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

At the end of your delivery day, you notice that you have some remaining flyers. What would you do with them

Asked by zoom about 11 years ago

If the flyers are unaddressed which would usually be the case when there are leftovers, I bring them back to the post office where they are usually discarded in a recycle bin. It's not too often that I have leftover flyers because they are usually distributed to the letter carriers in the correct quantity needed to cover the entire route (give or take a few). Another reason why we usually don't have leftovers is because we are supposed to count out the number of flyers needed for each section (loop or relay) resulting in a low amt of overage. I do see many flyers put in the recycle bin at the end of the day leading me to believe that some flyers aren't delivered or there is an error in the counts for some routes. A lot of flyers are probably of little interest to the recipients, but that isn't my concern. I am loyal to the mailers who are paying the USPS to provide delivery services for their advertising. 

After working as a City Letter Carrier for 5 years, where do you think I can apply for job or what type of job I can apply to if I can't walk anymore because of medical conditions?

Asked by Thai almost 12 years ago

As far as what far as what job would be a good alternate to a city letter carrier based on your medical condition, I think that working inside as possibly a retail sales and service associate would be good. The problem is that I don't believe they are hiring many workers for these positions when compared to letter carrier hiring. There are also custodial positions available in some offices, but that job requires much physical labor as well. I am sorry that I don't have any great advice for you as city letter carrier is the job most in demand. You could see if there are rural carrier associate positions available in your office or adjacent offices. Those positions don't require any walking except delivering parcels to doors sometimes, but much less than a traditional park and loop walking city route. 

Hi:) my mother in law has her mail delvered to my house due to she was in a car wreck and was in a rehab nursing center. Now she is out amd wants to live here. We say no. Dose she have a rightto enter my house? Thank you for your time :)

Asked by april over 12 years ago

I can't answer that question because it isnt a subject that I have any expertise on allowing someone in your house. I would think that you don't have to let anybody in you don't want to, even if its your MIL. She does have a right to her mail, so there is some way you should find to get it to her and then a forward should be submitted by her to her new (or previous) address. 

I work in a building that has designated mailboxes for each company. Is it legal for the mailman to drop mail for my company on the floor in front of the mailbox if it all doesn't fit? He comes to our company with certified mail only.

Asked by shelley over 12 years ago

I don't know the legalities of the carrier just leaving the "overflow" of mail on the floor. I would personally bring it to your suite/office. If the carrier feels it is safe to leave it on the floor near the mailboxes, I suppose that is okay.  I realize that you don't control the size of your mailbox. You could call post office to see if this can be rectified, though I don't really know the rules on this. 

Does the regular Letter Carrier deliver Priority Express Letters and if so, do you have to be home to sign for them or will he/she leave in your mailbox ? Also,if i don't normally get mail until after noon, does10:30am time apply for Priority Express

Asked by Wolfie from Harlem about 11 years ago

Wolfie, I think that Priority Express Envelopes (not regular Priority Mail) has a guaranteed delivery time which is given to the sender when they mail the item. It is often next day by Noon but that certainly varies on destination and time of mailing. Most Priority Express labels nowadays are automatically signature waivered (nobody needs to be around to sign for it) unless the sender requests a signature. It used to be the opposite of that. The regular letter carrier will deliver the Priority Express letter if they can make the delivery by the guaranteed time and if they are given the item to deliver before they leave on their regular routes. I hope that answers your question.

We have several post offices in the area. I want to apply to carry in a particular part of town. How can I find out what area a particular post office covers?

Asked by Jeremy almost 12 years ago

I am not sure how you would apply for a specific PO to work at. More often than not I believe hiring is done by region that covers several different POs. For example, when I was hired in 1998, I had taken an exam which covered all offices which had ZIP codes which began with 117 and I was hired in one of them. You could go in to the Post Office and ask how to get hired in a certain area though I am not sure how much assistance one specific office can be since hiring is done through a more central HR office and not one local office.

Does the mail carrier get a day off when it is a state of emergency?

Asked by normnorm over 11 years ago

Not to my knowledge unless the USPS closes their local office or district. In all of my years working on Long Island, maybe 1 or 2 occasions have we been unable to deliver the mail, but I don't remember if we were expected to report to work or not. It's possible though that I may not have the correct information and that a local state of emegergency would excuse a letter carrier from reporting to work.