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

I believe what he was trying to say is his roommate is hording some of his mail he cant deliver e.g pocketing his last few relays to avoid getting yelled at for being late etc. !!Mailman Dave you helped me early in my postal career and i thank you!!

Asked by Danny Mac over 12 years ago

Danny Mac, thanks for clarifying the question. I hope your postal career works out and always glad to help. As I've mentioned in a previous question, I've have received so much help from so many sources to keep me going when times were tough. Anyhow, regarding the roommate question, that is obviously a very serious accusation/situation. I'm pretty sure that if one is caught delaying or "taking home" first-class mail as mentioned, you could get fired and possibly arrested (though I don't want to be dramatic and say that the latter would happen for sure). Also, why is the writer "stuck" if the roommate is fired? As you can imagine, I hate hearing a story like this. Even though US Mail isn't as important to many people as it used to be it is still sacred in my opinion and should be treated as such, especially 1st Class mail.

my best friend was an rca for 10 yrs she died 3 weeks ago while on the job can she recieve any kind of benefits from the goverment she had a heart attack.

Asked by julie almost 13 years ago

I don't know the answer to this question. I am sorry to hear about the passing of your friend who was an RCA. My suggestion would be to have her next of kin (or maybe you) contact the district office where she was employed.

So I put mail in the blue collection box. But I'm not so sure if the area I live in still checks them what should I do?? How do I know if the person got my letter or not

Asked by cece over 11 years ago

As far as I know, all blue collection boxes are checked and emptied if the public can access them. If they were no longer going to be in service they would physically be removed or at least have a very clear notice on them that they are no longer being checked for outgoing mail. To know whether or not the person got the letter you mailed, I would recommend calling them or emailing them. Our delivery rate is very high so I'd say there is an excellent chance they will (or have) received the letter you put in the blue USPS collection box.

I've read that the avg carrier makes 72k. Is that true? And if so, how often due raises get passed out?

Asked by Jeremy over 12 years ago

I don't think the average carrier makes 72K, but I am glad to discuss what I make and put it in perspective. I haven't worked most of 2013 due to being out with an illness. Much of this illness is covered by paid sick leave so my salary for 2013 isn't too far out of line what most carriers probably make who weren't ill. My pay stub through pay period 26 of 2013 (which should be the last pp of the year) says $65200. To be quite honest that is a good salary for not having worked for more than 1/2 of the year. The highest salary I've ever made was probably in the $70-75K Range and that would include working overtime. Raises are passed out based on a contract which is agreed upon between the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) and the US Postal Service. They are often passed out 1X per year if you are at top pay. If you are working your way up to the top salary then you would get raises a bit more frequently. In conclusion, there is potentital to make superb salaries if you are willing to work all of the overtime that is asked of you which may mean coming in to work on a day you are usually off or maybe even working on a Sunday. I can't guarantee this, but if you did a little research under "NALC National Agreement 2014" there may be a published pay chart as to what carriers get paid. Thank you for your question.

Why did I get a letter with the return address having an X over it?

Asked by rae about 12 years ago

Rae, I don't know why you would receive a letter with an X on the return address. It doesn't really make sense to me. One theory would be that it was mailed and then our automated letter sorting system accidentally read the return address as the destination address. Maybe if a letter carrier saw that they would put an X through the return address so that the only address that could be read by a machinery or person would be your address. This is just a guess on my part. Thanks for writing. 

i'm stuck because if the roommate loses the job, then they won't move out. it is as the other poster said, fear of not making it through probation period. yesterday the mail vanished, i hope it was delivered. i know what's R&W but i want my house bac

Asked by conflicted over 12 years ago

I understand what you mean. Your roommate won't be able to afford to move out if they don't pass their probation period and is terminated. If you see bundles of mail again at your house, I don't know if you would feel that you could confront your roommate and ask them why that mail is there. You may feel that it's none of your business and are being nosy which is also understandable. I don't know what the best advice would be, but if you really want them out of your house AND you think they will leave once the probation period is over, then you may want to just ignore any mail you see around the house. It is definitely wrong for that mail to not have been delivered, but I know you may not want to be a snitch and still have to live with your roommate. I'm sorry that I can't give you the absolute advice of what you should do because one has to look at "the big picture" and the consequences of their actions.

Can a mail carrier be fired for
spending one day in jail on a
false charge of domestic violence?

Asked by Robert almost 13 years ago

I don't know the answer to this question, but I would speculate that you wouldnt be fired for this, especially if you weren't convicted.