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

If I sent a letter to the wrong address, or address that doesn't exist, how long would it take, approximately, for me to receive it back?

Asked by BP about 12 years ago

I would guess about 2 weeks if you were to get it back at all. Theoretically if you sent it to the wrong address and it was delivered there, it is conceivable that the recipient may not return the letter to the mail carrier even though they should.  If you sent the letter to an address that doesn't exist, the item should be returned with the endorsement "No Such Street" or "No Such Number". I am just not sure of the actual time frame it would take for it to get back to you. It may depend on the workload of the nixie (not deliverable mail) at the destination PO. Thanks for your inquiry. 

902 Votes

Nowadays students are depending <a href="http://essayacademia.com/perfect-term-papers.php">term paper writing service</a> for their tasks. Can we trust them?

Asked by jennifervasquez577 about 12 years ago

I probably should have just deleted this question for being non-pertinent to the job of a mailman but I prefer not to delete any questions posted here. My request would be for people not to post a question here that is not germane to the profession of Mailman. Thank you.

902 Votes

i mailed a letter on tuesday morning in the box in front of my apartment complex (i live in lancaster pa) 2 head to south carolina. it is now saturday night and she has no received the letter. i am wondering if this is rare or if something is wrong?

Asked by kyle almost 12 years ago

Kyle, I think the normal amount of time for a First-class letter to get from Lancaster, PA to Charleston, SC, would be 2 days. From what you wrote it has already been 4 delivery days and the letter hasn't arrived. I don't know that it's rare, but it exceeds our service goal as far as I know. Are you sure you addressed the letter correctly and completely? Letters still get lost in the mail, missorted, misdelivered, destroyed by our automated sorting machines, etc. but that is all a very low percentage of the amt of mail processed.

902 Votes

Got hired and going to be the only CCA in our small office. What are your suggestions on me becoming a career carrier down the road? Our office does not offer it because it s small.

Asked by JDK over 12 years ago

Congratulations on getting hired as a CCA. I understand what you are saying that your small office won't have any openings for a career position anytime soon. I don't know if there are offices in the nearby area where you could inquire as to whether they would have any older carriers retiring soon which would create more internal movement. I'm sorry but I have no knowledge about the process for converting from CCA to regular carrier, except a lot of patience. I wish you well in your new position.

902 Votes

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I live in CA 94401 area in a condo complex. I was told by my new mail woman that she does not deliver my international express package to my door. And I have to go down to the gate to sign the delivery notice and pick the package up outside my gate

Asked by SB about 12 years ago

SB, I don't know about the procedure in a condo complex as to how to deliver an international express package has to be delivered. Anything that needs a signature and would require to me ring a bell in a gated community would result in me going to their door and wouldn't be picky about whether I go to their door (once allowed through the gate) or they come to the gate. I have never worked in an environment like that. If I do deliver to cluster boxes and an item needs a signature I'd knock on the door of the addressee's unit to get the signature. Again, I don't know of any specific regulations on how the delivery should be attempted, but I tend to side on the addressee getting the best service possible (within reason, which is certainly open to interpretation). Thanks for writing.

901 Votes

Can u become a mailman right out of highschool, are arm tattoos unwanted and if you can join right out of high school what is the likely chance you get hired if u do well on the tests. (Heard someone must retire so u can recieve job if no vacancies)

Asked by Pablo almost 12 years ago

Pablo, you can definitely have tattoos (visible or not) to be a letter carrier. Co-workers have had them since I have started working at the USPS 15 years ago. You can be hired with only a HS diploma if you do well on the test. It isn't true that you have to wait until someone retires before being hired. To become a full time employee this may be true but new hires are CCA which is City Carrier Assistant which is position requiring your flexibility in work hours and no guarantee of more than a few hours per week. I don't know the exact number of hours and the CCAs where I work have plenty of hours to work, including some Sundays delivering parcels.

901 Votes

I live in a complex building made up of many apartments is the mailman supposed to return mail that I put back in the mailbox

Asked by Marshall almost 12 years ago

Marhsall, thanks for writing to this Q and A message board. In an apt. building, it is possible the mailman doesn't see the mail left in the mailbox to return because they may assume it is just tenant mail from a previous day not yet picked up by the resident. If you are putting back in the mailbox to be returned to sender, it should be marked accordingly (like "refused" or "person doesn't live here"). Is it possible for you to leave it outside the cluster of mailboxes to be returned? This way they will see it as a piece of mail that was incorrectly delivered or being refused. It is common for residents not to collect their mail each day which is why a mailman my not look at any mail that is remaining in a mailbox when they come to deliver a subsuquent days mail.

901 Votes

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