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

I have a vacation hold on my mail, but my carrier decides to take one piece out and give it to my neighbor with the request that she contact me as the carrier "thinks" the piece of mail might be "important." Is this against USPS rules?

Asked by Neeliec almost 12 years ago

I think it is wrong for a letter carrier to make any type of judgment whether or not a piece of mail is important or not. They shouldn't be involving a neighbor since the neighbor may or may not have any type of relationship with the customer and shouldn't be privy to any of the type or content of mail received by you. When a customer puts their mail on hold, I treat all mail the same way no matter if it looks like a check, biill, automobile advertisement, donation request, etc. It is definitely not our job to judge anything about the mail and I would suggest it is very much against the rules even though your carrier meant well. Thanks for writing.

i think the usps gave my package to the r\wrong address

Asked by moshe ratner about 12 years ago

That is certainly possible. We do make errors. I don't know how to proceed from here, except if you think you know where it went to you could contact the USPS to see if they could contact the "wrong" recipient to get the package back though I don't know how likely that is. Good luck

Is it usual for mail carriers to run late on routes? My mail is usually here early in the AM but has not yet got here yet.

Asked by Hello almost 13 years ago

Sure it's common to run late. It's possible the carrier had another assignment to do before starting their regular route. Also, if staffing is short, a route may be broken up into several sections and a carrier will do that section for overtime which could vary the delivery time greatly. Thanks for the question. 

I wrote an incorrect retrun address home # on an important legal document I am expecting (passport). Express Mail via USPS. How to catch it before it goes back to the sender ? Please help.

Asked by TP almost 13 years ago

I am not sure. If you put the correct town on it where it is supposed to be returned to  maybe contact your PO to alert them of this error and what the correct address should be. This way when it arrives at your local PO, they will have been advised as to the correct address to deliver the passport.

Are there any special USPS requirements for installing a residential mailbox?

Asked by ch over 12 years ago

It depends if it is a curbside mailbox or a mailbox at the door to your house. If it is a curbside mailbox that the letter carrier must access from their postal vehicle then there are specific height rqmts and distance from the curb that the box must be. I don't have these specs here, but I imagine it can be found online by doing a search of "curbside residential mailbox requirements"

What time does a city carrier usually have to report to the post office in the morning to start? I have a good chance at getting this position but am wondering in advance because I need to put my daughter in daycare and very few open that early.

Asked by Jess almost 12 years ago

I can't speak for all POs, but from what I have experienced, most full-time assignments start between 7-8 AM and end 3:30-4:30PM. For a newly hired carriers, they might start later in the day as there may not be enough work for them to work a full day or the operations require that they work much later. I've seen a 10-11AM start time for the CCAs (city carrier assistants) when they aren't needed to cover a whole assignment  . During peak vacation time (usually summer months), many offices are shorthanded due to carriers being on vacation, so CCAs possibly start their workday the same time as other regular carriers. There are some assignments (like a parcel post or collection route) which usually start a bit later in the AM. In our office that is a 10AM-6:30PM assignment. Thanks for writing and good luck. 

I bought some things on eBay Then later, I noticed that I made a small mistake on my shipping address. The zip codes, state, and city are all correct, but i misspelled my street address by a letter off. Will my deliveries still be able to reach me?

Asked by Luan over 12 years ago

In most cases, if the error is that minor and the misspelled street doesnt match another street in the same ZIP , the delivery should still reach you. Misspellings occur all the time with mailed items and letters.