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.
I don't know what can be done regarding this very important letter which was returned in error by your letter carrier. You can mention it to him or call the PO and speak with a delivery supervisor or Postmaster so that it doesn't happen again. I am sorry for the inconvenience and expense caused by this mistake.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Hi.%20Our%20mailman%20returned%20a%20very%20important%20immigration%20letter%20to%20USICS%20TWICE%20despite%20the%20fact%20he%20knows%20my%20husband%20lives%20here%20%28%2B%20delivered%20his%20other%20mail%29.%20This%20has%20cost%20us%20immeasurable%20heartache%2C%20%24%24%24%24%24%20%20and%20a%20YEAR%20delay%20in%20our%20process.%20What%20can%20we%20do%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/10309)
I'm sorry to hear about your mail being stolen. I don't know about moving the location of your mailbox. I am just speculating, but if you live in a circle where the mailbox sits at the street and is serviced by a letter carrier from their vehicle where they just stick their arm out and you want to move the box to a location where the same process can still be accomplished, I don't see why it would be a problem. Does the carrier drive by your house anyway, or do they not come in the circle because all of the mailboxes are at an area where they can avoid coming into the circle. If that's the case, I am not sure it would be allowed to be moved "inside the circle". It's important that the approach to the mailbox is not blocked on any regular basis so the carrier doesn't have to "dismount" from their vehicle to put the mail in the mailbox. I'm not saying they wouldn't dismount to deliver the mail, but the general idea of mailboxes at the street is so the mail can be delivered directly from the postal vehicle. For further clarification, I'd recommend calling or visiting your local post office and speaking with a delivery supervisor.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=I%20live%20in%20a%20circle%2C%20there%20has%20been%20situations%20that%20my%20mail%20got%20stolen%20and%20I%20can%27t%20see%20my%20mailbox%20from%20my%20residence%20because%20it%20sits%20before%20the%20circle%20starts%2C%20can%20I%20move%20my%20mailbox%20to%20the%20front%20of%20my%20house%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/10826)
I have deleted one version of this question because it was posted twice. It is a very good question and I will try to be as clear as I can with the how and why of bidding for routes. Firstly, we bid for routes (or assignments, as it isn't always an actual mail delivery route) so that we are doing the same assignment every day in accordance with a collective bargaining agreement between the USPS and the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC). It allows carriers to choose what assignment (delivery route, collection route, parcel post route, floater route (which fills in for carriers on 5 routes on their days off and pays a slightly higher wage)) they would like to work. It is based on seniority at a specific installation, not necessarily when you were hired by the USPS. For example, if you transfer from an office in Maryland to an office in Florida, you will likely lose your local seniority putting you at the bottom of the list with regards to bidding on vacant assignments. There are probably some exceptions to this rule and often in cities there may be several delivery stations that you can bid between and not lose seniority if you bid from one station to another. I am no expert in this as I have always worked in the same post office my entire career. I think it is the fairest system around and am a big advocate of seniority based assignments. The airline industry uses it for Pilots and Flight Attendants to choose what equipment they would like to fly, what routes, what cities they would like to be based in, etc. Anyhow, back to the USPS. I am sure there is a process of online bidding, but for vacant assignments in my local post office that are put up for bid, here is how it works. Management will post a sheet a paper called a Notice of Vacancy of an Assignment. The notice will specify the assignment (usually the route #), the specifics of the shift times and days off. The notice will also specify the dates that bidding is open. It is usually a 10-day period. The supervisor will have a locked box on their desk and pink bid cards (blank) available for regular carriers to fill out to bid on the assignment and put the bid in the box. Once the bidding period has expired, the supervisor and union shop steward will open the bid box and sort all of the valid bids by seniority date. The top 3 bidders based on seniority are then announced. The winner then has 3 workdays to try the new assignment and then can decide to keep it or not. If they decide not to keep it, the 2nd and 3rd place bidders can then try out the assignment. It rarely goes past the 2nd place bidder in my experience. I hope this answers your question and thank you for writing.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=how%20%26%20why%20do%20you%20bid%20for%20routes%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/12266)
Do you mean that you applied 3 mos. ago? I am not sure how long it takes to get a response either yea or nay. I would hope that you would at least get some reply but I have no further info.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Thanks%20for%20answering%20my%20previous%20question%20about%20the%20application%20process%20in%20%2798.%20I%20applied%20on-line%20last%20August%20and%20so%20far%20have%20heard%20nada.%20Zip.%20Zilch%21%20Do%20you%20have%20any%20idea%20if%20I%20will%20get%20at%20least%20a%20reply%20or%20rejection%20notice%3F%20%23lostinspace&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/9457)
Dry Cleaner
Why don't more dry cleaners stay open late?
Lifeguard
Did you ever have to perform CPR or mouth-to-mouth on a swimmer?
Nightclub Promoter
How do you decide who gets into your club?
I have no idea why it would say "available for pickup" when you check the status of the package that you just mailed today to Australia. I can only speculate that somehow the package was mis-scanned by a USPS employee that caused that status to appear at usps.com tracking.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=Today%20I%20mailed%20a%201st%20class%20package%20from%20Texas%20destined%20for%20Australia.%20%20Just%20checked%20the%20tracking%2C%20and%20it%20says%20%22available%20for%20pickup%22%20---any%20idea%20what%27s%20goin%20on%3F%20%20Thanks&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/11015)
I'm not sure what you mean by running. Saturday is a regular delivery day for the USPS. As far as I know, nobody delivers any faster or slower on a Saturday. For those carriers that have routes with businesses that are closed Saturday, they may get done with their routes sooner. In this case they are sometimes given other duties to make up for the "undertime". In my office, those carriers usually do a collection run or deliver Express Mail or help out on another route that is overburdened that day. Deliveries where I work are usually made between 9:30 and 4:30. Thanks for the question.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=do%20the%20mailman%20usually%20run%20on%20saturdays%20and%20what%20time%20do%20they%20start%20and%20stop%20running%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/12821)
When mailing a letter it is always best to put a full return address on it if you want to get it back in the event the item is undeliverable for any reason. It is not wrong, however, to just put your first name and return address on the letter. I can't tell you how common I see it since I don't often pay attention to the thoroughness of the return address. Most mail that is sent actually gets delivered as long as it has a proper destination address, including unit/apt. # (if any). Thank you for the question.
Share Answer: &caption=Jobstr.com&description=If%20I%20sent%20a%20letter%2C%20and%20only%20put%20my%20first%20name%20and%20the%20returning%20address%20on%20it%2C%20is%20that%20somewhat%20common%20to%20see%20on%20letters%3F%20or%20is%20it%20not%20right%3F&redirect_uri=http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4154-mailman-city-letter-carrier-/question/12514)
-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
