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

Are you required to stop at each residential mailbox to check if there is outgoing mail if you have none to deliver that day?

Asked by Chris almost 12 years ago

Chris, that is a very good question. We aren't required to stop at at a residential mailbox if we have no mail to that address and we can't visibly see any outgoing mail or the flag is not up to indicate outgoing mail. In the neighborhood that I deliver mail to most houses get a delivery daily even if it as little as an advertising run that covers the entire route (sometimes known as a 3rd bundle or EDDM).

928 Votes

Can a minor (17) pick up & sign for a package at the post office if it's addressed to them? Or is there a way to get the mailman to just leave the package without a signature? I'm tired of begging my parents to come sign & pick up for me. Thanks!

Asked by Ashley G over 12 years ago

I don't know the legal answer to this question at the post office. I think they may ask for identification but I'm not sure the you are required to be 18 years or older. As a letter carrier, I would deliver a package without a signature if the sender didn't request or pay for a signature and the item can be safely delivered to the addressee, which is simple for the route I deliver to because it it is all single family suburban residences.

927 Votes

I go for a 2 day orientation for a CCA (Mon&Tues). Does carrier acdemy & training begin the same week?

Asked by Jen2be03 about 12 years ago

I deleted your first question because it was similar to this question. I'm sorry Jen, but I don't have any information as to how soon the carrier academy and training begins after the 2-day CCA orientation though I imagine it would be quite soon. I wish you well with your pursuit of this job as a letter carrier. Be safe.

925 Votes

How many times does a post man have to deliver a registerd letter to a person's address before he is to send it bck?

Asked by corinna almost 12 years ago

For a registered letter that needs a signature, the letter is usually brought out one time to try and get somebody to sign for having received it. If no authorized recipient is available, a notice is left (PS Form 3849) advising the addressee that the letter needs to be picked up at the PO, or they may sign the 3849 to authorize redelivery. If the letter isn't picked up in a few days, a reminder 3849 2nd notice is delivered with a date written on it telling the addressee that the item will be returned to the sender if it isn't picked up. The date is usually 15 days from the First Notice being left, but I'm not sure.  I hope this helps and I have deleted your previous question as I believe it is a duplicate. Thanks for writing. 

924 Votes

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Why does it take 3 days to get a package that arrived in the destination city at different zip code delivered to me at my zip code same in city

Asked by heather almost 12 years ago

I don't know why it would take 3 days to get to another ZIP in the same city. As long as there is no weekend or holiday, I am pretty sure the next day would be the service goal for a package that arrived in the city at a different ZIP. Possibly a sorting error would delay the package for a day or two, but that shouldn't be a recurrent problem unless there is some other operational issue that I'm not aware of.

923 Votes

Is my mailman not returning the ads from a previous occupant to sender because he doesn't have to? I don't want to start a war over something he has no control over.

Asked by St KING about 12 years ago

I am not exactly sure what you mean by this but I'll give it a crack. I am also copying and pasting this answer as you seem to have asked the same question twice. With regards to advertising mail, or any mail, the letter carrier should only be delivering mail to your residence that has your name OR has another name plus "or current resident" on the address label. If it just has the previous occupants name and doesn't say "or current resident", you certainly have the option to leave it in the mailbox with a note on it saying "addressee doesn't live here. please return to sender". Depending on the class of mail there is a chance we don't actually return the ad to the sender, but we do discard it at the Post Office. It is called NOVM (No Obvious Value Mail). Mail that would fall in that category is in the class of Presorted Standard Mail. Most mail that is Presorted Standard and doesn't say "or current resident" and has a previous occupants name could be discarded into the NOVM at the PO. I don't know that I would call your letter carrier lazy, but maybe they aren't paying attention to the name on the mail. You absolutey have the right to put the ad back in the mail if you wish.

923 Votes

Do CCA's usually work 6 days per week?
Are you usually notified ahead of time for when you will work or is it usually at the drop of a hat?
-Would you recommend someone starting a career now that you have to start as a CCA with no benefits or vaca?

Asked by Clint about 12 years ago

I don't know the procedure and "track record" of how many days a week that a CCA will work. I think that it differs for each office and sometimes on the time of year re: weather and how much vacation/sick coverage is needed. When I was a PTF (which was before CCA position existed), it varied from day to day. Some days I would start the same time as other letter carriers (apprx 0730 AM) and others I would start work at 1030 AM to deliver parts of routes that needed coverage. If someone called in sick on a day that I was scheduled to start at 1030AM, I may get a call early in the AM to come in to work earlier. Also, if you are not scheduled to work on a particular day, once you leave work on the previous day, I don't think there is any requirement to be available until your next scheduled day/time to work. Of course, if you are interested in the extra hours/$$ that would come in with coming in to work based on a phone call, then I would make yourself available and go to work when called.

Regarding your 3rd question, if I didn't currently have a job with benefits or vacation pay, etc. I would definitely start a career as a CCA. The reason is that you potentially could become a USPS career employee which has MANY benefits that have helped me enormously through the years. I'm not exaggerating one bit when I say this. Also, having a union to support me through difficult times has also been helpful. I don't honestly know what the long-term future of the USPS is because of technology and how little younger people use the USPS, but I think it will be healthy for the forseeable future to start a career in it.

923 Votes

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