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 am not sure why they would leave the mail in the mailbox at the bottom of the hill. One reason is that if there is nowhere to securely put the mail at the top of the hill outside of the elements the carrier wouldn't want to leave the mail outside.
I can't remember a time that I came across any suspicious letters or packages, or at least not as of late. Not long after 9/11 I think there was anthrax sent through mail or something like that to Washington DC. It made me nervous and I think I had some type of reaction that I may have contracted it and had trouble breathing. It turned out to be all in my head and nothing ever came of it. There probably is drugs sent through the mail or maybe other illegal substances but I have no experience with it fortunately.
I usually don't know the contents of any given package, my favorite thing is to deliver packages as opposed to magazines and letters.
I don't know I what you can do to save your job. Does the NALC represent CCAs? I am not sure. If you dismounted yoUR mail truck without turning off the engine, that is often grounds for dismissal. It does seem a bit harsh but I know the USPS is very strict on safety sometimes!
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You can give a mailman any package that has the postage paid on it either via a computer printed label (such as Click 'N Ship) or a label where the recipient will pay the return postage. In the latter case, the label will clearly say "No Postage Necessary If Mailed Within The United States". Every letter carrier should accept the package no questions asked. The exception to this would be a city letter carrier who may not have a USPS vehicle which they are operating from and are unable to bring the package back to the Post Office. In that case I believe you can go to www.usps.com to schedule a package pickup. The mailman usually won't take a package back to a specific address until it is processed through our mail distribution system. Most of the time we just accept any package or mail along our delivery routes and bring back to the post office where we work from and it gets dispatched to a mail distribution center for processing. Thanks for writing.
I wish you well in your career as a CCA, but I certainly understand that a drive from Brooklyn to Glen Head is pretty far. I don't know anything about the transfer process even when you just started your probationary period. I don't think it was possible when I was a PTF (part-time flexible) to put in for a transfer until a certain amount of time had passed since I was hired. I don't know if the process has changed. Thanks for writing.
Scott, you ask a very good question and I do understand your hesitation for wanting to address this issue with her for fear of retaliation. I would take the step of writing a note for the carrier and politely asking them to close the lid after delivering the mail. I realize I agreed with you that there was a slight risk in addressing the issue, but if dealt with politely I'd hope there would be no cause for retaliation. Also, a call to the delivery supervisor would be appropriate if you dI'd see any obvious retaliation.
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