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.
LA, it is awful that mail is being stolen. I don't know what good it will do, but I would recommend reporting that to your local post office or the Postal Inspectors. To answer your question, I don't know that a mailman would get involved with being responsible for a key to a private mailbox. If everyone on their route did that, how would they keep track of all of those keys? Furthermore, if that mailman was off/sick/vacation, how could you be sure that the replacement mailman would get the key? I just don't think it will be feasible or practical or possibly even allowed. Another option (though less convenient) would be to rent a PO Box which would definitely be secure.
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I'm not sure what you mean by close a mailbox, whether if the door/lid is ajar or you mean permanently close it and return mail to the sender. I do know if a mailbox is full and the mail isn't claimed after awhile (not sure of the time frame), the letter carrier does have the option to return "overflow" mail to the senders with the endorsement on it saying "box full". Another option is that the mail can be put into a "hold" area in the post office with a note on top saying "box full" and waiting to see if the mailbox is emptied and then would deliver the mail being held at the post office. I don't know if one procedure is correct and the other isn't. I haven't experienced it much (if at all) during my career.
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You're welcome and thank you for the compliment. Good luck to you in the interview this week for CCA. The rural carrier position is a completely separate pay scale and pay method vs. city carriers. They are also represented by a different union. I honestly don't know the procedure or opportunities for transfering between a city carrier and rural carrier. City carriers are paid by time at an hourly wage. Rural Carriers are given a route, or part of a route, to complete and paid a set wage on the volume of mail for a particular assignment. I think the dollar amt. is adjusted yearly during a "mail count" period for rural carriers. The sooner a rural carrier finishes their daily assignment, the sooner they can go home and still be paid a set amt. for the day. In the office that my brother works in, I think that most of the rural carriers are done before noon and start their day apprx. 7:00 AM. It is a pretty good deal for them. Some of them are required to work 6 days/week as part of their regular assignment. The office I work in has both city carriers and rural carriers though I've not ever seen one transfer between crafts. It doesn't mean it can't be done. I'm sorry that I'm just not familiar with how it's done and if it would mean a re-starting over in your craft seniority for bidding purposes.
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it depends on the community you live in. The blue collection boxes that you may see in your town are probably picked up 1-2 times per day. There is a sticker inside the box that has the collection times. At the actual post office, mail is often sent out more than once a day, but it really depends on the size and location of the post office. At the actual Post Office, there is usually a sign by the mail drop slot that tells the collection times or at least will tell you when the daily deadline is to have mail processed for that day.
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Without the proper postage (or any postage at all), one of 3 things might happen with the item you mailed: 1) it will be delivered as if it had postage 2) it will be delivered, but the recipient will be asked to pay the postage (currently .49 for a first-class 1 oz. letter), or 3) the letter will be "returned for postage" to you if you put your return address on it. Where you are mailing the item from/to shouldn't matter if it was mailed in the US.
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I believe the service standard for a letter from Burbank to LA is 1 day. It is not a guarantee but most letters probably meet that standard.
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Netta, this q and A website deals more with questions about a job or career with the USPS as a mailman. I don't have specifics about customer service issues or delivery times. In most places, I'd guess that mail is delivered between 0930 and 1630 barring any staffing or weather issues.
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