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 HOA just notified us that the postal carrier "monitors the mail received and notifies [building] management if mail addressed to an unfamiliar name is received". Don't I have a reasonable expectation of privacy? Is this legal?

Asked by ewawa over 11 years ago

I have never heard of this happening and wouldn't think that a carrier should be doing that. I think a unit owner should be allowed to accept mail at their address for whomever they want. I have no legal education in this matter so I can't tell you if i's legal or not, just that it comes across to me as inappropriate. I just have very little faith  how far you would get in a complaint about this to the letter carrier, your HOA, or building management or your local PO.

I enjoy officework and paperwork, and in particular "tracking things down" (detective work). The dead letter department for instance, might be really interesting. How does one find a PO office job, especially such as the above?

Asked by KaneKat over 11 years ago

I don't know how one would get the job in the dead letter office tracking things down. That would likely be a clerk position which may become internally available after working for awhile at another position.

I know it's illegal to send mail out yourselves but what if they live only a block away? I don't want to waste any stamps but I want it to be a surprise for her. Any suggestions on what I could do?

Also what can be put into the newspaper box?

Asked by Vi almost 12 years ago

Do not put any unstamped mail in someone else's mailbox. it is not legal to do so. In reality,though, a letter carrier might just realize it is something left in the box by a friend or someone nearby and leave it alone. I think the worst that would happen is that the item may disappear if the carrier thinks it is outgoing mail. If you put her full address on there and a carrier takes it, the letter may be re-delivered in the future as "postage due". Finally, I have no information on what is allowed in the Newspaper delivery boxes. Is it something that can be taped to her front door? Honestly, I would just spend the money and legally mail the item. If it is someone you want to surprise (in a good way) they should at least be worth the Cost of the postage. 

I wanted to know how effective the package intercept is? After reading some reviews I have found that it is not something that is at the top of USPS' to do list. Please give me your input.

Asked by Angie almost 12 years ago

i don't know anything about package intercept, but I would suspect that any international mailing would be hard to do it for. It is true that it isnt on the top of the list of services offered due to the shear volume of packages processed. I don't know if eBay would be of any help getting you paid for the item either. Some African countries have a very poor track record when it comes to fraudulent transactions.

I recently moved to the adjoining zipcode in NYC. Before moving, there was never a problem getting my mail. Now, I dont get most of my mail or packages. The PO lost my mail that was held for a 2wk vacation. How do I get my mail--all of it?

Asked by Jan almost 12 years ago

I am not sure why you are getting poor service. If you are referring to mail being fwded from your old ZIP to your new address, it sometimes takes a little time and only certain classes of mail are forwarded (mainly first and periodicals class). If the mail is addressed to your new address, I don't know why you wouldn't get it. If this persists, you may want to contact your local PO, though I am never sure that results in any improvement. 

How long does it usually take to mail a letter, dropped off in a blue collection box, across the states?

Asked by BWras over 11 years ago

If the letter is dropped in the blue collection box before the pickup time, then it is 1-3 days for a letter to be delivered across the states. Maybe AK and HI would be longer, but that is for the 48 contiguous states. 

Many of the questions submitted to you seem to be customer service related that anybody could and should just call 1-800-ASK-USPS directly. Does this bother you? Also, what was it like when your first applied for the job? It's all on-line now.

Asked by FF over 11 years ago

When I first applied to the USPS, it was paper applications (1998). I rcvd notices where to appear for the exams and interview and physical exam. Regarding the qs I rcv here, you make a great point. I am no expert in most of the nuances of shipping, tracking, and regulations. They can call the 800# and hopefully get a satisfactory answer. It doesnt bother me to rcv those q's but as you can tell, I don't always know the answer.