Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

Why is there sometimes someone else in the car when they are delivering mail?

Asked by Jane over 5 years ago

It’s either a supervisor doing a periodic check of the route and the carrier delivering it or there may be a trainee being shown how to do the job.

223 Votes

What’s your opinion on the post master general

Asked by Billy almost 5 years ago

I feel that Louis DeJoy, our newer Postmaster General is a political hack who was appointed due to his loyalty and fundraising support of President Trump. Most of our recent previous PMGs have been USPS employees, but that isn’t necessary to be able to do the job successfully. There is no doubt that our organization isn’t modern and doesn’t run that efficiently. Some changes are necessary, but the changes proposed not long before an election where a large amt of ballots will be submitted via mail bodes of a deliberate attempt to sow doubt in the USPS ability to handle the mailed ballots. Fortunately, there was a lot of pushback from the public and some courts about these changes. I don’t feel I was ever affected by them at my facility. After the 2020 election, DeJoy said he will again propose some major changes. If Trump loses the election, I’m not sure that DeJoy will even stay on the job. I don’t believe he can be fired so easily, but maybe he doesn’t even really want this job long term.

221 Votes

Is it ture that your in line to be the president. Wayyyy down the line and unlikely but are you?

Asked by Coool dudeeeee over 5 years ago

Lol. Not me. The Postmaster General of the United States used to be in the line of succession for the Presidency. I believe that to no longer be the case since 1970 when the position was removed from the Cabinet of the President. That is around the same time that the USPS was created. Prior to that, the organization was the US Post Office Department which was an executive branch agency. When I looked on Wikipedia for Presidential Line of Succession, the Postmaster General was nowhere to be found on the list.

221 Votes

Should someone have a degree to do this job?

Asked by Bobby about 5 years ago

It is definitely not a requirement whatsoever to have any higher education for this job. No college degree is needed and won’t likely help or hinder your chances of being hired. I have a Bachelors degree (4-year) from s public university in NY. Most of my work colleagues don’t need have college degrees. The job as a letter carrier can be taught in a very short amount of time. You must be in reasonably good physical health and having good organizational skills and being a safe worker are important. I think having a degree helps me understand more about the USPS in general. I am curious by nature so I like to learn more than just how to do the job. Many of my coworkers aren’t that well educated and tend to believe things too easily they may hear through the rumor mill and spread it as fact. I really don’t like misinformation.

221 Votes

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StephenHello sir what do you think about mail in voting

Asked by Stephen about 5 years ago

That is a very timely question. I have a lot of faith in the Postal Service able to handle the volume of absentee ballot applications as well as completed ballots. Due to the coronavirus pandemic I believe it is much safer for people who prefer to vote by mail be given an equal opportunity as those who want to physically go to a polling site. In June, 2020, the area where I work had 2 elections. One was a Democratic Party primary. The other was a school budget vote. Both seemed to go smoothly with respect to sending out and retrieving and processing election mail. Several states have been conducting VBM elections for years and I don’t believe there are any major issues that have arisen with respect to voter fraud or ballots being counted.

220 Votes

Is there ever people who are unhappy with you and why? Anyone ever yell at you about the time you show up or anything really that is something you can’t control and/or something that is just plain stupid

Asked by Caleb about 5 years ago

On the postal route, not particularly. I’m pretty easy going. I don’t really care when people just talk to you because you aren’t just a body. I mean they aren’t conversant and just want to talk about their accomplishments around the house, etc. Truthfully, it’s a waste of my time so I can tolerate it in small doses. If they get too long winded, I walk away and don’t give an excuse. I realize that wasn’t your question Rarely do I ever get complaints about my delivery or the time I arrive. The latter is out of my control. Mail is quite unimportant these days so many people don’t care when, or even, if they get a delivery. I can’t think of any stupid complaints. Every now and then there is a complaint or comment about mail being wet due to sweat on my arm. I don’t find that an unreasonable complaint, so for that customer, I try to keep her mail dry.

220 Votes

Does my mailman know where
I'M moving....many nosey
neighbors!!!! thank you

Asked by PERSNICKEDY about 5 years ago

Your letter carrier doesn’t generally have access to your new address if you have filled out a forwarding order (change of address request) via www.usps.com. If you were to manually fill out a paper COA request, it’s possible the letter carrier may get a copy of it. I sometimes get a list of the current forwarding orders on file for my route. The list does have the new address for anybody who moved in the last year and submitted a forwarding order. That information is confidential and should never be released to anybody except via official summons or other legal matter. I would be confident that your letter carrier would keep that information private. Most of the time they don’t even have access to that information.

217 Votes