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.
Matt, I'm a city letter carrier so I believe we have different work rules and leave usage policies. I don't know how it works for rural route carriers and working on your scheduled day off for extra pay. It doesn't seem to me that rural route carriers get paid OT or extra days pay too often in my office, but again I admit I'm not familiar with the rules that govern rural routes. You could contact a union rep from the NRLCA and maybe they can give you that info or even ask your supervisor or manager. As a city carrier this scenario happens all of the time. A city carrier will request a vacation day and then another city carrier will work on their scheduled day off for a minimum of 8 hrs OT pay.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%27m%20a%20rrc%20and%20have%20every%20other%20Saturday%20off.%20Can%20I%20be%20scheduled%20to%20work%20on%20my%20day%20off%20if%20another%20employee%20wants%20to%20use%20a%20vacation%20day%20on%20that%20day&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/17882)
Hello Dee. I guess you are a CCA. I see from your post that you are working quite a bit. 26 days straight does seem excessive even though it's Christmas month and it's busy with parcel deliveries and more. I don't know the rules as to how many days in a row a CCA can be scheduled to work. In my office it seems they max out at about 13 days in a row, but I don't know if it's a rule or not. If there is an NALC steward in your office, you may ask them. Furthermore, the nalc.org website should have some q and a for CCA which may address your question.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Hey%20Dave%21%20Remember%20me%3F%20Well%20I%27ve%20been%20working%20as%20a%20letter%20carrier%20on%20long%20island%20for%20just%20over%203%20months%20now.%20I%20have%20two%20questions%20for%20you.%20%0A1.%20Is%20it%20legal%20to%20be%20scheduled%20to%20work%207%2B%20days%20with%20no%20days%20off%3F%20I%27ve%20worked%20a%20total%20of%2026%20days%20straight.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/17883)
I don't know what advice to give you except that there seems to be a procedural error somewhere for this type of conflict to arise. I'd recommend a shop steward to assist you with this, but I sometimes don't have a great deal of confidence in their integrity to be objective if they have a closer personal relationship with the person who was of higher seniority. There has to be more to the story as to why you were awarded a route based on the bidding process and then told at a later time that something wasn't done properly and that you can't keep that route or your old route.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=back%20%20but%20the%20problem%20is%20%20that%20they%20are%20not%20letting%20me%20go%20to%20my%20old%20route.They%20said%20i%20will%20be%20regular%20but%20unassigned&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/18731)
I don’t know what could’ve happened in that situation to make the carrier leave the route. I hope that I fit into the attractive category but as I said before I’m not the flirty type. It’s also possible that you are attractive as well. I wouldn’t tell you or anyone else what to do, but if I were a letter carrier I’d proceed with caution when flirting with patrons. By no means is it forbidden as far as I know, just that it could lead to problems if it got out of control or a customer felt uncomfortable.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Well%20he%20flirts%20with%20and%20says%20he%20likes%20me%20blah%20blah%20blah%21%20I%20was%20just%20curious%20because%20all%20of%20a%20sudden%20theres%20this%20other%20guy%20and%20It%20does%20happen%20from%20time%20to%20time%20but%20not%202%20days%20in%20a%20row%20lol.%20ALOT%20of%20MAILMEN%20are%20attractive.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/19358)
Professor
Are professors really subject to the "Publish or Perish" policy?
Antiques Dealer
If you buy an item that turns out to be stolen, do you have to turn it over to the police?
Programmer
Why are so many developers such bad communicators?
It is rare that I come across anything sketchy in my deliveries. Two events come to mind. During the anthrax scare not long after 09/11/01, I thought I may have come across mail which had some powdery substance coming out of it. My memory is pretty poor of what the item looked like and who it was addressed to. Anyhow, I may have had some psychosomatic reaction and had trouble breathing and was very nervous. I don’t remember reporting it and the symptoms didn’t last at all. Fortunately, the anthrax scare was short-lived. The other incident was just items addressed to “pervert Pete” or “sexually wet babies”. Both are kind of disgusting to me. The items addresses to “sexually wet babies” I delivered because maybe the recipient had a company or something related to that name. Eventually, the resident gave them back to me and said she doesn’t know of that name. Her son was kind of sketchy so I thought the letters would be for him. As far as “pervert Pete” I didn’t deliver that mail because I knew the resident and there was nobody accepting mail there by that name. In general, it’s not for us to judge what is mailed to people and we rcv no guidance from management about too much unless a liquid or strange odor is coming from a package. Fortunately all of those situations happen rarely. Thanks for your question.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=What%27s%20the%20sketchiest-looking%20letter%20or%20package%20you%27ve%20ever%20had%20to%20deliver%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/19134)
It should be a very straightforward process as to who is awarded an assignment. Seniority is usually the main determining factor. In your case I don't know why they would say you won the bid and then later say someone higher in seniority bid for it. I would ask to see evidence of the bid and that it was submitted in time by the person with more seniority than you. I've never seen this conflict happen before where I work. If you can bid for other offices in your city I thought the process was fully automated. I am not sure what advice to give you. A union shop steward may be able to help you but maybe they are involved in person with higher seniority get assigned to the route that you got.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Hi%20A%20month%20ago%20i%20bidded%20on%20a%20route%20and%20i%20got%20the%20news%20that%20i%20got%20it.%20I%20started%20working%20in%20the%20route%20and%20then%20i%20hear%20that%20someone%20else%20posted%20for%20the%20position%20also%20and%20that%20he%20had%20more%20seniority%20than%20I.%20I%20am%20ask%20to%20give%20him%20the%20route&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/18730)
There are two reasons I can think of that there would be a rider in the middle seat. The first reason would be that a supervisor was riding along for part of the day which they may do once a year or so. Sometimes they just follow along in their own vehicle. The other reason would be if a new hire (CCA) was learning on the job from a carrier trainer and going out to deliver for the day with the trainer. Those are the two reasons I can think of. I guess another reason is if there were many packages to be delivered a helper could ride along but I’ve yet to ever see that in my office with a regular LLV (long life vehicle). That is usually done with a larger delivery vehicle or our new Dodge Promasters. Thank you for writing in with a question.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Why%20would%20my%20mailman%20have%20a%20rider%20with%20him%20today.%20Sitting%20in%20a%20short%20seat%20right%20in%20the%20middle%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/19078)
-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
