Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

What did you do uniform wise before you got your uniform allowance? Did you buy anything with your personal money? If so what? What did you buy with your first allowance?

Asked by Bradan over 11 years ago

I think it was about 3 months (probationary period) before I received a uniform allowance. I think I dressed mostly in blue and wore jean shorts or blue jeans as a uniform for the lower part of my body and a dark t-shirt for the upper part. It was during summer months so outerwear wasnt too much of an issue but I probably had a rain jacket and baseball cap. I don't think anything had the USPS logo on it. I can't remember if I bought anything with my own money but probably would have, if necessary. With my first allowance (which was higher than subququent years), I probably bought long and short sleeved uniform shirts, a winter jacket, shorts and pants, shoes, and a baseball bap. It has been quite a few years but this is a guess as to what I bought. I know the items can be a bit pricey and eat up a uniform allowance quickly. On Long Island, NY where I deliver mail there used to be actual uniform stores that we could go in to and purchase our clothing. The one closest to wear I work/live has closed so I spend my entire yearly uniform allowance online. Some vendors will offer you a 10-20% spending bonus if you use the entire allowance at one time. I recommend purchasing items that will keep you warm and dry in bad weather even if it means spending out-of-pocket having used up your uniform allowance. It is difficult for me to work in the cold and always have to layer up properly in the winter. I don't know where you live if this is a factor or not. Good luck in your postal career and keep your head up even if management doesn't treat you like they appreciate you.

982 Votes

I have gone through all my training as a mail carrier and just finished my driving test. .Everything went well and he said I did well but im not comfortable with the 2 ton. Will i be asked to drive this or was it just to familiarize me with it?

Asked by Daniel M about 12 years ago

Congratulations Daniel on finishing your training as a mail carrier including the driving evaluation. With regard to driving the 2-ton vehicle, I don't know if you will ever be made to drive it. I would hope that you wouldn't be. I know that I am in the same position as you with regards to driving it. I have only driven it a few times in my career and and am never asked to drive it. If you didn't feel comfortable driving it, I would speak up and mention that you don't think it is safe for you to drive it and see if you could get out of doing it. I wish you well.

982 Votes

My rural mailman put an international express in my neighbors box (the mail carrier sign it!). I was tracking it and when the post office was notified they said she signed it so what now. Neighbor said they didn't get it; maybe they did ???

Asked by dat about 12 years ago

I apologize that I don't really know what further action for you to take. Were you able to contact your rural carrier to see if they recall where they put the international express item? Did they, in fact, remember putting it into your neighbor's box (and why)? If your neighbor claims that they didn't receive the item, I don't know what else you can do to prove that they did. I suppose this is one of the risks of allowing a rural carrier to sign for certain mail items.

982 Votes

My question was can mailmen take things out of letters. Because twice, I found a letter that was supposed to have a gift in it, but there was a huge hole in the envelope and the gift seemed to taken out

Asked by Sarah over 11 years ago

It is strictly against the law for any letter carrier to take anything out of the mail. That would be considered tampering with the mail. If the gift was just put in a paper envelope and the envelope was bulging it is possible that if it went through mail processing equipment the machine could have damaged the envelope and caused the gift to fall out. It would be hard to prove that an item was stolen out of the mail, but if this happened on multiple occasions and you suspect something wrong, I'd report it a delivery supervisor at your local post office. I don't think much will be done about it but at least they'd have a record of it. I would hope that any theft from the mail by USPS employees is rare and dealt with in a severe and prompt manner if proven.

980 Votes

Also on Jobstr...

Professor

How do you prevent cheating and plagiarism these days?

Geek Squad Agent/Supervisor

What's the biggest scene a customer's ever made in the store?

Magician

What's the most amazing magic trick you've ever seen?

How do you make sure you get up in the morning? Do you have a lot of alarm clocks going off at different times? Do you have someone give you a wakeup call?

