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

Hi,
Which part of Long Island do you work? Just curious because I live on LI. Also, do letter carriers spend their whole workday delivering mail, or do you also work inside the post office?
Thank you!

Asked by Name over 12 years ago

Thanks for your question. I work at the Syosset, NY 11791 PO. City Carriers usually spend 1.5 to 3 Hrs each day in the office sorting the incoming mail into delivery order and then spending apprx. 5-6 Hrs each day "in the street" delivering the mail. A lot of mail these days comes pre-sorted into delivery sequence which has reduced the amount of hours that carriers spend in the post office compared to many years ago. The volume of mail over the years also hasn't remained as high so there is less mail to sort in the post office and deliver. For myself and most of my co-workers there is certainly still 8 hrs/day or more of work.

We have a corner commercial building. The address is on one street but we want to put our mailbox on the other street for easier access. Can we do that? Will the post office still deliver?

Asked by Brian almost 13 years ago

I believe if you change the location of your mailbox, it would be wise to contact the local post office that handles your delivery. I don't know the rules as to if this is allowed or not. I would think that if it doesn't create any inconvenience for the carrier, it might be possible. To be honest the rules of delivery are applied so inconsistently that I can't tell you for sure what will happen. 

Where can i get a third arm for delivering flats?

Asked by Johnny chambers over 12 years ago

I am not sure what you mean by this. I carry some of the flats on my arm for a walking route and then some in my satchel since my office deals with FSS meaning there are 2 separate bundles of flats. The key is to try to be as organized as possible when loading up your flats and letters for delivery.

I live in a 3 family house that uses 1 mailbox for all 3 floors. Lately my mail has been going missing. So I am putting up a separate locked mailbox with my name on it. How do I go about making sure that my mailman puts MY mail in my mailbox?

Asked by Kaur over 12 years ago

I don't know for sure how you can make this happen, but I have a suggestion. If you happen to actually see the mailman, you can mention to him/her the problem that you seem to be having and that you would like to have mail for your family put in the locked mailbox. I don't know if you will be successfull in having this done but it is worth a try. If this doesn't work, you might want to look into renting a PO Box which is very secure but you'd need to go pick up your mail from a PO instead of having it delivered to your house. I wish you well in having this problem resolved.

A package was supposed to be delivered to my box Wed. according to tracking. I am pretty sure the postman put it in the wrong box, but regardless It was not in mine. Is there someone I could speak to that could get my package back?

Asked by Sarah In Birmingham over 12 years ago

Sarah, I would suggest that you speak with either the letter carrier who delivers to your address regularly or call your local PO and speak with a delivery supervisor. I am not sure how either way will result in the package getting to its correct address (you), but I wish you well. As letter carriers we all do make mistakes, but I would hope they aren't too frequent and that the errant recipient of the package would leave it out for a letter carrier to pick up to be brought to the correct address. Thanks for writing.

I delivred my documents to the post office late yesterday would like to return it back before the truck come to tack it at what time the truck come to the post office to take the things

Asked by thuria about 12 years ago

I know this reply is probably too late to help you retrieve the documents from the post office. I don't know what time the trucks leave the following day with outgoing mail but I would think that it is fairly early in the AM, if not around 6-6:30PM the day before. I am also not sure if they would allow you to look for (or if they'd look for) items you dropped off for mailing. I know at out post office that any items accepted at the retail counter, or in a collection box BEFORE the latest time posted on that box must be dispatched the same day.

Can a mailman leave mail if there is no mailbox?

Asked by Wayne over 12 years ago

If the letter carrier feels it is secure enough to leave mail in a place without a mailbox, I think they can though it's probably not a great idea. I don't know the official rule on the proposed situation.