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

Thanks again MailmanDave! One more question for now, do you fully inspect your truck before and after your route? I know you are supposed to... but do you

Asked by Dee over 9 years ago

You virtually answered your own question with the "but do you". Every morning we are given 5 minutes before our break to inspect our postal delivery vehicles. Most of us at least turn on the engine to make sure it will start. We are supposed to do a walk around and look for any body damage, flat/low tires, leaks, and more. I mostly just turn the engine on and look at the fuel gauge to see if I need to stop at a gas station on the way to the route. At the end of the day, I empty out all of the contents of the vehicle and park and lock it. I don't do any further inspection at the end of the day. I know I don't do the full inspection walk around that we are supposed to, but so far it hasn't come back to hurt me. I use the same vehicle almost every day. If I were to use a different vehicle I may do a more thorough check to see if all of the signals and lights work.

509 Votes

Hi I wanted to know, if I placed a letter with just a name and no stamp into someone's mailbox would the mailman take it, or leave it?

Asked by Gina kennard about 10 years ago

I think many letter carriers would just leave it because they may notice right away that there is no address on it or stamp. I can't speak for all letter carriers because there are many of us who don't pay attention and just take what's in the mailbox as outgoing mail. I don't think this good for them to do but some of my co-workers are clueless or are possibly paying attention to their smart phone vs. paying attention to the task at hand. To be honest, the mailbox should only be used for US Mail. My advice would be to not leave this letter in someone's mailbox to guard against the above scenario happening. To sum up my answer in one word: maybe.

508 Votes

I completed a change of address from my physical address to my po box. but to catch my credit card i had place a hold on my mail to be picked up. the mail carrier returned all my mail to sender stating that i didn't live there. what should i do?

Asked by pattie almost 10 years ago

Pattie, I don't know what to tell you to do. If your mail is being forwarded from your physical address to the PO Box, you usually can't "catch any mail in between" before its forwarded. I'm not sure why any mail wouldn't be forwarded and why it was returned stating you don't live there anymore. You can call your credit card company and ask them to send a replacement card though they could be leary about sending credit cards to a PO Box address. Mail is usually forwarded to your new address for 1 year. I'm not sure how long ago you submitted the address change.

507 Votes

I was wondering if you would know how I would go about trying to find the last name of a letter carrier from 1967 in Brooklyn, NY.

Asked by Barbara almost 9 years ago

Barbara, I have no idea how that information would be found with the USPS. I also don't know If those type of HR/Personnel records are public. Before 1971, the USPS was the Post Office Department, an executive branch of the US Government. Even if the information was available I don't know who would be helpful enough in the current USPS HQ or Human Resources Department to look this up. It would seem like a needle in a haystack and I don't have confidence you'd get anywhere in your search. This is based on my personal observations of my employer, not through any knowledge of your specific question.

506 Votes

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My mailman put a note on our mailbox that said we MUST pick up our mail DAILY. Or the mail will be returned to sender. Is that a law or do we have a not nice mail carrier?

Asked by Cathy about 10 years ago

I'd say that it is untrue that it's a law that one must pick up their mail daily. If it is a law I've never heard of it and it wouldn't make any sense to me. I believe the carrier is just being not nice and telling you an untruth. The issue a letter carrier may have if someone doesn't pick up their mail daily is that depending on the size of the mailbox it may get too difficult to fit in subsequent mail deliveries. If this were the case it's possible that mail could be returned to the sender. Most mailboxes that I see can handle quite a few days worth of mail and it is common for people to not pick up their mail daily. If you are concerned about your mail being returned, please contact a delivery supervisor or postmaster to get clarification on the matter. Again, I don't see any issue or problem with mail not being collected daily by the recipient unless the mailbox capacity is pretty small.

506 Votes

I had 20 certified letters, what is the time variance to get it done. Is it 3 minutes per letter

Asked by jrvitto48 almost 10 years ago

I don't know how long you get to deliver a certified letter, but 3 minutes sounds reasonable to me per address. If the recipient is not home, it does take time to fill out a PS Form 3849 properly to leave in their mailbox. If the recipient is home, they need to sign the MDD and possibly a return receipt which also takes a bit of time. It also takes time to wait at a customer's door once you ring a door bell or knock. My general answer is however long it takes you to properly attempt/deliver a certified letter is what it takes. I don't know of any official time variances. I don't fill out PS Form 3849 in the office because there is a chance you won't need to leave a notice so it's wasting time to prepare them in the office before attempting delivery.

506 Votes

I recently put mail in the drop off thing at the post office at 3:45 . When will the mailman get it out to take it to its designated spot . It's in the same city where it's going to

Asked by Toree about 10 years ago

If you dropped the letter at the PO at 3:45 PM, there is an excellent chance that the letter would be collected out of the box the same day (assuming it was M-F) and then sent to a local mail processing facility to be sorted and then sent to its destination. This usually takes two days if it's in the same city to get from the origin to destination. It used to be a one-day delivery standard but I think many places now operate on a two-day standard for First-Class mail in the same city.

505 Votes

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