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

So I know this video has been out there for a while but what do you think? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOCyzG4BktQ

Asked by Ryan about 6 years ago

I have never seen that video before. Not knowing the background of the situation, I can’t make a judgment. I know that there are mentally ill and depraved people who work at USPS and in the public. Either this woman perceives she is being stalked by this letter carrier or she actually was being stalked and he is denying it.

Is there any condition besides a hurricane or wild fire or floods that they would say “okay don’t go out today”?

Asked by Micah over 6 years ago

There aren’t too many that I can think of where we wouldn’t go out on our routes. I believe if there was extreme cold and wind chill conditions or a snowfall that made the roads impasssable, the mgmt may decide to suspend delivery of mail for the day. I don’t keep track, but, in my career, mail delivery has only been canceled on a few occasions. The LLV that many of us use for delivery don’t handle well when snow has accumulated more than a few inches on a road. It is even worse on an incline or decline.

Have you ever found a suspicious package that you had to turn into the police?

Asked by Jane about 6 years ago

Fortunately, no. The only thing I’ve ever seen in my office was a package that may have smelled like marijuana. I don’t know what ever became of it. We are trained to be on the lookout for suspicious packages.

What’s the worst weather you have ever worked in

Asked by Sid over 6 years ago

I can’t say what the worst weather was, but extreme cold for NY Metro area (around 0F) is pretty difficult to work in. If we get a significant snowfall, our LLV (long life vehicles) perform poorly on unplowed streets and even worse on inclines. As long as you dress properly and cover your extremities well, most inclement weather is manageable. A deluge of rain is difficult to work in because you are trying to stay dry as well as to keep the mail dry. I realize this doesn’t fully answer your question, but I can’t pinpoint any “worst weather” day I’ve experienced.

Is there ever people who are unhappy with you and why? Anyone ever yell at you about the time you show up or anything really that is something you can’t control and/or something that is just plain stupid

Asked by Caleb about 6 years ago

On the postal route, not particularly. I’m pretty easy going. I don’t really care when people just talk to you because you aren’t just a body. I mean they aren’t conversant and just want to talk about their accomplishments around the house, etc. Truthfully, it’s a waste of my time so I can tolerate it in small doses. If they get too long winded, I walk away and don’t give an excuse. I realize that wasn’t your question Rarely do I ever get complaints about my delivery or the time I arrive. The latter is out of my control. Mail is quite unimportant these days so many people don’t care when, or even, if they get a delivery. I can’t think of any stupid complaints. Every now and then there is a complaint or comment about mail being wet due to sweat on my arm. I don’t find that an unreasonable complaint, so for that customer, I try to keep her mail dry.

What do the strobe lights on the top of some of the trucks mean

Asked by Fjfjfjjdkd over 6 years ago

I think it’s just a general caution strobe that means this truck may make many starts and stops and it may be slow moving. I think it’s similar to hazard flashers.

StephenHello sir what do you think about mail in voting

Asked by Stephen almost 6 years ago

That is a very timely question. I have a lot of faith in the Postal Service able to handle the volume of absentee ballot applications as well as completed ballots. Due to the coronavirus pandemic I believe it is much safer for people who prefer to vote by mail be given an equal opportunity as those who want to physically go to a polling site. In June, 2020, the area where I work had 2 elections. One was a Democratic Party primary. The other was a school budget vote. Both seemed to go smoothly with respect to sending out and retrieving and processing election mail. Several states have been conducting VBM elections for years and I don’t believe there are any major issues that have arisen with respect to voter fraud or ballots being counted.