Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

I just got hired as a CCA and start orientation next week. Go me! The current CCA (9 years) that delivers to my house is still trying to go FT. That seems a very long time to wait. IYO, how hard is it to go FT in the Los Angeles metro area?

Asked by FF about 12 years ago

I don't have any inside knowledge on how long it would take to make a FT regular carrier in the LA area. I agree though that 9 yrs is a long time to wait. Congratulations and good luck to you!

913 Votes

I was keeping a piece of mail in the mailbox that had been delivered to my address for our old roommate to pick up. After about 2 days, the letter was gone but the roommate had not picked it up. Would USPS take the letter back and return to sender?

Asked by ST over 11 years ago

ST, I'm not sure what happened in your situation. Some USPS carriers may be trained or take it upon themselves to do things differently than others. If the letter carrier saw the one letter in your mailbox but the rest of the mail taken in (by you), they might think it's mail for a person no longer living there and return it to the sender "Attempted, Not Known" or "Unable to Forward" or something else. It seems likely that this is what happened and the letter wasn't stolen though I can't says for sure.

913 Votes

I was reading articles about mailmen and one person said he lifted 75 pound trays to take mail from (for sorting into bins or trays) before he goes out on his route. Do you do that? or is your mail already sorted for you?

Asked by MarthaJ over 12 years ago

Most of the mail that we take out is sorted ahead of time into trays, but there is always some "residual mail" that has to be hand sorted and sometimes collated in with the mail that has already been sorted. It is rare that these trays would be more than 20 lbs. in my estimation. Some offices have more automation than others meaning some offices still have to do a lot of manual sorting. While there are sometimes heavy packages to lift, I think the max. Is 70 lbs. and i don't see a parcel that heavy too often. The mail that I mentioned earlier comes sorted into trays is done by automated sorting machines located at a larger processing facility.

913 Votes

How late could I expect to possibly have my package arrive tonight?

Asked by Brian about 11 years ago

I don't know if you will receive the package tonight. This time of year I'd say that most packages are delivered by 6PM, but each office probably has varying times due to mail volume and staffing levels. During the holiday season, we deliver some packages on Sunday as well. If you have a tracking number you can track the shipment at www.usps.com but I'm not sure how well it works with items that originated from another country.

913 Votes

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Hey question i am going to start soon as a cca and i was wondering will i at leasy work 40 hours a week?

Asked by joao over 11 years ago

Congratulations on getting hired as a CCA. Even though you may not get benefits and pay like a career employee, I recommend sticking with it because it is a decent job in the long run. To answer your question I really don't know. It likely depends on the needs of the office to which you are assigned. There is no minimum amt of hours per week for a CCA as far as I know and be prepared to work every day including Sundays. Some offices deliver Amazon parcels on Sunday and assign a CCA to work. Once you pass probation (90 days) you can ask to "hold down" assignments for carriers who are either sick long term or on vacation. If you get to have a "hold down" you will then be guaranteed 40 hrs per week (8 hrs per day) for the period that the "hold down" is in effect. Good luck and remember to be professional and organized.

912 Votes

I live in an apartment building ( in Canada ) with locked mailboxes for each apartment at the front.of.the building. My neighbor moved out and left a letter for the mail person to put her mail in my box... is this legal?

Asked by Pepper about 11 years ago

I don't know anything about the rules/laws in Canada about redirecting mail to another address just with a note. Are you okay with this? If so, then if it happens, so be it. If you don't want this or the Canada Post doesn't operate that way, then I guess it's more of an issue. I know I wouldn't abide by a letter like this. In the United States for mail to be put in another addresses mailbox (legally), a forwarding order has to be submitted with the US postal service and then the mail will be properly redirected, even if it is just a next door neighbor. I have one customer on the route I deliver that owns 2 houses adjacent to each other. One of them is for sale. Once that house is sold, I will need to have a forwarding order submitted to have mail forwarded from the sold house to the unsold house (if that's what they want). Thanks for the question.

911 Votes

Thanks for this forum to ask questions! I am preparing to rent some office space, but the building shares one common address. There are no suites, ect. If I place a box with my business name on it will I be able to receive mail? Thank you!

Asked by Art over 11 years ago

I don't know the answer to this for sure. I believe the mail would be delivered to the building in one bundle with the other businesses mail mixed in if there are no specific suite #'s. For you to have your mail delivered separately, I believe you would need to have a specific address which is different from the rest of the building (i.e. the same street address, but a suite # associated with it). You could consider renting a PO Box, but that would have a cost plus would require a trip to your local PO to retrieve your mail. Most of the mail that we deliver is sorted by a machine into delivery order so if your address doesn't have a separate suite number, a letter carrier probably wouldn't segregate your mail just because you have a box with your business name on it. It's my pleasure to assist you on this forum and thank you for writing.

911 Votes

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Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I just got hired as a CCA and start orientation next week. Go me! The current CCA (9 years) that delivers to my house is still trying to go FT. That seems a very long time to wait. IYO, how hard is it to go FT in the Los Angeles metro area?

I was keeping a piece of mail in the mailbox that had been delivered to my address for our old roommate to pick up. After about 2 days, the letter was gone but the roommate had not picked it up. Would USPS take the letter back and return to sender?

I was reading articles about mailmen and one person said he lifted 75 pound trays to take mail from (for sorting into bins or trays) before he goes out on his route. Do you do that? or is your mail already sorted for you?

How late could I expect to possibly have my package arrive tonight?

Also on Jobstr...

Hey question i am going to start soon as a cca and i was wondering will i at leasy work 40 hours a week?

I live in an apartment building ( in Canada ) with locked mailboxes for each apartment at the front.of.the building. My neighbor moved out and left a letter for the mail person to put her mail in my box... is this legal?

Thanks for this forum to ask questions! I am preparing to rent some office space, but the building shares one common address. There are no suites, ect. If I place a box with my business name on it will I be able to receive mail? Thank you!

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I just got hired as a CCA and start orientation next week. Go me! The current CCA (9 years) that delivers to my house is still trying to go FT. That seems a very long time to wait. IYO, how hard is it to go FT in the Los Angeles metro area?

I was keeping a piece of mail in the mailbox that had been delivered to my address for our old roommate to pick up. After about 2 days, the letter was gone but the roommate had not picked it up. Would USPS take the letter back and return to sender?

I was reading articles about mailmen and one person said he lifted 75 pound trays to take mail from (for sorting into bins or trays) before he goes out on his route. Do you do that? or is your mail already sorted for you?

How late could I expect to possibly have my package arrive tonight?

Also on Jobstr...

Hey question i am going to start soon as a cca and i was wondering will i at leasy work 40 hours a week?

I live in an apartment building ( in Canada ) with locked mailboxes for each apartment at the front.of.the building. My neighbor moved out and left a letter for the mail person to put her mail in my box... is this legal?

Thanks for this forum to ask questions! I am preparing to rent some office space, but the building shares one common address. There are no suites, ect. If I place a box with my business name on it will I be able to receive mail? Thank you!

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