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.
Yes, certified mail is attempted on Saturday to be delivered. A person must be present to sign for Certified Mail items unless prior written authorization has been given to the Post Office by the intended recipient. Certified Mail is considered accountable mail meaning the letter carriers have to sign that they received the certified mail and then at the end of our shift we must return the attempted certified mail (if nobody was available to accept it at the delivery point) or return proof of delivery (now done electronically) to the registry clerk at the Post Office.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Are%20certified%20letters%20delivered%20on%20Saturdays%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15795)
I don't know of any rules of what the recipient of errantly delivered mail is required to do. Ethically it would be correct to put it in the outgoing mail to be (hopefully) delivered correctly the next time. Since it seems you probably don't speak with your neighbor, my suggestion would be to call the delivery supervisor at your PO and explain the problem. I don't know that there is much that can be done about except for an alert to be given to your letter carrier to be more careful with mail for your address. We shouldn't be misdelivering mail with any great frequency, but I know it is a problem in some areas or with some personnel.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=We%20have%20a%20neighbor%20who%20we%20don%27t%20get%20along%20with.they%20have%20recieved%20some%20of%20our%20mail%20and%20instead%20of%20returning%20it%20to%20USPS%20to%20send%20back%20they%20held%20onto%20it%20for%201%20mo.%20%26placed%20it%20on%20our%20recycletrash%20bin%20with%20a%20rock%20on%20top.%20Is%20there%20any%20rule%20they%20can%20do%20that%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15399)
It is very common for mail to arrive at our carrier facility but it should have been sent to the one where the mail is addressed to. If that happens, the clerks in our office will put all of that mail (and packages) into a piece of postal equipment labeled "misspent mail" or "loop mail" and be sent back to the processing plant. Usually it will then be sent to the correct facility the following day.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=If%20something%20is%20sent%20to%20the%20wrong%20carrier%20facility%2C%20how%20is%20it%20solved%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/13646)
I agree that using postal delivery vehicles to deliver the mail curbside would be more efficient than door to door delivery by a walking letter carrier. There would be more gasoline consumed by these engines running for many hours per day but you would still probably save money versus the costs of a carrier walking door to door and not being able to deliver in the same number of houses in the same amount of time. I deliver mostly by walking from house to house and some neighborhoods in the town where I work have curbside delivery. Those routes do have more delivery points than the one I deliver. The two factors that I can think of for not transitioning everyone to curbside are as follows: 1) I've never heard of the USPS forcing anyone to move a mailbox from their house to the curbside. Who would incur that cost? There would probably be a lot of pushback from customers who have delivery to their front door. 2) Many neighborhoods don't have the streetscape to handle mounted (curbside) deliveries. If the houses are too close together you will have many cars parked on the street which make it difficult for the letter carrier to access the mailbox from the mail truck. In these cases, the letter carrier must perform a time-consuming dismount procedure if they want to deliver the mail to the house with a mailbox they can't access directly from the mail truck. It works fine in most suburban and rural areas but in a tighter density environment , the economics of it may not work. I, for one, love to walk from house to house and get exercise while delivering the mail, but understand your question about how curbside delivery could be more efficient. Thank you for the observant question.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Hi...I%20live%20in%20a%20town%20in%20Illinois%2C%20where%20the%20mailman%20walks%20from%20house%20to%20house.%20Towns%20around%20me%20use%20mailtrucks%2C%20which%20has%20to%20be%20more%20efficient.%20%20%0A%0AConsidering%20that%20the%20usps%20is%20looking%20to%20cut%20costs%2C%20why%20would%20they%20not%20transition%20everyone%20to%20curbside%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/15643)
Professor
Are professors really subject to the "Publish or Perish" policy?
Toymaker
With all the high-tech kids toys, is there still a demand for traditional ones?
Day Trader
What can a good day trader earn in a year?
Cindy, I dont know how to help you in this situation as I am not even sure what you are asking. Good luck on both interviews. I do realize you want one of these positions much greater than the other. Unless you get offered the job for the first interview on the spot, I highly recommend attending all interviews that come your way. The reason is that you may get an offer from a later interview than at your preferred location. This is likely better than having no employment.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%20have%20an%20inteview%20tommrow%20i%20applied%20for%202%20seasonal%20positions%202%20diff%20counties.%20%20Today%20i%20recieved%20another%20invite%20to%20an%20interview%20on%20the%2023rd%2C%20this%20same%20position%20already%20sent%20me%20drug%2Fbackgrnd%20test%20info%20through%20email%20with%20no%20interview.&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/13096)
When a house is for sale, I will continue to deliver mail there unless the current owner/occupant has moved out and I don't see a new name on incoming mail. In this case, I mark any incoming "resident" mail as "vacant" and either discard it or return it to the sender depending on the class of mail. Once I see a new name on incoming mail, I commence delivery to that house. I don't know if this is the correct procedure, but it seems to work out fine. Thanks for writing.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=If%20you%20go%20to%20deliver%20mail%20but%20see%20there%20is%20a%20For%20Sale%20sign%20out%20by%20the%20mailbox%20will%20you%20keep%20the%20mail%20or%20still%20deliver%20it%20to%20the%20mailbox%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/14448)
I don't know if this would work and I generally don't like customers doing this but you could possibly find your letter carrier on their route earlier in the day and ask for it. Please understand that your mail could be somewhere not easily accessible in the delivery vehicle and the letter carrier may not want to make the effort to get it out for you. I rarely have anybody ask me for their mail early so I can't tell you how I would handle it. Is your mail that important that you can't wait until you return from holiday travel to retrieve it? Many people go days without taking in their mail from the mailbox. My recommendation would be to not ask for your mail early but it wouldn't hurt to try if it is that important to you. Happy Thanksgiving and travel safely.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Hi.%20I%20was%20wondering%20about%20if%20there%20is%20a%20way%20to%20get%20my%20mail%20early.%20I%20need%20to%20leave%20for%20holiday%20travel%20tomorrow%20and%20my%20mailman%20doesn%27t%20come%20till%20almost%205%20pm.%20Do%20you%20have%20any%20suggestions%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/13957)
-OR-
Login with Facebook (max 20 characters - letters, numbers, and underscores only. Note that your username is private, and you have the option to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
(A valid e-mail address is required. Your e-mail will not be shared with anyone.)
(min 5 characters)
By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to Jobstr.com’s Terms and Privacy Policy.
-OR-
Register with Facebook(Don't worry: you'll be able to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
Browse Jobs
Host a Q&A
Search
Submit Your Question
Host a Q&A
Last 7
