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

My boyfriend sent me a card in the mail on Tuesday when will I receive it? Is this considered first class mail

Asked by Brittany about 9 years ago

Barring any unforeseen delivery issues or delays, most First Class mail is delivered nationwide in 2-3 days. You would hopefully have it by Friday. A card is considered First Class mail and the current rate is .49 for up to 1 oz. Brittany, In my experience a very high percentage of mail arrives "on time" so I do hope this is the ask with the card sent to you. Thank you for your question.

I noticed that I had a new mailman today, and I was wondering if they change route, how often and why? I was getting used to him after moving to my new neighborhood. Just curious...

Asked by Jessica over 8 years ago

Letter carriers sometimes have a choice to move to other neighborhoods/assignments based on a seniority-based bidding process. As other carriers retire or move on to other assignments this creates vacancies to be filled, often by lesser-seniority personnel. Sometimes there are newer employees who may be on the same route for awhile just filling in for someone who may be on Long-term leave for illness or injury or military leave. I have been on the same route for 15 years and can stay on it indefinitely unless there is an office reorganization. I can also bid to another route (if I prefer to) if a vacancy is available to be filled and my seniority is enough to move to that route.

Can you enter an open garage to deliver a package

Asked by Debbie over 8 years ago

I don't know the rule about this Debbie. I would guess that for the safety of the letter carrier it is recommended not to enter an open garage or backyard. I almost always will leave any packages at the front door. If the garage is open and the package can be left there I may consider doing that as well. We have never been told not to deliver a package through and open garage.

2morrow is my 2nd shadow day as a rural carrier & the next day I'll be on my own. How on earth will I ever be able 2 case all the mail in a timely manner? 600+ boxes on the route and I am overwhelmed already. Do you have any tips on casing quickly?

Asked by Van over 9 years ago

Van, I'm sorry that I don't have any secret tips about casing quickly. By shadow day I guess that means you watch someone while they do their job. I admit when you first see a carrier case with so many addresses and then you have some so much mail to put in the case it is overwhelming. My advice is to not get distracted by outside music or your cellphone. Try to remember where a particular street is on the case. I've found that when you are put in front of a new carrier case it is intimidating, but the more you do it the easier it should become. Do not give up easily as you are just starting your job now at the USPS. I've found it to be a worthwhile career.

Someone is using my physical address for mail but asking the PO to hold their mail for pick up. He used to live at the property but sold it in Nov2016. He will not complete a change of address form and the post master will not help. What can I do?

Asked by GG about 9 years ago

GG, I don't really have a suggestion for you. If it were affecting your mail delivery in any way I'd be quite upset and concerned. In theory, they shouldn't keep holding someone's mail for pickup indefinitely. I mean they shouldn't be able to have their mail held, pick it up, and then just put it on hold again. The solution for that person would be to rent a PO Box and have their mail forwarded to it. I know we often won't hold mail for individuals at a certain address. We usually hold the entire mail for an entire address but I can't quote you any internal policies on this because I don't know them. If any mail for the previous owner actually gets delivered to your house, I'd say that you should feel free to discard it since the PO isn't helping you at all. I know it sounds vindictive but the person who moved out or sold the property should either fill out a proper COA or just not care about any mail addressed to him at your current residence.

I thought of 1 more ?, sorry. If a carrier jumps onto my porch where there are no stairs and gets injured doing that, am I liable? To get to the stairs, one must cross my small yard & enter at far end, based on the direction he travels on his route.

Asked by Cathy over 8 years ago

I do understand what you mean. Your question is "If a carrier takes the 'shortcut' to your mailbox vs taking the stairs at the far end based on his direction of travel are you liable for any injury. I don't know the answer to this for sure but I'd hope not. We are covered by workers' compensation insurance through our employer (the USPS) and I don't know that the USPS or the letter carrier (individually) could file a successful liability claim against you as the homeowner. I can see if you were very negligent as a homeowner and maybe caused some type of tripping hazard to be left unattended perhaps there could be some liability, but I have really no insight on this.

It now looks like the carrier signed for the letter him/ herself, using a single letter, days after failing to complete the restricted delivery. I need to file some sort of claim now against the post office, and it breaks my heart to do so. how?

Asked by KDS4444 about 8 years ago

I don’t know anything about the claims process and what type of compensation you’d be entitled to beyond the cost of mailing the item unless you purchased insurance or if the type of mailing has insurance associated with it. The carrier shouldn’t have signed for a restricted delivery item. It shouldn’t break your heart to do this. I’d be more aggravated by not getting a service you paid for. To be honest, I often sign for customers when they have certified letters or packages that ask for a signature confirmation. This is mainly because I know most of the people who I deliver mail to. It hasn’t come back to haunt me, yet. I wouldn’t sign for a domestic registered item or for a Restricted Delivery item. As far as how to file a claim, you could go to a Post Office and inquire about the process or perhaps look at www.usps.com for guidance.