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'm about to retire after 20 years in the military. How does working for USPS work as far as retiring again?

Asked by Jamie about 8 years ago

I can't give you any definitive advice for how retirement works after you've retired from the military and then work for USPS. Our retirement benefits are mainly determined by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). My recommendation is to go to to www.opm.gov and look under the "retirememt" tab and then there is a section for "Military Retired Pay" which should give you some helpful information. Congratulations on the upcoming retirement from the US military.

Is it true it's legal for the mail truck to run a red light

Asked by Henry over 8 years ago

I have never heard that before and I'd say it's not legal for a USPS vehicle to run a red light. We are supposed to follow the traffic laws like any other vehicle. I'm sometimes disgusted the way I see some of my coworkers operate the USPS vehicles. I feel we should be professional representatives of the USPS, but I see some people don't care and drive like jerks in the USPS vehicle as they do in their privately owned vehicles.

I see that I was saying wife, I mean girlfriend. Thats what he told me, so ok from what ive told you so far what is your opinion? Not just as a mailman but as a man. Hes also 10 yrs younger than me I'm 33 hes 43? Yes if you cant tell I like him! LOL

Asked by Jessica over 7 years ago

It seems I’m now a personal advice column. It doesn’t bother me but if you knew me, I’m probably the last person to ask about relationship advice. I’m not sure what advice to give that you don’t already know. I believe you have his text number or other way of messaging him. If you read this question I can’t tell who is older. That shouldn’t matter. Basically if you like him and he says he likes you and you’re not too worried about his girlfriend, (not that you need be) then it’s worth pursuing him for a date perhaps. It’s possible though that the relationship could get complicated if he stays with his girlfriend but has a relationship with you at the same time. I think as long as you acknowledge the pitfalls of this and could deal with potential conflict or disappointment (not that I wish that upon you), then go for it.

Hi. I have a question regarding delivery of important documents, like Green Card. I've heard that you guys don't deliver them to PO Boxes. But i need to provide an address before i'll go to US. What are my options? A mail forwarding company will do?

Asked by Sergiu about 8 years ago

I don't know what can and can't be delivered to PO Boxes. The mailer decides that and I'm guessing when it comes to immigration or citizenship papers there may need to be a physical address to receive the mail in the US but I truly don't know. I don't know much about mail forwarding companies either. There are businesses called CMRAs which stands for "commercial mail receiving agency" (an example is the The UPS Store) which have private mailboxes for rent. I don't know, however, if that is a sufficient alternate to a PO Box for important documents delivery. The address for a CMRA usually reads, for example, "Name of recipient, street address, PMB xxx, city, state, ZIP". PMB stands for Private Mailbox. I don't know if the department that handles immigration and Green Cards can provide further information.

A letter carrier uses my office restroom daily, slamming the seat, making a mess, and leaving it odorous in a poorly vented building. Lots of public restrooms in the area..can I ask him to stop? I pay rent and see counseling clients all day

Asked by Grossed Out almost 8 years ago

It does sound pretty bad that the office restroom smells from this letter carrier. Could you put a can of air freshener in there to be used? If it was just an odor, I may actually defend what the carrier is doing because it’s a bodily function that we all do. I think that the fact that he is inconsiderate and makes a mess, it’s understandable that you don’t want him to use the restroom. You are certainly alllowed to request that he not use the restroom but it may be a bit of an awkward situation. We have no right to use any private bathrooms even though most offices do extend us the courtesy.

If you have a letter to delver marked Restricted Delivery, and on your first attempt didn't find anyone at home, and on your second attempt did but it wasnt the addressee, would you consider marking the mail piece as 'delivered' and 'no signature'?

Asked by KDS4444 over 7 years ago

Definitely not, KDS4444. Restricted Delivery service is very specific that the signator be the addressee and nobody else. We may not release the letter unless we have positively identified that the named addressee is the person signing for the letter. This is the service that the mailer has specifically requested. In my entire career, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve had a restricted delivery item to attempt. I don’t know if it’s more common for you. I recommend not fabricating anything when attempting to deliver a Restricted Delivery item. I’d leave a PS3849 if the named addressee isn’t available to sign for the item. Thank you for your question.

Do u have an LLV or something else

Asked by dave about 8 years ago

I use an LLV built by the Grumman corporation in the mid 1990s. Our office mostly has LLVs but more recently some carriers use a Dodge ProMaster which has a lot more capacity but isn't appropriate for curbside (mounted) delivery or dismount deliveries because it's a left hand drive vehicle (what most vehicles in the US are). We also have 2-ton USPS vehicles which are used by our mail collectors and parcel post drivers. I am only trained to drive an LLV of the 3 vehicles I mentioned. I feel most comfortable because it's also the smallest and most maneuverable. The main drawback is that in snowy or icy conditions it's very hard to control the vehicle safely.