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 you get in trouble for giving the wrong mail to the wrong house?

Asked by 56 over 6 years ago

I have yet to see that happen, though I wish the quality of service was focused on. If a customer were to complain about chronic misdeliveries, a supervisor will likely mention it to the letter carrier and ask them to be more careful. If the problem persisted, the supervisor may ask to verify the mail each day for the customer who complained about misdeliveries

I haven’t received mail in my apartment complex mailbox for a week now. Also left a letter with stamps and everything in the outgoing malilbox and it hasn’t been picked up for a week. What do you think is going in? Should I contact my city’s USPS?

Asked by Kate over 7 years ago

Kate, it does seem odd that you have received no mail for an entire week if you normally get at least some mail every few days. Have you asked any of the other residents in your apt complex if they have received mail in the past week? If they have received mail in the last week then it’s possible that there was none for you. It’s also concerning that the outgoing mail hasn’t been picked up. It is important that we pick up outgoing mail as long as it is visible to the letter carrier and contains proper postage. I would contact the city USPS and ask a delivery supervisor about the questions you have raised. In some areas, the USPS is experiencing significant staffing shortages which could result in erratic mail delivery.

Do you use the restrooms at businesses on your route if you have to go

Asked by Dave over 6 years ago

Yes. I’ve never had an issue using the restroom at any business that I deliver mail to if I have to use their facilities. I work near a gas station and public library so those are my “go to” spots. Furthermore, there are sometimes construction sites on the postal route and I may use their portable toilet if necessary. As inappropriate as it may sound, if I’m in a rural area and there are no restrooms nearby I may just urinate (discreetly) in a wooded area. It would be embarrassing if I ever was caught but so far it’s not been an issue.

scan flats/letters, scanner prompts, is this on route for delivery, 3options continue scanning, no more to scan, n already passed address, what is the correct response for a VACANT on the route and for MAIL ON HOLD, i hit no more to scan, no sure ??

Asked by jvitto48 about 7 years ago

I have come across the same situation while delivering mail and getting a sampling request for an address that is either on Hold or Vacant. I don’t know what the proper procedure is and the management in my office has never addressed this as far as I know. I also don’t know if anybody has asked about it. If I were in that situation, This is how I answer: Yes, the address is on my route. When it asks me to scan the flats/letters, I just hit enter and “No more to Scan”. To repeat, I can’t say this is the correct procedure, but this is what I do in that situation. Thanks for your question.

So I sent you a link to this dudes video before. But he made another one. Here it is.
https://youtu.be/nl7Q_iKIaf0

Asked by Good sir over 5 years ago

While his videos are entertaining, he picks and chooses the FedEx Ground events that were higher profile. I think overall they do a decent job, but the quality of people hired by these contractors can be lousy. The FedEx Express company is a different story. They are usually much more polished company employees. I think any delivery employees should be trained better on proper handling of their freight and safe driving. The USPS has some lousy employees as well.

As a mail carrier if you pick up a small package at one of those blue boxes can you deliver it to a local business with out taking it back to the postal hub.

Asked by Jeffery Fowler almost 7 years ago

Jeffrey, I don’t know the official answer to this question. In the post office where I work, the carriers who collect mail front the blue collection boxes generally aren’t delivering mail on any specific postal route. They probably aren’t even looking at the destination address when they collect the mail. I’m pretty sure most mail that is collected from the blue mailboxes gets sent to the a processing and distribution center. Very little, if any, local mail is intercepted and delivered without it ever leaving our local PO. I hope this answers your question. Thanks for participating in the Q and A ?

Hi Dave, Thanks for this opportunity to address a contentious mail-related issue my wife and I have been struggling with for years. She works from home and relies on the mail to communicate with her customers. Timeliness of mail delivery is crucial to her business. Most of her mail comprises USPS envelopes with prepaid postage. She maintains that her mail will arrive at its continental US destination sooner if it is handed to a clerk at our Kettering OH post office (our servicing office) rather than simply placed in our residential mailbox which is serviced daily (save for Sundays and holidays of course). She continues to believe this despite my being told by said clerk that all mail is gathered from all USPS/residential/commercial boxes and taken to the post office where it is sent to Columbus OH for sorting and dispatch. Which method is faster? And, is mail placed in a residential mailbox guaranteed to be post marked on the same day it is picked up (excluding Sundays and holidays of course)? Thanks again.

Asked by Roger N. about 7 years ago

This is a very thorough question and i don’t know that I can give you an absolute answer, but I can try. I can assure you that any mail given to a clerk at PO or out in a collection box (blue box) or picked up by a letter carrier from your residence will go the same day to the mail processing plant in Columbus, OH. I guess an exception would be is if the letter carrier picked up the mail so late in the day due to our staffing shortages that the mail may not be dispatched from your local post office to the regional processing center. I haven’t seen this happen too often but I can’t speak for any office other than the one I work with. Another thing to point out is that there is possibly more than one truck per day that takes outgoing mail from your PO to the Columbus mail processing facility. I’m not sure about your office. I still don’t think for the most part it would make a difference if the mail was dropped off at the PO or picked up at your house. Thanks for your question, Roger.