item anyway, not First Class. This would need to be presented at a retail counter to be mailed due to security rules when mailing heavier items that may go on aircraft. I often pick up outgoing First Class parcels from a woman who sells items online and ships them from her house.