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

Is it illegal for me to write "not at this address" on my own mail. I don't want certain people knowing where I live

Asked by Patricia over 11 years ago

I can't say whether or not it is illegal to write "not at this address" even if you are actually living at that address. The only problem may come is if a letter carrier sees that you are regularly writing that on then mail, they may see that as you not wanting any mail with your name. That scenario isn't likely but just wanted to make you aware of that possibility. I would just ignore any piece of mail i dont want. There is no proof you ever got that mail unless you signed for it. 

Is. the USPS jobs pay though out the nation, or does it differ where cost of living could be more or less

Asked by stephanie about 10 years ago

Our salary is uniform across the nation even though the cost of living could vary widely. The only exceptions may be in AK or HI where the cost of living is a lot higher than most of the 48 contiguous states. What you are referring to is known as locality pay and most federal agencies have that. Our union, the National Association of Letter Carriers, negotiates our pay scale with the USPS every few years. They don't ask for locality pay as far as I know. As a national union, there is wide disagreement as to whether some areas should be paid more than others for doing the same job. Living in NY Metro area is expensive and it would be nice to have some locality pay. But for those living in less expensive regions, they probably wouldn't want to see some of their fellow union brethren making more than them for the same job. They might feel if someone in an expensive area is making more, that leaves less $$ for them in negotiating a contract and the NALC represents all of the carriers nationwide. I have definitely seen more carriers transfer out of my post office to lesser expensive areas (NC, PA, FL) than transferring in. Great question!

I just recently moved to Joliet,IL and I'm used to mailboxes@the end of the driveway w/the red lever.My mailbox is by my front door.My question is can I leave a letter correctly addressed w/postage in my mailbox for my mailman to be mailed out?

Asked by Samantha almost 11 years ago

I would say that it is fine to leave a correctly addressed and posted letter in your mailbox for the carrier to take with them to mail. I would recommend that the letter be very visible so that the letter carrier can see the letter they are supposed to take with them.

I dropped a bank deposit envelope full of cash and a deposit slip in the mailbox by accident, actually 11 year old daughter did…..how do I go about getting it back? Thanks for the help!

Asked by chris almost 11 years ago

I would contact the PO that is in charge of servicing that blue collection box and hope they haven't emptied it out yet. If you could prove to them that it belongs to you and was dropped there in error, it's possible they could get it back to you but I'm not sure. Good luck to you! I hope you can get that envelope back.

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 10 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. 

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

Asked by normnorm almost 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.

My address has always been my mom address. Her boyfriend moved in and he keep giving important mail back to the mail carrier. For months I have not receive important mail can I take legal action.

Asked by William Legion over 10 years ago

I am sorry that I can't advise you on any legal action to be taken with regards to your situation. I find it quite unconscionable that your mother's boyfriend would return your important mail to the letter carrier if he knows that you receive your mail at your mother's address. One option would be to contact the post office that delivers your mail and mention to the delivery supervisor to mention to the letter carrier that mail addressed to you should be delivered to your mother's address and not be accepted by the letter carrier as "refused" mail. Also, I am sure you've already mentioned to your mother about what is happening and asked her to tell her boyfriend to stop doing that. I don't know the circumstances as to why her would return the mail, but it is disgusting to do that if it is just to be malicious. Thank you for writing.