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

Do I have to empty my mailbox everyday? Sometimes I am not in town overnight. Every time I do not get my mail for a day, the mailman takes the mail back to the main post office and leaves me a note saying "You must remove mail every day"....

Asked by Cindi about 12 years ago

I am not familiar with any rules that say you must empty your mailbox daily. I would let mail pile up in a mailbox until it may become full so no future mail can fit in a mailbox. It is not a common occurrrence where I deliver mail, but I am sure it does happen some places. If a mailbox came completely full, I may return any additional mail to the sender with a note saying "mailbox full."

I ordered something online and they accidentally put my delivery street address but the billing city and zip code as my shipping address. So I have the right street address but wrong city and zip code. What can I do??

Asked by Andrew over 11 years ago

Andrew, it is likely that the item will be returned to the shipper saying "invalid address" or "no such street or number".  I'd recommend emailing or calling the company you ordered the item from (customer service department) and advising them of your error. Maybe they could put a note on your order that if the item is returned to the shipper that it should be reshipped to your correct city and ZIP code which you will have advised them of. Thanks for writing.

I have removed the mailbox from my house because travel often. I have a PO box. Every time i return I find junk mail stuffed into the screen door. I have complained to the local Post Office but nothing gets done. What are my options?

Asked by Hugh Mann over 12 years ago

I agree with you that as long as you don't have a mailbox up, then NOTHING should be delivered at all. We would discard any Standard Mail (usually circulars or donation solicitations). Any first class mail should be marked "No Mail Receptacle" and returned to sender. One option would be to put your mail on hold while you are away. You can do that online or by going into any PO and filling out an "authorization to hold mail" form. 

My co-workers and I have different opinions, I think the majority of routes in suburban areas are curbside(where the mailman drives to each mailbox and drops the mail) would you say this is true?

Asked by Mark about 12 years ago

In my opinion, the majority of suburban mailboxes are curbside so the letter carrier can deliver the mail without having to get out of his/her truck. Where I work Is fairly mixed between curbside delivery and door delivery but I would suggest that all new construction would have either curbside (mounted) delivery or a centralized cluster box unit method of delivery. This answer is mainly my opinion and not based on scientific research.

If I want to mail used clothing to someone in the U.S. as a donation do I have to pay full postage?

Asked by Arlene over 11 years ago

Arlene, as far as I know full postage must be paid when mailing used clothing domestically. You can mail the item via USPS Parcel Post which is less expensive than Priority Mail. You can often donate used clothing to local organizations like Goodwill or The Salvation Army. I would recommend doing a web search in your area to see if it's possible to donate the clothing without having to use the USPS and pay postage.

If I dropped some mail that I was going to hand deliver in the post office box by mistake, can I get it from them if I wait for them by the box?

Asked by Melva over 11 years ago

I don't know the answer for sure about this. It may depend on the actual carrier who comes to empty out the blue collection box as I am not sure of the rules that cover this. I know if I were the carrier who was emptying out the box and you could prove who you were and it matched a return address, I would likely return it to you. If there was no return address but you could still somehow prove it belonged to you, I also would likely give it back. But just to reiterate, I don't know the rules that cover this and it may also be up to the direction of the letter carrier.

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 about 12 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.