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

why wont mailman put small bubble mailer in mailbox takes it back to post office and wont redeliver

Asked by k.j1111 almost 12 years ago

I am not sure why he would do this. Generally if an item will fit in a mailbox and doesn't need a signature,it should be delivered like any other piece of mail. Do they leave a notice for you to pick it up At the PO? If so, maybe when you pick it up,ask a supervisor why this might happen. Our job is to deliver mail, not to NOT deliver mail.

Is it illegal to walk through my yard especially when there is a sidewalk from the sidewalk on street to our mailbox?

Asked by JulieAnne almost 12 years ago

Generally for efficiency purposes I've always been told to take the most direct paths betweeN mailboxes even if that means going through a yard instead of out to a sidewalk and then back up a walkway to the next resident's mailbox. If an hour explicitly (in writing) requests we don't cross the lawN or yard, we would/should honor that request since it is their property. for the most part I get very few, if Any, requests not to cross a yard. 

If the lock on my mailbox is broken, will the post office hold my mail?

Asked by Taylor over 11 years ago

I am not sure about this. If you called them and said you feel that your mail isn't secure where it's left with the broken lock, maybe they would hold it at the PO until the lock is fixed. In your situation, I am not sure who has responsibility to fix the lock. The PO or  you the customer. Thanks for your question.

when postal carriers have their weekly advertising paper thats delivered with regular mail, can they decide not to deliver that advertiser paper to business's and only households?

Asked by Jan over 11 years ago

We can't pick and choose who gets the weekly advertising paper. The mailer usually would specify "residential customer" or "postal patron", the latter meaning every address gets the mailer. I know for sure there are carriers in my office who make claims that such and such business or person doesn't want the weekly advertiser. They don't deliver weekly advertisers to each address. The truth is we don't have a choice. The mailer pays us to deliver the mail.

I order a lot of mail because I'm not able to get out and get things. Well my mail man will sit outside my house honking his horn. Mind u I have 4 babies 3 in diapers and if I don't go out and get it he will not leave it. He takes it to the office

Asked by Pauline almost 12 years ago

I can't see why the carrier doesn't come to your door if the items to be delivered can't fit in your mailbox. If the house is a certain distance from the road, they aren't required to come to your house. I don't know what that distance is. I'm sorry for your dilemma, but am nOT Sure what to do.

do mailman usually check the box im waiting for taxes and it has been a while. i recently put my name one the mailbox for this reason but i watched mailman and he was in routine and didn't even looked like he payed atention

Asked by Alex almost 12 years ago

I don't know what other carriers do, but I pretty much know every name that goes to each house on the route I deliver. The route I deliver isn'tvery transient so it is easy to do that. if I am not sure about the name going to a certain address, I put a question mark next to the addressees name and deliver it. By doing this I hope that if it is incorrect, they will leave me the letter the next day. many carriers may just deliver based on the address and not pay attention if there is a forwarding order on file or Not. The boxes I deliver mail to don't have a name label next to them. Unfortunately, there are some carriers who aren't very diligent at their job and they make mistakes more often than most. In the situation you are asking about if the mailman wasn't paying attention to the names, then a correctly addressed tax check should get to you. 

How do You keep the mail dry during rain ??
Thank,Mark

Asked by mark25251999@yahoo.com almost 12 years ago

Not easily. I have a walking route so when it rains, the mail will often get wet. Usually, I would carry a bundle of flats  on my arm so I Hope that the items on top are only exposed to the rain for a short time. I can also hold the mail close to my body so my rain helmet may deflect the rain away from the mail. If it is a real downpour you sometimes just wait it out. I don't come across that situation in NY too often. It is also not too common to get a complaint about wet mail. Maybe customers understand if it has been a wet day outside. We also can store some mail in our satchel which has a flap to keep out the rain.