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.
Chris, to answer your second question first,we are definitely supposed to walk through yards and across lawns unless a resident or property owner specifically tells us not to. It is the most efficient way to get from house to house without having to walk to the street unless there are fences between houses in their front yards. As far as dog poop situation, I don't know what is legal and not with regards to refusing mail delivery. I would speculate that if there is a chance the letter carrier may walk through it then maybe the note is warranted. On the other hand if the dog feces is on the lawn and you request the carrier not to walk on your lawn as he may step in it that should be a fair compromise. The carrier could also write a carrier alert card for your address which is sorted in your mail daily so when a letter carrier comes upon your house they could be alert for any possible dog poop. The alert card isn't delivered to your house. Instead the letter carrier takes it back to the PO to be used on the next delivery day as a warning card again for your address.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Hello%2C%0AMy%20mailman%20left%20a%20note%20on%20my%20mail%20telling%20me%20that%20he%20wouldn%27t%20deliver%20my%20mail%20unless%20I%20cleaned%20up%20a%20bit%20of%20dog%20poop%20in%20my%20front%20yard.%20Is%20this%20legal%3F%20I%20didn%27t%20even%20think%20a%20mail%20carrier%20was%20supposed%20to%20walk%20through%20yards.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/18814)
I don't know for sure how it works in your town, but I hope it's similar to where I work. If somebody has a doorslot and would like me to mail a letter, they can leave the letter noticeably hanging out of the door slot and I would take it to be mailed. I admit it is a bit precarious as the letter could fall out before being picked up for delivery. Another option is to put a clothespin or other type of clip near the mail slot in your door and attach the outgoing letter so it will be very visible for the letter carrier to take as outgoing mail. You can't go wrong by finding a blue collection box or going to a Post Office, but I think you can be confident using the above mentioned methods. Thanks for your question.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%20just%20moved%20into%20a%20new%20house%20in%20town.%20The%20mail%20is%20delivered%20through%20a%20slot%20in%20The%20front%20door.%20Is%20there%20a%20%22proper%22%20way%20for%20me%20to%20mail%20a%20letter%20with%20my%20local%20carrier%20from%20my%20house%20or%20do%20I%20have%20to%20take%20it%20to%20the%20post%20office%20or%20a%20mail%20box%3F%20Thank%20you&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/18613)
JC, I'm so glad you had a great experience with your letter carrier today. Too often I hear of the opposite happening. I don't know exactly how you'd leave feedback for your letter carrier, but I have 2 suggestions. First, you could go to www.usps.com and look for info on how to contact the USPS. It may just be a general call center but hopefully they'll give you the number or some way to contact your local PO. Another option is to write a letter (I know it's not too common these days) to your local PO, attention: Delivery Supervisor or Postmaster giving praise to your letter carrier and describing what she did to go above and beyond. You don't necessarily need the street address for the PO, just the correct ZIP code for your PO. Using the USPS mobile app or the website you can find the address of your local PO. Thanks for taking the time to give positive feedback.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Is%20there%20a%20place%20for%20me%20to%20leave%20feedback%20for%20my%20mailman%3F%20%20She%20is%20awesome%20and%20went%20%22above%20and%20beyond%22%20for%20me%20today.%20%20I%27d%20like%20her%20superiors%20to%20know.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/18121)
Congratulations Mr. fulltime. That's a clever name. As far as any tips or advice I have a few. First, you are there to serve the residents or businesses on the routes, not the regular carrier who normally does the route. This means you don't have to do any favors or anything that the regular asks you to do for the customers. Please just be conscientious about delivering the mail properly and accurately. I'd recommend not going too fast just to get the route done. It's best to go at a consistent moderate pace and don't waste time on your cell phone texting and talking to people when you should be focused on working safely and efficiently. If you aren't sure about a certain delivery or maybe how to do a route, you can ask the regular carrier and hopefully they will help you. I have a route which I deliver daily, but when I have a non-scheduled day, the T6 delivers it. I give my "floater" or "comp person" the information they'd need re: houses where there are vacancies or forwards or dogs to be aware of. If the regular carrier comes in for his non-scheduled day for OT, it's possible (depending on how your office operates) you could be "bumped" off that assigned route for the day and deliver another route in the office. My advice would also be to try to stay out of any office politics if possible. Having the same route to deliver daily, I don't need to know much about what else is happening at the PO. Good luck to you, sir!