Asked by JTDN over 12 years ago

My brother works at a PO and I believe he uses the many alarm clocks method (including one across the room). There are apps that will give you a wake up call. I just set one alarm and Try to get 8 hrs. Sleep so getting up and to work on time isn't too hard for me. Promptness and attendance is an important part of staying employed.

980 Votes

If my regular mail isnt at the post office by the time my normal mail man leaves for his route, will they see it when they get back to the Post office and bring it back to my house the same day?

Asked by CC almost 13 years ago

Not usually. At our PO, we generally won't leave for a route until all of the regular (1st and 2nd class) mail is ready for delivery. So as to your question, I would think that the mail wouldn't be delivered until the following day unless a supervisor specifically approved a carrier to go out and deliver late-arriving mail.

980 Votes

I put a letter in a blue collection box today, probably around 12:30. In the past, I know USPS has tried to phase these boxes out and I am worried that they are no longer thought of as important to check. How often are they really checked for mail?

Asked by Dennis over 12 years ago

You can rest assured that those blue collection boxes are checked at least 1 time after the time on the label for the stated day. For example, if the label says Mon-Fri 3PM, you can rest assured that the box is emptied AFTER 3PM each day M-F but before the last truck has been dispatched from the local post office to a regional processing and distribution center M-F. (also known as a P&DC or "plant"). Inside each collection box is a bar code which is scanned by the collection box letter carrier. The scan records the time that the box was emptied and is recorded on a central internal computer system.

980 Votes

Showing 323 - 329

Show All

898 More Answers by Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Last 7

44 45 46 47 48 49

...

Next 7 Answers

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

What did you do uniform wise before you got your uniform allowance? Did you buy anything with your personal money? If so what? What did you buy with your first allowance?

I have gone through all my training as a mail carrier and just finished my driving test. .Everything went well and he said I did well but im not comfortable with the 2 ton. Will i be asked to drive this or was it just to familiarize me with it?

My rural mailman put an international express in my neighbors box (the mail carrier sign it!). I was tracking it and when the post office was notified they said she signed it so what now. Neighbor said they didn't get it; maybe they did ???

My question was can mailmen take things out of letters. Because twice, I found a letter that was supposed to have a gift in it, but there was a huge hole in the envelope and the gift seemed to taken out

Also on Jobstr...

How do you make sure you get up in the morning? Do you have a lot of alarm clocks going off at different times? Do you have someone give you a wakeup call?

If my regular mail isnt at the post office by the time my normal mail man leaves for his route, will they see it when they get back to the Post office and bring it back to my house the same day?

I put a letter in a blue collection box today, probably around 12:30. In the past, I know USPS has tried to phase these boxes out and I am worried that they are no longer thought of as important to check. How often are they really checked for mail?

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

What did you do uniform wise before you got your uniform allowance? Did you buy anything with your personal money? If so what? What did you buy with your first allowance?

I have gone through all my training as a mail carrier and just finished my driving test. .Everything went well and he said I did well but im not comfortable with the 2 ton. Will i be asked to drive this or was it just to familiarize me with it?

My rural mailman put an international express in my neighbors box (the mail carrier sign it!). I was tracking it and when the post office was notified they said she signed it so what now. Neighbor said they didn't get it; maybe they did ???

My question was can mailmen take things out of letters. Because twice, I found a letter that was supposed to have a gift in it, but there was a huge hole in the envelope and the gift seemed to taken out

Also on Jobstr...

How do you make sure you get up in the morning? Do you have a lot of alarm clocks going off at different times? Do you have someone give you a wakeup call?

If my regular mail isnt at the post office by the time my normal mail man leaves for his route, will they see it when they get back to the Post office and bring it back to my house the same day?

I put a letter in a blue collection box today, probably around 12:30. In the past, I know USPS has tried to phase these boxes out and I am worried that they are no longer thought of as important to check. How often are they really checked for mail?

Login

Forgot Your Password?

Register