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.
You virtually answered your own question with the "but do you". Every morning we are given 5 minutes before our break to inspect our postal delivery vehicles. Most of us at least turn on the engine to make sure it will start. We are supposed to do a walk around and look for any body damage, flat/low tires, leaks, and more. I mostly just turn the engine on and look at the fuel gauge to see if I need to stop at a gas station on the way to the route. At the end of the day, I empty out all of the contents of the vehicle and park and lock it. I don't do any further inspection at the end of the day. I know I don't do the full inspection walk around that we are supposed to, but so far it hasn't come back to hurt me. I use the same vehicle almost every day. If I were to use a different vehicle I may do a more thorough check to see if all of the signals and lights work.
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If you dropped the letter at the PO at 3:45 PM, there is an excellent chance that the letter would be collected out of the box the same day (assuming it was M-F) and then sent to a local mail processing facility to be sorted and then sent to its destination. This usually takes two days if it's in the same city to get from the origin to destination. It used to be a one-day delivery standard but I think many places now operate on a two-day standard for First-Class mail in the same city.
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I'd say that it is untrue that it's a law that one must pick up their mail daily. If it is a law I've never heard of it and it wouldn't make any sense to me. I believe the carrier is just being not nice and telling you an untruth. The issue a letter carrier may have if someone doesn't pick up their mail daily is that depending on the size of the mailbox it may get too difficult to fit in subsequent mail deliveries. If this were the case it's possible that mail could be returned to the sender. Most mailboxes that I see can handle quite a few days worth of mail and it is common for people to not pick up their mail daily. If you are concerned about your mail being returned, please contact a delivery supervisor or postmaster to get clarification on the matter. Again, I don't see any issue or problem with mail not being collected daily by the recipient unless the mailbox capacity is pretty small.
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I don't know how long you get to deliver a certified letter, but 3 minutes sounds reasonable to me per address. If the recipient is not home, it does take time to fill out a PS Form 3849 properly to leave in their mailbox. If the recipient is home, they need to sign the MDD and possibly a return receipt which also takes a bit of time. It also takes time to wait at a customer's door once you ring a door bell or knock. My general answer is however long it takes you to properly attempt/deliver a certified letter is what it takes. I don't know of any official time variances. I don't fill out PS Form 3849 in the office because there is a chance you won't need to leave a notice so it's wasting time to prepare them in the office before attempting delivery.
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I don't know officially how long you have to learn a new route before you're expected to be efficient. I would estimate up to about 3 weeks before you get to know it real well. Some people excel and catch on at a quicker pace then others. As far as I know there is no official amount of time before you are expected to learn a route. On the route I currently deliver I was the floater for that route before I got to do it full-time. What that means is that I filled in for the regular carrier on their day off or when they were on vacation or sick. In my case I knew the route quite well when I was awarded it full time upon the retirement of the previous letter carrier on that assignment.
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It's hard to say whether or not the job will be too physical or not for you. In the office where I work, there are a few heavier women who have recently been hired and are doing well. They sometimes come back from delivering and look wiped out but can still do the job. It also may depend on how much walking the job entails. In some offices the letter carriers drive a delivery vehicle all day and don't have to carry a satchel with mail on their shoulders. I recommend getting as much rest as possible the night before work and eat properly. When starting out, however, don't overdo it in terms of physical exertion. If you start to feel ill, slow down stay hydrated. I don't want to mislead you and say that everyone can handle this job physically, but I've seen many people who look out of shape so just fine as letter carriers. Good luck to you!
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I probably won't be able to assist you with your specific situation but can't give my opinion. I personally think it's not true and the letter carrier is being a bit difficult. It can be annoying to a letter carrier to be interrupted when distributing mail to the cluster boxes but I suppose there are worse things to worry about. I only deliver mail to a cluster box community on occasion and if someone came up to me I'd use my judgment and likely give them their mail. It's a gated community and know of no mail theft issues whatsoever. In your case you even come with a key so it's clear that you are the resident for a particular mailbox and he shouldn't worrry about you taking from another mailbox. Please keep in mind that this is only opinion and it's not something I go through on a daily basis. In the office where I work, we have received no instructions that I can recall about allowing customers to retrieve mail from their cluster box while the letter carrier is servicing them. Letter carriers are tasked with keeping the mail secure but I think with any level of reasonableness they can do that especially with peole they may know personally. Thanks for your question though I don't know if you'll make any headway with your particular new letter carrier.
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