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.
I don't know what the answer is to your question with respect to legality. Do you even know if the item was delivered by the USPS? There are several companies thar deliver Amazon packages in the area where I work. The new owner would make things a lot easier if they directly gave you the items. If the items are given back to the mail person, the packages may be sent back to Amazon or forwarded to your new address (possibly postage due). I am not sure what the USPS would do with it because consistency within our organization is poor in my opinion. I'm not sure who you could get involved with this to resolve this situation.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=My%20son%20ordered%20some%20items%20from%20amazon%20and%20forgot%20to%20change%20the%20address%20to%20our%20new%20address.%20We%20just%20moved%20out%20of%20our%20house%20on%20June%2030th.%20The%20new%20owner%20refuses%20to%20give%20it%20directly%20to%20me%20and%20says%20legally%20he%20has%20to%20give%20it%20only%20to%20the%20mail%20person.%20True%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/18884)
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)
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)
Deee, I don’t know the answer to this question. On the NALC website there is a CCA resource guide. In a section I looked at it didn’t seem to mention anything about the number of consecutive days you could be scheduled to work. We have several CCA in our office and I’m pretty sure they try to give them off one day per week, but I don’t know if it’s mandated or not. During the busy time they may work more than 7 days/week. If you have a shop steward that you could contact they may have the proper answer for you.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Is%20it%20legal%20for%20a%20CCA%20to%20unwillingly%20work%207%20or%20more%20consecutive%20days%3F%20Either%20during%20December%20%28the%20Holiday%20season%29%20or%20during%20months%20not%20December.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/19298)
Help Desk Technician
Are you required to report it if you find something suspicious or illegal on a client computer?
School Bus Driver
If your bus is in an accident that was ruled your fault, would you lose your job?
Business Start-Up Specialist
Should friends go into business together?
From what I understand, we scan the flats and letters to verify how long it takes mailpieces to get from somewhere to the delivery point. I haven’t heard this for sure. I agree it seems pointless and annoying. I make sure to take the time to do it properly though I don’t trust most of my coworkers to do it. Regarding what to do when it asks i feel the address is on the route, i usually put “yes” if it’s vacant or hold but I have to say I’m probably not consistent with that i do. I’d hit “yes”, then “end scanning” and then “no more to scan” if I had zero mailpieces with me. I’m not sure how it is in Massapequa but the communication as to what we’re supposed to do in any situation is quite half-assed and different supv may give different answers. I have so little faith in the supervisors to give the right information that I often don’t even bother asking. We had a service talk today about how to scan parcels that are on “hold”. The directions were completely the opposite of what we were told in the past. Besides that, I doubt they will repeat the service talk for the carriers who were off today or on vacation. I’m just venting but I think you can relate to my comments. Thanks again for writing and hope you liked my tangent.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=What%20is%20the%20premise%20to%20scan%20flats%20and%20letters%2C%20it%E2%80%99s%20ridiculous%20in%20my%20opinion%2C%20and%20what%20if%20a%20house%20is%20vacant%20or%20on%20hold%2C%20my%20guess%20is%20on%20the%20scanner%20to%20hit%20%E2%80%9Cnot%20on%20the%20route%20%E2%80%9Cwhen%20it%20prompts%2C%20any%20thoughts&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/19553)
Jvitto58, I don’t know what our manuals say about this situation. I always feel we are given such little guidance on when to drop off a parcel on a relay. I know you are going to have route inspections soon. I don’t have much of a memory of what they are like so I can’t give you my experience. If a parcel doesn’t fit in my satchel, I will generally deliver it when I pass the address. This may be before of after I deliver the relay depending on where the park point is for a particular relay. I don’t flag the mail for addresses that have a parcel. I deliver the mail as I normally would and then deliver the parcel before or after the relay. To be honest, I have a geographically compact route so I often deliver most of my larger parcels before I even begin delivering mail for the day. I know you didn’t ask me this and I definitely don’t recommend doing it on an inspection as it can be considered inefficient or time-wasting. I just like to get the larger items out of my postal delivery vehicle. I try not to circle back with the truck if I can avoid it, but to me there are no absolutes and each day has some different nuances when it comes to parcel delivery. Regarding your route inspection, just try to give a fair effort. Don’t hurry, but don’t be a turtle either. I truly don’t have any great guidance because I’ve rarely, if ever, been involved in one.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=What%20is%20the%20rule%20regarding%20parcels%20drops%20before%20you%20go%20to%20the%20next%20park%20point%3F%20Do%20you%20have%20to%20flag%20mail%20for%20that%20house%20and%20deliver%2C%20or%20do%20relay%20first%20then%20drop%20off%20parcel%20if%20doesn%E2%80%99t%20fit%20in%20bag%2C%20so%20may%20have%20to%20circle%20back%20with%20the%20truck.%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/19600)
Rose, I'm not sure exactly what you mean by this question. If you would like to give a gift to a particular letter carrier, I'm sure it'd be appreciated. During this time of year (December holiday season), many people who I deliver mail to will give me a cash gratuity or gift of sweets or wine for example. It is never expected by me to receive a gratuity or gift but I follow up with a thank you card to the customer. If you're not sure when your particular letter carrier is working you may just have to wait until you see them to present them with the gift or leave it in your mailbox and hope they will get it. Please ask a follow up question of me if I haven't explained my answer clearly.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=gift%20for%20particular%20mailman%20instead%20of%20temp&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/17874)
-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
