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

Hi. As a flight attendant I travel a lot for work & I put my mail on hold while I'm gone (5-6 days at a time,3 times a mnth). I know there are no limits to how many times you can put your mail on hold, but is this ok? Don't know what else to do. Thnx

Asked by jx almost 12 years ago

JX, what an exciting career you have. I happen to have a lovely girlfriend who is also an FA, so I can relate to you being gone for several days at a time. It is fine to put your mail on hold as frequently as you do. You probably have read online or on the card you fill out (if you request your mail to be held on a paper "Authorization to Hold Mail" Card) that there is a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 30 days to hold your mail per request. From what you've described you are following those parameters. The only other suggestion would be to rent a PO Box if you don't want to keep putting the mail on hold. It does cost money to rent a PO Box, but there is a high level of convenience knowing that your mail is secure no matter how long you are away and you don't have to fill out a hold mail request each time you travel. Furthermore, many PO have extended hours as to when the lobby is accessible for PO Box Customers can retrieve their mail. Thank you for writing and safe travels!

Hi good day, I had bought an item on eBay however it was delivered to the wrong zip code. Made a report at usps, will I actually get the package or I will have to deem it as lost?

Asked by Jessey almost 12 years ago

You may want to give it some time if it is a recent occurrence. If the sender put the correct ZIP code on the package, but the USPS delivered it incorrectly, it may wind up being delivered to you. If there was an incorrecr ZIP code on the package and the USPS can't find the proper address, the package could be returned to the sender. It is hard to say what will actually happen to your package that was ordered or what the USPS response will be, if any. 

I have recently mailed a letter through one of the blue mailbox near my neighborhood.Its been 4 days now and i went to check online to a website called MailboxMap.com near my location.To my suprize, I did not see the bluemailbox i mailed to on theMap

Asked by Victor almost 12 years ago

I don't know the accuracy of the website mailbox.com. I don't believe it is sanctioned by the USPS. Either way, if you dropped a letter in an official USPS collection box, you can rest assured the mail would be picked up and sent on its way. Where was the letter going to? It can sometimes take up to a week for a letter to reach its destination but 1-3 days is the norm if properly addressed and had sufficient postage. I recommend a bit more time and hopefully the letter will reach its destination. 

How much snow is too much in front of the mailbox? I live on a busy street and don't want to get hit by a car shoveling 6" of hard snow. I haven't received mail in two weeks! Is my mail carrier just too lazy to get out of the truck? What should I do?

Asked by Aly over 11 years ago

Aly, I don't have a definite answer for you. If the letter carrier can't approach your mailbox without having to get out of their vehicle I don't believe they are obligated to get out of their truck to deliver the mail. You may look at it as being lazy, but picture that scenario several hundred times in a day if each of their delivery mailboxes were in the same situation. This would take a much longer time for the carrier to complete their route. While your mail isn't being delivered I wonder if the letter carrier is taking the accumulated mail each day just if case your mailbox is approachable. If not, it is likely being held at your local post office. While I can appreciate the safety concern about you not wanting to risk getting hit by a vehicle I'm not sure what the solution is. I'm not sure if the delivery vehicles in your town are the same LLVs (long life vehicle) that I use for mail delivery, but if they are I can tell you that are very poor handling any snow or icy conditions. It's possible your letter carrier doesn't want to risk getting their delivery vehicle stuck in the snow, especially on a busy road. Winter can be a very frustrating time to be a letter carrier given some of the poor equipment we are given relative to the road conditions.

If the mail already came, and USPS tracking say's my package will be delivered today, will another Mailman be coming to drop off my package or no?

Asked by johnny almost 12 years ago

I don't know the answer to that question. I didn't know that the USPS tracking says that a package is going to be delivered today. I have actually heard that when a package gets to the destination Post Office and is scanned "arrived at unit", maybe it's soon thereafter that it also says "out for delivery". It's possible that another letter carrier may deliver the package as part of a parcel post route or somebody just delivering a few packages. It depends how large the office is and their staffing levels if you will get that second delivery. Hearing that you are saying the tracking says your package will be delivered today I hope it was.

I'm moving to a new city, to a new home which has a mailbox. Ive previously always had a PO BOX. My question is, Do i need to contact the post office that ill be moving in and getting mail there, or just have my mail transferred and it should arrive

Asked by Matthew almost 12 years ago

Matthew, the mail being transfered from your old PO Box to your new address should just be delivered when it arrives with your new address on the envelope. It wouldn't hurt to contact the new PO to where you are moving, but isn't necessary. Whenever I see a new name at an address that I'm not familiar with, I will almost always just deliver it and if it happens to be in error, the current resident will often leave that mail out for me with a note saying "person doesn't live here". In your case it sounds like you are moving into a place that is going to be vacated by someone else. When that happens, I'm usually expecting a new name at that address so I will just deliver the mail with the new names without any advance notification of the new resident. I hope this helps. Good luck in your new home.

What's the best shoes you say would be best for a CC also I wear size 15

Asked by Mr. OKC almost 11 years ago

Getting that large size shoe may require a custom order. I was just at the website for US Uniform Company. One of the items I looked up only went as high as size 14. I only looked at one type of shoe. I buy Rocky or New Balance Black leather low top athletic shoes for walking. They will have the mandated SR/USA tag if purchased through an authorized uniform vendor. I can't say any one shoe is better than the other since I don't recall every being uncomfortable in any of them. I don't remember the brand but some definitely wore out faster than others resulting in an expensive (usually more than $100/pair) replacement order. I probably go through at least 2 pair of shoes per year and walk about 5 miles per day on my route, 351 residential deliveries to their door.