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

Can charges be brought against my roommate for intercepting my mail and putting "return to sender" and sending it back?

Asked by BeccaFL over 10 years ago

I don't know about the law with regards to your question. It is certainly wrong for your roommate to be tampering with your mail and marking it "return to sender". I'd suggest asking him/her to stop doing it but it sounds like you don't have a good relationship if they are doing that to your mail. I can't say that this comes under the category of mail theft either. If you brought this question up to your local PO, I have no idea what they'd tell you. I could recommend that you rent a PO Box, but that costs money and isn't too convenient either when compared to home delivery. It's also not fair that you should have to get a PO Box because a roommate is not giving you your mail and sending it back. Another suggestion would be to call the US Postal Inspection Service, but this may not be in their jurisdiction as it's an internal matter in your residence.

Wondering if mail is picked up from the blue outside mailboxes at the post office on a federal holiday (like 2-15-2016)? I figured I could drop it off tomorrow and it would be in the mail system and on its way one day earlier. It's a stamped envelope

Asked by DebB. over 10 years ago

I doubt that mail is picked up from the blue outside mailboxes on a federal holiday (02/15/16 Washington's Birthday, for example). I can only speak for where I work but I think there are no trucks with collection box mail going from most POs to a mail processing facility. At the PO where I work in Long Island, NY the building is shut on Sundays and Holidays (except for most of December when we deliver parcels from our PO) and nobody is emptying the blue outside collection boxes. In summary, whether you mail the letter this Monday (02/15/16) or Tuesday, (02/17/16) it shouldn't make a difference on the speed of processing it.

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.

If you could change anything about your uniform what would it be??

Asked by Lulu over 9 years ago

I'm generally satisfied with the uniforms that we wear at the USPS and they haven't changed much since I've been working there. The only issue that I have with our uniforms that I can think of is that they are difficult to keep clean. I wear a satchel over my shoulder and carry mail in my arms so the shirt tends to get very dirty. The shoulder strap makes a mark on the uniform shirt where it rests. I admit that I don't wash the shirts as often as I should but they are hard to keep looking crisp nonetheless. I like the fact that we wear uniforms so there isn't much to think about wearing each day to work except the layering to keep me warm in the winter. Thank you for your question.

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 Tolu Akande 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.

My mouth just dropped! I am definitely no home wrecker lol I know you were kidding. I do have an update lol, I asked the fill in guy what happened and he said that my regular had too much mail to carry today, then said he thinks hes on vaca.. BS

Asked by Jessica over 8 years ago

Jessica, yes I have a very dry sense of humor and since you don’t know me it’s important I put LOL. If I didn’t you may have been a bit taken aback by the comment. Either of the reasons given by the fill-in guy could be valid but you think it may be another reason. I think eventually that you will find out by whether or not he starts delivering to your house again. Sometimes if we have too much to deliver, the supervisor will take away part of our route and give it to a substitute letter carrier or for another regular carrier as overtime.

this isn't a trivia question but kind of sounds like one do you know what island in the US it would take up to three weeks to receive mail from in oregon

Asked by Megan over 10 years ago

I don't know the answer to this though not much surprises me regarding the USPS. While most mail is delivered domestically within about 4 days, I suppose there a reason some exceptions where it takes much longer. You can post this question again with the answer (if you know it) or email me privately daveabbey at aol dot com.