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 have no idea but consider myself intelligent.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=What%E2%80%99s%20your%20IQ&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/21528)
Absolutely! I couldn’t think of doing any other job. It wasn’t always this way but I realized over the years it’s a great fit for my personality. By no means is this for everybody and many coworkers complain constantly. I have my conflicts with mgmt and the overall operation but that doesn’t take away from my love of the job. I am paid to exercise (walking about 7+ miles per day) listen to podcasts, and provide a service to our customers. I don’t have to deal a lot with office politics because I’m out of the building for about 3/4 of the work day. The pay is adequate for my lifestyle and there is a good amount of OT available to increase my income if so desired. Eventually, the USPS will be in severe financial stress so I don’t know how the changes will affect how I feel about the job, but I’m content as of now. Thanks for writing in with this question.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Do%20you%20like%20your%20job%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/20790)
I have never heard of that happening, though one resident on my postal route was concerned about the possibility of stolen identity. She was receiving misdelivered mail and was worried that maybe her mail was also being misdelivered and that the errant recipient could steal her identity. Mail is constantly delivered to the wrong house. While I like to think I make few errors, I’m not infallible. Furthermore, some coworkers care so little about delivery accuracy that they deliver wrong mail often. They are just careless and don’t verify the address on each piece of mail. It is rare in my office that we even get told about delivering the mail accurately. A customer would probably have to escalate an issue so frequently for the letter carrier to even get spoken to about it. I’ve never heard of anyone being disciplined for errant mail delivery. I’m not saying that they can’t be, but I haven’t seen it in the PO where I work Thank you for your question.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Would%20a%20mailman%20get%20fired%20if%20he%20or%20she%20delivered%20mail%20to%20the%20wrong%20house%20and%20someones%20identy%20was%20stolen%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/21184)
If an address doesn’t exist, a postal worker will write on the item “No such number” or “No Such Street” and the letter will either be discarded or returned to the sender. This depends on the class of mail. In the case of a valid address, but the item being addressed to a person who has never been at that address, the item would be marked “Attempted, Not Known” and, as in your first question, discarded or returned to the sender. In many cases, a letter carrier doesn’t know who lives at an address and they will just deliver the mail to the valid address. In that case, the current resident may or may not leave the letter in the mailbox and write on it “doesn’t live here” or something similar. Again, if that happens, the item would then either be discarded at the PO or returned to the sender.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=What%20happens%20to%20mail%20that%20is%20sent%20to%20an%20address%20that%20doesn%27t%20exist%20or%20when%20the%20address%20is%20right%20but%20the%20person%20who%20it%20is%20sent%20to%20has%20never%20been%20at%20that%20address&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/20674)
Emergency Room Manager
What is the most bizarre thing you've seen in your ER?
Sushi Chef
How do sushi chefs tell when a fish has gone bad? Is it just the smell?
Air Traffic Controller
Have you ever ordered a pilot to abort mid-takeoff?
I am not sure about this as I’ve never encountered this situation. I would think that you would just get out of the vehicle (making sure to shut the engine when you do so as per USPS procedures), walk around to the keypad and enter the code to open the gate, return to the driver side of the vehicle, start the engine, and drive through the gate. The issue you may be thinking about is if the gate remains open long enough for the postal vehicle to drive through. I don’t know the answer to this. I deliver to a couple of gated neighborhoods on occasion, but they are usually staffed by a person or could go up automatically without a code.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=How%20do%20you%20get%20into%20gated%20neighborhoods%20especially%20because%20you%20couldn%27t%20reach%20the%20keypad%20because%20you%27re%20on%20the%20other%20side&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/20591)
Not really. If you are referring to FedEx or UPS, they have a very good reputation for quality work and they are profit driven so their management is under pressure to get things correct. I also think that they have better technology. The flipside to that is that they are sometimes more expensive and do not go to every address in the USA. I think USPS does a very good job in delivery but we employ too much “dead weight” and people not caring about quality work. Of course, those other companies may have the same issues, but I think their employees are on a shorter leash if they make too many errors. I am proud to work for USPS and what I do, but don’t think we are better than the major alternatives.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Is%20USPS%20better%20then%20private%20shipping%20companies%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/21322)
I’ve never found any odd animal inside a mailbox. In the area I deliver, I don’t think there are snakes in the wild. The main thing we’d need to be careful about are wasps or bees and I don’t see them around he mailboxes too often.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Have%20you%20ever%20found%20a%20snake%20or%20something%20like%20that%20in%20a%20mail%20box%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/20673)
-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
