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

I accidentally put the recipients address first then my address will the recipient still get the letter or will I have to do another envelope

Asked by Taylor about 11 years ago

The USPS uses a lot of automation to sort the mail and I think it's looking for the address in the middle of the envelope as to where to send the item. In your example, I would recommended using a new envelope. Write your address (which will be considered the return address) in the upper left hand corner of the envelope. Put the recipients address in the center of the envelope and the sufficient postage in the upper right hand corner.

Are the people at the counter in the post office obliged to ask me what I am sending in a Large Letter ?? thank you

Asked by Werlygig about 11 years ago

I don't believe they can ask you what is actually in the large letter, but I know if it's over a certain weight or size, they can ask something to the effect of "is the item you are mailing liquid, fragile, perishable, or potentially hazardous?" and you self-certify the answer with a yes or no. Certain batteries have to go by surface only and can't fly on airplanes. So I would take exception of they actually ask you what is being mailed if it's first class or Priority Mail. If you are mailing something via Medial Mail they can verify or even open a package to inspect that it is media (books, CDs, cassettes, video, DVD). I hope this answers your question.

how late does the mail carrier run pls hlp thnx

Asked by deedee almost 11 years ago

I don't know where you live but delivery is usually done by 5:30 or 6PM based on my experience. I suppose if an office is short-handed or the mail volume is too high then delivery may be much later. The route which I deliver in Long Island, NY generally is done by 3:30 PM if the mail volume (including parcels to deliver) is average. So you can see there is quite a range as to how late a letter carrier route can be and there are variables that make it hard to pinpoint when delivery will be on any given day. Thanks for your question.

There was a city flyer in my mailbox it said postal customer. Does that mean the mailman brought it

Asked by seano760 about 11 years ago

I am not sure what a city flyer is, but I am guessing it was some type of communication from your city or it was an advertisement. If it said "postal customer" on it, it likely was delivered by the USPS. Another way is to check if there is an indicia on it. That is a square usually in the upper right hand corner of the mailpiece that says "prst std, US mail, paid" or something like that. That is proof of postage. We often deliver mailings that say "postal customer". Basically it means that each address receives this piece of mail. Sometimes it is residential only and sometimes it goes to all business and residential customers.

It seems that all the big blue mailboxes on the street that we put our mail into have been replaced with new ones. They look just like the old ones but there is less space for the envelopes to go through into the box. Why?

Asked by Roberta almost 11 years ago

I actually have no idea regarding the blue collection boxes being replaced with ones that have thinner slots. Possibly it is harder to steal out of it with a thinner slot buy I'm purely speculating. I don't know that theft from these boxes is much of an issue in most areas. Your question is the first I'm hearing about different size slot collection boxes. If anything I just hear of there being less collection boxes in general due to the decline in First-Class Mail being sent.

When do the mailman comes back to work since next Friday is Christmas

Asked by Kenya over 10 years ago

We will be operating as normal on 12/26/15 Saturday. Have a Merry Christmas!

The mailman at my office came in to deliver mail and I told him that we had moved our postage machine from one location to another and he told me that they get paid by the foot and his supervisor measures it once a year. Is that true? I doubt it!

Asked by Shan over 11 years ago

I have not had an office to deliver on a regular basis so I can't comment as to how far a letter carrier is supposed to go I to an office to deliver or retrieve outgoing mail. Usually I'd expect to mostly deliver to a mail room or reception desk. As far as getting paid by the foot, I can assure you if it is a city letter carrier they are being paid "on the clock" meaning it has nothing to do with distance traveled on foot, but only by time working. A rural letter carrier may have a different way to calculate their pay where I don't know the details. If your letter carrier is wearing the traditional blue uniform, it is likely they are a city carrier and if the location of your postage machine took them longer to access, they'd actually be paid more money because it took them longer. I am being picayune but I hope you understand the point. Some mail carriers are just lazy, will feed you a line, or genuinely know some of the rules about office delivery.