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 just transferred stations via eReassign. How long to I have to stay in my current assignment before bidding on job closer to my home?

Asked by Susie D about 10 years ago

Susie, I won't be able to answer this question as I don't know anything about eReassign. There may be minimum times where you have to stay at a certain work location before being approved to another work location more of your preference. As for who to ask, I could say your union representative or HRSSC, but they may not know either. My guess, and all this is would be a guess, would be one year at a current location before being able to be reassigned.

Currently on a comp tour my ns day is on a Thursday, Feb 18,bid on a route to start Friday 19 which is that route weekend off, not on ot list, do l work that day to get 40 hours bc Monday is a holiday Feb 15.

Asked by jvitto48 over 10 years ago

I didn't know that an assignment can officially start on a non-Saturday. Saturday begins a pay week and from then until the following Friday a regular city letter carrier (like yourself) is guaranteed 40 hours of pay which could include a holiday (like 2/15) or paid sick or annual leave. In your situation I would think that you'd have to work on either Thursday or Friday to make up the 40 hours. It's a bit confusing as to know what assignment you would do considering I don't know the size of your office and how easily they could put you somewhere else for either Thursday or Friday. I don't know the contract well enough to even know if this issue is addressed. I'd recommend talking to your shop steward or supervisor to see what they think. Is it possible that the start of your bid could be delayed until Saturday 02/20/16 in which case you'd be on your comp tour on 2/19 and would be working to get 40 hours for the week ending Friday 02/19/16.

can a postman retrieve mail i sent if it's still in the recievers mailbox if i request it?

Asked by Danny Boy over 10 years ago

I don't think so. The request has never been made of me but generally once mail has been delivered it would seem to be in the possession of the recipient even if they haven't actually retrieved the item from their mailbox. I've also never heard of anybody else having this requested so my advice for the future is be careful what you mail because it is almost definitely a one-way trip.

I do not p/u my mail but about 3 times a week. I live in a condo. The past couple of weeks have been hit or miss as I have had 3 eye surgeries and had a very hard time using the steps to get my mail. MM won't leave mail.

Asked by Grandma Ellen about 10 years ago

I am not exactly sure what your question is but it seems that the letter carrier isn't delivering your mail because you don't pick it up frequently enough or that you are requesting it be brought to your door due to your medical condition (eye surgery). I'm not aware of any special accommodations made for anyone who can't get to their mailbox. Any delivery issues can be discussed with the delivery supervise me or postmaster of the PO where your carrier works from. I'm not sure how helpful they will be but you could try anyway. With condo boxes, it is common for people to not pick up their mail daily and I would be delivering the mail until the box got full which could take awhile depending on the size of the mailbox and how much mail you receive. If you have any friends or acquaintances (that you trust) in the condo, maybe you could ask them to bring you the mail if you'd give them your mailbox key.

How long does it take to send a letter from Cali to Florida b/c I already sent a letter from my place(which is Cali)to my friend in FL a week ago and up till now has been 8-9 days and yet she still hasn't received any letter from me.What should I do?

Asked by Anna over 10 years ago

From CA to FL it should take 4 days maximum for a letter to be received as long as it was addressed properly and had sufficient postage. I don't know what can be done since first class letters aren't trackable. It's possible for letters to get lost, misdelivered, or damaged in our machinery but that is all a pretty low percentage of mail. I would say be patient and hope it arrives soon at the FL destination.

I am an RCA . I have been carrying 7 months. I work a different route every day. I can typically get done right at my evaluated time but I can't seem to get done before. On real heavy days, forget it. I'm out there until 6. Any tips to speed up?

Asked by Will C almost 11 years ago

Will, I am not a rural carrier so I'm not sure how much my tips would help because as city carriers, we are paid for whatever time we work. There is almost an incentive not to work as quickly, but I think most city carrier's give a fair shake and not try to make their day longer. At least I don't do that because I enjoy my free time. My main tip would try to be very organized both in the office and on the route. Work efficiently, but safely, especially when driving. I load my parcels in the order of delivery or close to it. Being more organized does initially take more time, but you should come back with a pretty empty truck not having forgotten anything to deliver. Do you case your DPS letter size mail? If not, you can take it to the street and go through it as you deliver and not waste time in the PO casing it. City Letter carriers generally don't see the DPS letter mail until we finger through it at the delivery point. Along the route and in the office, try not to waste time talking to too many people. 

The volume that he takes seems a bit unethical & he has been known to take coupons for free items, B1G1, $10 off a $10 purchase, get the items in bulk then resells them on Craigslist or Ebay. Extra benefit for USPS?

Asked by CaliDad over 10 years ago

I don't think there's any benefit for the USPS at all. I just think he's benefiting himself and it does seem unethical to me. It doesn't sound legal to take home any mail even though it's nondeliverable, nonreturnable, or excess advertisements. I just am not familiar with anybody enforcing it if it is illegal. On a similar note, there is a promotional pen company that sends out sample pens to potential customers. Sometimes the company has moved and the mail isn't forwardable. I'll take the pen out of the envelope and put the envelope into the NOVM (no obvious value mail) receptacle which each PO has. Again, it may not be legal, but I don't see the issue in taking it for personal use.