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

An X roommate put a vaction hold on my address. They do not even live here. ..What can I do? And can I press any charges.

Asked by moriah almost 12 years ago

Moriah, that is pretty rotten that an ex-roommate would put a hold on all of the mail to your address. I believe you may have to call the USPS help line or visit your local post office to say that your mail shouldn't be held. They shouldn't give you a hard time if you prove that is your address. As far as pressing any charges, I don't have any legal background on what the crime would be and if any charges would stick. The USPS CS # is 800 275 8777.

I asked about ken, my mailman, thanks for response. Was hoping he wasn't in trouble. Is there a place to give him a good review? :) I will.

Asked by Kathyc2012 almost 12 years ago

Kathy, usually they aren't in trouble when being followed. It's a fairly normal procedure done 1x a year. As far as giving him a good review, you could write a letter to the Postmaster at your local Post Office where Ken works or possibly the website www.usps.com has a "contact us" option. To be honest I don't know what would happen with such a letter, but I hope that Ken would at least hear about it and get a copy. If you don't see Ken being followed in the future you can rest assured he probably wasn't in trouble. I realize that you often aren't home when he makes the mail delivery.

What happens to a regular carrier on the ODL if his supervisor calls him in on his day off, but the carrier doesnt answer his phone.

Asked by Jason over 11 years ago

Jason, I'm no expert on the rules and regulations with reference to our union contract (NALC/USPS National Agreement), but I can give you my take on it and anecdotal experience. I feel that if the supervisor hasn't scheduled you before you left work on your previous work day to work your day off you have zero obligation to answer the phone or to come to work. I would probably recommend not even responding if you feel that there will be a conflict if you refuse to go to work. It makes perfect sense that you already had other plans, you are away for the day, had a MD's appt, etc, and you can't come to work. Just to be sure, you never have to tell mgmt what you were doing on your day off. My anecdotal experience is that nothing can be done with regards to discipline for not answering the phone or going to work on your NS day if you haven't been previously scheduled or mandated. I've never heard of an attempt to discipline someone for this.

When I quit the post office do I keep my uniforms

Asked by Jeff Rollins over 11 years ago

Sure you can keep your uniforms as far as I know, some carriers donate uniforms to other carriers, especially if it is unused or if it's outerwear. A carrier who just retired from my PO gave me a rain jacket. Some Union branches or offices have uniform closets for items no longer needed by ole tyre carriers. The choice is yours. I just don't know where you would wear most of the items that have the USPS insignia if you aren't employed there anymore.

How long does it take to get a first class letter from Wisconsin to California

Asked by Heemgame almost 11 years ago

I think it should be approximately 3 days for First Class Mail from Wisconsin to California. Our mail transportation is pretty reliable when it comes to meeting our delivery service goals as long as the mail isn't missorted or misdelivered.

Who delivers the mail if you are sick or on vacation?

Asked by martha almost 11 years ago

It's a very good question with a pretty easy answer. In our office, besides the regular letter carriers who deliver the same route daily, we have a group of carrier technicians (aka floaters) who deliver the mail when a carrier has a day off during the week. As much as mail is delivered Mon-Sat most carriers are only obligated to work 5 of those days. To also help fill the gap when a carrier is sick or on vacation or out for any reason a CCA (city carrier assistant) can deliver the mail. If we are very short-staffed (common in the office where I work), we deliver our own routes and then take part of the vacant route and deliver that, usually for OT pay. That is usually :30-1:00 of additional delivery time but could be longer.

I live in a building with mailboxes we tennents access by key. However I found out that the management at our building puts the mail into the boxes and not the mailman. My boyfriend says this is illegal. What can I do to amend this? I live in Canada

Asked by Flower over 11 years ago

Flower, whether you live in Canada or the U.S., my answer to your question is the same: I don't know what can be done to amend this. I don't know that it is illegal either. Most apartment buildings that I've seen have a cluster of mailboxes near the lobby and are serviced by a USPS worker (in the US). I, too, live in an apartment building (a cooperative) and a USPS Letter Carrier distributes the mail. Management has no access to the cluster boxes as far as I know. On the flip side, there may be some arrangement for the management to deliver the mail in your building though I don't know the mechanism that would allow for such an agreement. The only thing I can compare your situation to is that many college campuses have mail that is distributed by non-USPS employees into boxes usually at a residence hall or student center/union. I did that for one year when I attended a university in NY.