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

My mother had a bill to mail, everything was in the envelope and it was stamped. Some time after 6pm, I walked down to the blue collection box and mailed it. She didn't seal the envelope. Can I ask the carrier to open the box and find the envelope?

Asked by L.Williams about 11 years ago

You may certainly ask a carrier to open the collection box, but I don't know if they will. I don't even have keys to open one of those boxes so it's possible the carrier you ask won't have access to the collection box. If you are able to have a carrier open the box, if there is a lot of mail in there, I don't know that they will take the time to go through it to find the bill you are looking for. Bring ID with you in case they want to match up the unsealed mail with your address. As I said, I don't know what response you will get from the letter carrier, but was just giving you some possibilities. It is also possible that the bill will get to the destination unsealed and all will be fine.

I just moved from my Mother's house. Last Sunday she left a bag with my mail, including a paycheck, and a banana bread in her mailbox. I was sick that day and didn't pick it up. When I saw her this weekend we figured out that P.O took my stuff .
WTF?

Asked by Hungry For Bread about 11 years ago

Not to make light of your question, but I like your handle "Hungry For Bread". I don't know why the USPS (or more specifically an employee thereof) would take a bag that was obviously not outgoing mail. Technically, the mailbox isn't to be used as a place to leave and pick-up non-US Mail items. From my experience, however, I rarely hear of letter carriers taking non-US Mail items out of a mailbox unless they were circulars/ads placed in mailboxes without postage being paid. You could call the PO where your mother lived and ask them about the missing bag of bread and mail, but I doubt they would know anything about it or admit to it. How do you know that the PO took your stuff and not somebody else? Nobody else should be going into your mailbox to take anything. I am glad you wrote in, but I'd appreciate that you leave the implied profanity out of your question (referring to WTF) for any future inquiries. I don't feel it is appropriate for this message board but acknowledge it is used much more commonly these days than when I was younger. 

do mailmen carry flat rate boxes and envelopes on their vehicles for people who need them along the route?

Asked by neva over 11 years ago

Generally I would say no. I know that I don't carry them in my vehicle. We are told to empty out our vehicles each night. Maybe some carriers do bring them with, but I would doubt it and we aren't told to by management. If a customer asked me to bring them some I would the next day. The best way to get supplies is to visit a Post Office or order the Priority Mail supplies for free at www.usps.com. Thank you for your inquiry and I think Priority Mail is one of the most reliable services that the USPS provides.

Hi, if I call the post office can they tell me what time the mail is delivers in my area

Asked by Anastasia over 11 years ago

I am not sure that they will do this. It probably depends on how helpful the person who answers the phone wants to be. Unfortunately, that is my answer with many questions that requires interaction from personnel at the PO. To give a more practical answer, it is sometimes hard to give a time of expected delivery if there are staffing shortages  at an office and a route is broken up into several "pieces" and not delivered as a whole route by 1 person. If one person is delivering an entire route then they usually follow a prescribed delivery order so it would be approximately the same time each day (usually within a 1 hour time frame.) For example, if I were to deliver my entire route, the deliveries are usually made between 1000 and 1545. Thanks for writing.

Do u guys run next week at all cause I have a package being sent out tomorrow and I was wondering if I'm going to get it before the new year

Asked by bre almost 11 years ago

Bre, there is an excellent chance you will receive the package before the new year. Our operations are pretty much 24/7 when it comes to moving the mail through our delivery network. This time of year with heavy mail volume I think that most packages will arrive within 1-5 days from where they are shipped. Our service is quite reliable in my opinion. Happy New Year!

If I give a letter to the mail man will he accept it, and will the letter go the next day or I have to Waite days? I need a letter to go to Scranton Pa from Cleveland Oh

Asked by Vanessa over 10 years ago

Generally we will accept any letter as long as there is proper postage affixed to it. That letter would be dispatched to a regional mail processing center on the same day we accept it. A letter from Scranton, PA to Cleveland, OH would probably take 2-3 days to reach its destination. Earlier this year I think that our first-class mail delivery standards was slowed down by one day. A letter that would usually be delivered overnight now would take 2 days for delivery and so on. Thank you for your question.

hello, how do u normally drive everyday? on average what do you think every mailman drives?

Asked by mags over 11 years ago

I drive an LLV each day. Our office has 3 types of vehicles. We have Ford Windstars, LLVs, and 2-ton Trucks (which are boxy cargo type looking trucks). The LLVs are the only ones with the steering wheel on the right hand side. I think most mailmen drive the LLVs (Long Life Vehicles), or whatever the newer version of it is called. Our PO doesn't have them yet so I don't know what they are called, but they are similar.