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.
If the flyers are unaddressed which would usually be the case when there are leftovers, I bring them back to the post office where they are usually discarded in a recycle bin. It's not too often that I have leftover flyers because they are usually distributed to the letter carriers in the correct quantity needed to cover the entire route (give or take a few). Another reason why we usually don't have leftovers is because we are supposed to count out the number of flyers needed for each section (loop or relay) resulting in a low amt of overage. I do see many flyers put in the recycle bin at the end of the day leading me to believe that some flyers aren't delivered or there is an error in the counts for some routes. A lot of flyers are probably of little interest to the recipients, but that isn't my concern. I am loyal to the mailers who are paying the USPS to provide delivery services for their advertising.
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No, a lettter carrier isn't supposed to accept any gift of substantial value from someone on his route. It doesn't mean that it isn't done, just that it's not supposed to be done. I don't know of anybody losing a job due to this but they aren't supposed to appear to be accepting gifts from customers.
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Not to my knowledge unless the USPS closes their local office or district. In all of my years working on Long Island, maybe 1 or 2 occasions have we been unable to deliver the mail, but I don't remember if we were expected to report to work or not. It's possible though that I may not have the correct information and that a local state of emegergency would excuse a letter carrier from reporting to work.
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Usually mail won't be forwarded unless there is a forwarding order on file by the former residents. You can try putting the new address on the mail and putting it out for the letter carrier but I don't know that it will get to the new address. Another option is to mark the mail "no longer at this address" and put it out for the letter carrier to take. Thank you for your email question..
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I can't tell you for sure that he is doing something wrong but from what you say it seems like it. In our office we have 30 min for lunch plus a 10-minute break while we are on our routes. Also, we are allowed whatever is necessary to use a restroom. maybe the size of his route is small that he doesn't need a full day to deliver it all. If that is the case, many supervisors might pick up on that and try to give that carrier more work. If you were to call someone, i would first recommend calling a delivery supervisor or postmaster depending how large your PO is. To be honest, they may just thank you for calling and do nothing, or they may approach the carrier and tell them to not park that long in one place at 3:30 PM. I rarely hear complaints about this but if someone is being so wasteful of the USPS $, I don't see any issue with bringing it to the PO attention.
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As far as what far as what job would be a good alternate to a city letter carrier based on your medical condition, I think that working inside as possibly a retail sales and service associate would be good. The problem is that I don't believe they are hiring many workers for these positions when compared to letter carrier hiring. There are also custodial positions available in some offices, but that job requires much physical labor as well. I am sorry that I don't have any great advice for you as city letter carrier is the job most in demand. You could see if there are rural carrier associate positions available in your office or adjacent offices. Those positions don't require any walking except delivering parcels to doors sometimes, but much less than a traditional park and loop walking city route.
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I can't say whether or not it is illegal to write "not at this address" even if you are actually living at that address. The only problem may come is if a letter carrier sees that you are regularly writing that on then mail, they may see that as you not wanting any mail with your name. That scenario isn't likely but just wanted to make you aware of that possibility. I would just ignore any piece of mail i dont want. There is no proof you ever got that mail unless you signed for it.
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