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.
My brother works at a PO and I believe he uses the many alarm clocks method (including one across the room). There are apps that will give you a wake up call. I just set one alarm and Try to get 8 hrs. Sleep so getting up and to work on time isn't too hard for me. Promptness and attendance is an important part of staying employed.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=How%20do%20you%20make%20sure%20you%20get%20up%20in%20the%20morning%3F%20Do%20you%20have%20a%20lot%20of%20alarm%20clocks%20going%20off%20at%20different%20times%3F%20Do%20you%20have%20someone%20give%20you%20a%20wakeup%20call%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/8763)
I don't know the answer for sure about this. It may depend on the actual carrier who comes to empty out the blue collection box as I am not sure of the rules that cover this. I know if I were the carrier who was emptying out the box and you could prove who you were and it matched a return address, I would likely return it to you. If there was no return address but you could still somehow prove it belonged to you, I also would likely give it back. But just to reiterate, I don't know the rules that cover this and it may also be up to the direction of the letter carrier.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=If%20I%20dropped%20some%20mail%20that%20I%20was%20going%20to%20hand%20deliver%20in%20the%20post%20office%20box%20by%20mistake%2C%20can%20I%20get%20it%20from%20them%20if%20I%20wait%20for%20them%20by%20the%20box%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/11862)
I am sorry that the letter never made it to you. the letter must have been mailed with some type of tracking on it for your friend to know it reached your area. I don't know how you would go about getting it. Does the tracking # say it was delivered anywhere? Possibly it was mis-delivered. Did the item need a signature for delivery?
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=he%20also%20tracked%20down%20the%20letter%20and%20it%20showed%20it%20arrived%20in%20my%20area%20but%20never%20stated%20that%20it%20reached%20my%20house.%20This%20letter%20contained%20something%20very%20important%2C%20what%20can%20I%20do%20to%20get%20it%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/9441)
I have no idea why that happened. I assume you mailed the envelope to their old address because you wanted their new address. You probably also assumed that the USPS would return the envelope to you with the new address of the person who just moved instead of forarding the letter because you endorsed the letter "return service requested". I'm sorry I have no further information and I don't know that your local PO would know a lot about this either. As a letter carrier we are taught close to nothing about what that endorsment means, except that it can be processed through the CFS (Comuterized Forwarding System) which handles forwardable/returnable mail. Normally, Standard Class mail without an endorsment can be discarded if the addressee has moved. If the class of mail has the enodrsment, then the CFS processes the said item, though I don't really know what happens to it exactly.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Someone%20I%20know%20moved.%20I%20wanted%20their%20new%20address%20without%20them%20knowing.%20I%20addressed%20an%20envelope%20with%20their%20old%20address%20and%20put%20%27return%20service%20requested%27%20above%20it.%20The%20person%20told%20me%20today%20that%20they%27re%20received%20the%20envelope.%20Why%20did%20this%20happen%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/10266)
Border Patrol Agent
What's the most creative way you saw cartels getting drugs across the border?
Nurse Practitioner
As gender roles continue to evolve, are you seeing a rise in the % of male nurses?
Special Education Teacher
How come it often takes years to figure out that a kid is dyslexic?
For the first 1-2 of hours each morning, letter carriers are busy sorting mail in delivery order so that when we go on our routes, the mail is organized. Each route has a pre-determined order of delivery and we have carrier cases (think of a desk with vertical dividers fof each address or building). After we are done sorting the mail we take it out of the carrier cases and put in trays or rubber band it so it stays organized. Before we actually put the mail in a customer's mailbox, we should be going through the mail we sorted to verify that it is the right mail going to the right house. The vast majority of the mail that we deliver is already sorted by a machine at a regional mail processing plant. The mail arrives at our local post office in delivery order (I'd say a fairly high level of accuracy) and as we go deliver the mail we merge that mail together with the mail we have sorted manually at the post office. The amount of mail we manually sort is so much lower than it used to be either because of automation or a decline in mail volume. When I started working for the USPS only letter size mailing was able to be put in order. Now we have machines that can sort flats (magazines, catalogs) in delivery order which is impressive as well.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=How%20do%20you%20organize%20the%20mail%20so%20you%20know%20you%20give%20all%20the%20mail%20to%20the%20right%20house%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/12357)
Alex, you can certainly ask the letter carrier to do whatever you want with your mail. If he/she is following proper protocol, they won't follow your request. We are instructed to deliver all mail to its address because someone has paid us to do so. We will not go through the mail for a certain recipient and then discard some of it. The recipient should be going through the mail themselves and discarding/recycling what they don't want. I do realize there is such a high percentage of mail delivered on a daily basis that a customer doesn't want, but as the letter carrier we shouldn't be getting involved in their mail.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Can%20I%20ask%20a%20mail%20man%20to%20discard%20certain%20mail%20for%20a%20certain%20amount%20of%20days%20when%20he%20delivers%20it%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/13155)
If possible, contact the merchant and see if it's possible to correct the address before the package is shipped out. If it is too late and the package has already entered the mailstream, I would see if you could contact your delivery Post Office and advise them that a package will be coming to an incorrect address and it should be delivered to your correct address. That may resolve any misdeliveries or stop the package from being returned to the sender unnecessarily. I hope this helps you. Thanks for writing!
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=We%20ordered%20a%20package%20on%20ebay%20and%20it%20has%20the%20zip%20code%20correct%20but%20the%20address%20number%20is%20wrong.What%20will%20happen%20and%20what%20to%20do%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/11380)
-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