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=In%20less%20than%20two%20weeks%20I%20will%20be%20converted%20to%20full%20time%20on%20a%20T6%20route.%20Do%20you%20have%20any%20tips%20or%20advice%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/18155)
Security / Bodyguard
Have you ever had to disarm an attacker?
Hospice Nurse
Do most patients in hospice know they are going to die soon?
Swim Instructor
Is it easier to learn to swim as a child or adult?
I don't know anything about getting OIG to investigate anything for the USPS. I think they may have a tip hotline that can be called but I don't know if they will place your tip on any high priority. I would call that carrier a sleazeball for not delivering anything that should be. It is illegal plus the only reason our job exists is because items are being paid for that we should deliver. I have the impression that so many employees (including management) don't care at all about proper delivery of mail and what gets discarded or has the proper postage. There is so little oversight as to what we do on a daily basis unless we do something egregious or work unsafely. I'm sorry to be so negative. It's important to me that every piece of mail that is properly addressed is delivered, no matter if it's a catalog, weekly supermarket flier, or birthday card. It's all mail and should be handled accordingly.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=How%20do%20you%20get%20the%20USPS%20OIG%20to%20investigate%3F%20A%20carrier%20tech%20never%20delivers%20catalogs.%20I%20have%20tested%20and%20confirmed%20they%20did%20not%20deliver%20at%20least%2012%20over%202%20years.%20All%20other%20carriers%20have%20passed%20my%20tests%20100%25.%20This%20one%20fails%20100%25.%20USPS%20OIG%20does%20nothing.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/18212)
Jvitto48, thanks for your question but I’m sorry that I can’t give you any assistance in this matter. I don’t know if your local shop steward or area representative can help with this. I’ve never been too involved with any rte inspections, or if I have, it was so many years ago and I don’t remember. NALC has a 2012 “guide to route inspections” available online as a PDF but it’s 188 pages long and may not even address your question about base parcel amount. I don’t know how the base parcel amount is arrived at. I also don’t know if it includes every scannable parcel. My generic advice is to take all authorized lunches and breaks, as well as one or two bathroom breaks if needed. I know route inspections can make people anxious but my attitude has always been that whatever time it takes is valid as long as you aren’t obviously extending your street time. I’ve received between 1-5 sampling requests daily and I know that is a valid use of time while scanning the flats and letters. Good luck on the inspection. I know that’s easy for me to say not being involved. Thanks for writing.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=What%20is%20the%20amount%20of%20time%20a%20carrier%20for%20parcels%20over%20the%20base%20amount.%20%20Or%20what%20is%20my%20base%20parcel%20amount%20for%20a%20route.%20Had%20100%20%E2%80%9Cscanner%20hits%E2%80%9D%20went%20over%2040%20minutes%20street%2C%20took%20lunch%20and%2010%20minute%20break%2C%20doing%20route%20inspections%20next%20month%20in%20Massapequa&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/19551)
Jessica, that is an interesting story. A little bit of light soap opera drama perhaps. Thanks for sharing your story and glad I could help with any insight of how easy (or not easy) it is to change routes.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%27m%20definitely%20not%20uncomfortable.%20I%20just%20thought%20it%20was%20strange%20he%20wasn%27t%20replying%20to%20my%20messages%20all%20of%20a%20sudden%20and%20then%20I%20saw%20the%20new%20carrier.%20I%20assumed%20his%20wife%20found%20out%20how%20flirty%20he%20was%20and%20made%20him%20change%20routes.%20But%20this%20happened%20this%20week.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/19360)
-OR-
Login with Facebook (max 20 characters - letters, numbers, and underscores only. Note that your username is private, and you have the option to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
(A valid e-mail address is required. Your e-mail will not be shared with anyone.)
(min 5 characters)
By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to Jobstr.com’s Terms and Privacy Policy.
-OR-
Register with Facebook(Don't worry: you'll be able to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
Browse Jobs
Host a Q&A
Search
Submit Your Question
Host a Q&A
Last 7
