Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

I'm a month old CCA now and I live in Ohio. It's getting cold so I need a good pair of gloves to keep my hands dry/warm and still be able to finger the mail. What would you recommend? Also what do you recommend for the winter months?

Asked by Bradan over 11 years ago

Bradan, I feel your pain. It is a horrible feeling to be out in the elements, being cold and uncomfortable with hours to go in your deliveries. I haven't by any means mastered this problem. The uniform vendors that sell for the USPS offer fingerless gloves (the upper 1/3 or 1/2 of your fingers are exposed) but they aren't terribly useful. Some gloves offered have raised dots that can help you finger the mail. I use them sometimes. Try and keep the rest of your body as warm as possible with layering including thermal underwear. Definitely wear a hat, two if necessary. Even if your fingertips are exposed, you may want to invest in a box of single-use handwarmers (sometimes called hot hands) which are little packets that you shake to activate and then can put inside your gloves or in your pants pockets or glove pockets which you will keep you warm. My girlfriend just bought a box of 40 hand warmers for $12.99 at Costco.

888 Votes

Mailman Dave

I am a cca 4 month now, called in on my day off which i often am and am fine with that but was sent on a nightmare route that i was un familiar with and was unable to complete, am i doomed?

Asked by Rich about 12 years ago

I don't think you should be doomed if you were unable to complete such a large route. Usually the management would request that you call the post office if you require any extra time or assistance in completing a route that you are unfamiliar with. I would hope there would be no discipline in the situation that you just described.

888 Votes

Do you know people who work at the post office yet have a dream of doing their own business? Do some people work at the post office and work on their dream at night until they get a breakthrough in the area of the dreams?

Asked by JTDN over 12 years ago

I am sure This happens a lot. While it is a very secure job to have, it's not what everyone wants as a career. Some of my co-workers have left for jobs with other govt agencies, to become police officers. I don't know of anyone who started a business once they got a breakthrough. But we are a huge company so it has likely happened. Not too many people resign after being on the job more than 5 years.

888 Votes

I have recently been promoted to a career carrier position after working as a CCA for 10 months. I reserved a vacation for the weekend and now have been mandated to work. They are threatening to write me up for taking my days off. Is this legal?

Asked by Bryan over 11 years ago

Bryan, congratulations on being promoted to a "regular" carrier. It is much better than being a CCA, but 10 months sounds like a pretty short amount of time to be promoted. That is a good thing. With regards to your vacation I don't know the legalities of them mandating you to work when you have reserved a vacation. If you put in a request for annual leave and it was given back to you within a certain amt. of time (marked denied I mean), then I believe it is approved and generally can't be revoked. If you chose at as a full vacation block (usually in 1-week segments), that also is non-revocable by management as far as I know. I would recommend asking your shop steward for advice in this situation as I don't know in the NALC/USPS National Agreement where this is discussed, or possibly in the ELM (Employee/Labor Manual). One other suggestion is to ask on a FB message board that I belong to which you may find helpful. The group is called USPS Postal Maniacs. I've seen other USPS employees post questions and problems there and receive some advice. I will warn you that much of the talk on there is negative towards management, but there are many good people on there who can often steer you in the right direction. Good luck and thanks for writing.

887 Votes

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For the Q above, if it's already been 6 days, do i still have a chance of retrieving it from them tomorrow? Or would they have thrown it away or returned it by now?

Asked by Sally over 12 years ago

I am not sure if they would still have it after 6 days. Generally, they wouldn't have thrown it out if the item was mailed a certain class and a return endorsement like "return service requested" but there is no way to know how it was mailed. Hopefully it will be returned to sender and if there is a way to contact the sender they could tell you when they received it back. It wouldn't hurt to go to the PO to see if it's there. Has there been any update to the tracking information besides "arrived at your local USPS facility"?

887 Votes

If I don't pass the exam the first time, is there a mandatory wait before I can try again? Also, please excuse my spelling on the previous question...thanks.

Asked by Jeremy about 12 years ago

I don't know of any mandatory waiting period after you take the postal exam which you must wait to take it a second or third time. Good luck to you in taking the exam. There may be a mandaory waiting time, but I just am not familiar with it.

887 Votes

Hi I just got hired as a cca. I've been reading post on the Internet and have seeing that cca's are hired for 1yr then fired and rehired. Is this what I should expect or is this just hear say?

Asked by Kevin about 12 years ago

I don't know that to be the case where they hire and fire CCA after a year. I have never seen anybody hired for 1 yr then fired and rehired. As long as you are doing a respectable job, it's not likely you would be fired for an invalid reason.

887 Votes

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Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I'm a month old CCA now and I live in Ohio. It's getting cold so I need a good pair of gloves to keep my hands dry/warm and still be able to finger the mail. What would you recommend? Also what do you recommend for the winter months?

Mailman Dave

I am a cca 4 month now, called in on my day off which i often am and am fine with that but was sent on a nightmare route that i was un familiar with and was unable to complete, am i doomed?

Do you know people who work at the post office yet have a dream of doing their own business? Do some people work at the post office and work on their dream at night until they get a breakthrough in the area of the dreams?

I have recently been promoted to a career carrier position after working as a CCA for 10 months. I reserved a vacation for the weekend and now have been mandated to work. They are threatening to write me up for taking my days off. Is this legal?

Also on Jobstr...

For the Q above, if it's already been 6 days, do i still have a chance of retrieving it from them tomorrow? Or would they have thrown it away or returned it by now?

If I don't pass the exam the first time, is there a mandatory wait before I can try again? Also, please excuse my spelling on the previous question...thanks.

Hi I just got hired as a cca. I've been reading post on the Internet and have seeing that cca's are hired for 1yr then fired and rehired. Is this what I should expect or is this just hear say?

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I'm a month old CCA now and I live in Ohio. It's getting cold so I need a good pair of gloves to keep my hands dry/warm and still be able to finger the mail. What would you recommend? Also what do you recommend for the winter months?

Mailman DaveI am a cca 4 month now, called in on my day off which i often am and am fine with that but was sent on a nightmare route that i was un familiar with and was unable to complete, am i doomed?

Do you know people who work at the post office yet have a dream of doing their own business? Do some people work at the post office and work on their dream at night until they get a breakthrough in the area of the dreams?

I have recently been promoted to a career carrier position after working as a CCA for 10 months. I reserved a vacation for the weekend and now have been mandated to work. They are threatening to write me up for taking my days off. Is this legal?

Also on Jobstr...

For the Q above, if it's already been 6 days, do i still have a chance of retrieving it from them tomorrow? Or would they have thrown it away or returned it by now?

If I don't pass the exam the first time, is there a mandatory wait before I can try again? Also, please excuse my spelling on the previous question...thanks.

Hi I just got hired as a cca. I've been reading post on the Internet and have seeing that cca's are hired for 1yr then fired and rehired. Is this what I should expect or is this just hear say?

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Mailman Dave

I am a cca 4 month now, called in on my day off which i often am and am fine with that but was sent on a nightmare route that i was un familiar with and was unable to complete, am i doomed?