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.
I’m not sure what the hardest part of the job js. Most challenges are surmountable. I like most aspects of being a letter carrier. I would say working in the snow or dark is the most difficult part to do. If one has the proper cold weather gear and lighting for working in the dark, these challenges are much more manageable. Most of the time I’m able to work during daylight hours but in the fall/winter the sun may set at 1700 which could easily result in us working in the dark. Our vehicles perform quite poorly in the snow so it is sometimes hard to safely drive them. Dealing with a difficult supervisor or manager is sometimes hard as well. They are known to be unreasonable at times in their requests for being on time. That ebbs and flows. Sometimes there are weeks of “civility” followed by several days of nastiness and what feels like disparate treatment. Most of the time I let in roll of my back and don’t escalate a situation. In general, I am very organized so delivering mail is quite an easy job and goes somewhat smoothly on a daily basis.
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I don’t know how lost hours affects any retirement issues, except if you have too much LWOP, then you may not be eligible for retirement as soon as you think, or it may affect annual leave accumulation. Forwarding orders expire in 18 months. For the first 12 months, most forwardable mail goes to the recipient’s new address. After 12 months until 18 months, the mail would be returned to the sender advising them of the recipients new address. I don’t know about limits on temp forwards and how often they can be restarted. It wouldn’t be uncommon for someone who is a snowbird to have mail forwarded for more than 6 months when they are at their second home.
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Mike, I’m not saying it hasn’t happened, but I’ve never heard of a USPS vehicle being pulled over by a police officer for missing a license plate. Each vehicle has an ID number and I think that suffices as a license plate. I imagine if I rcvd a ticket for that I would give it to my supervisor and let them deal with it. That being said, I wouldn’t mind if we got held to the same driving standards as everyone else and were pulled over for moving violations. I don’t even hear of that happening too often. I drive the USPS just as I do with my own vehicle. That means obeying all traffic rules, driving defensively, and courteously. Fortunately, I’ve never been involved in an MVA while at work, but it doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Nobody is above the law or above making an error.
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Any forwardable mail should be submitted through the folding system until 18 months from the original date of the forwarding order.I don’t think it’s the end of the world that you have sent it back UTS after 12 months but that is still not the correct procedure. By that time most people have updated their address with any important organization they interact with. I know this is a subject that our management never even talks about. In fact they talk about very little that actually pertains to mail delivery and quality of work. They just want us to show up and don’t get hurt. Thanks for writing in with your question.
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Irrelevant question to this subject of this feed of being a city letter carrier.
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Any forwardable mail should be submitted through the folding system until 18 months from the original date of the forwarding order.I don’t think it’s the end of the world that you have sent it back UTF after 12 months but that is still not the correct procedure. By that time most people have updated their address with any important organization they interact with. I know this is a subject that our management never even talks about. In fact they talk about very little that actually pertains to mail delivery and quality of work. They just want us to show up and don’t get hurt. Thanks for your question and comment.
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It should be fine. The ZIP code is the most important part of the the bottom line of the address. Once a letter reaches the office of destination, a clerk in the office should be able to direct the letter to the proper route to be delivered by a letter carrier. If there ever was an issue, the letter would be returned to the sender as long as they have provided a valid return address.
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