Postal Worker Can't Leave Truck

[DarkDan]

When my cousin pulled up to her house and blocked the mailbox a few weeks ago, my aunt told me that a postal worker cannot leave their truck unless they are delivering a package. If they do, they risk getting fired on the spot if a supervisor is following them. She said she heard it straight from a postal worker. Any truth to this?

[Mateus]

My deliverywoman leaves her truck constantly, because there are no mailboxes in the city of Elmira, only door-mounted boxes and slots. She just walks up one side of the street and down the other, leaving her truck parked at a corner.

[BamaRainbow]

Originally Posted by DarkDan

When my cousin pulled up to her house and blocked the mailbox a few weeks ago, my aunt told me that a postal worker cannot leave their truck unless they are delivering a package. If they do, they risk getting fired on the spot if a supervisor is following them. She said she heard it straight from a postal worker. Any truth to this?

While I'm not a letter carrier, I do work for the Postal Service, and I can pretty much guarantee you it's not *completely* accurate.
The major reason for it's not being entirely correct is that letter carriers are allowed to take a lunch break (actually, a mandatory 30-minute period--off the clock--is guaranteed under the various union contracts with USPS) and the carriers are supposed to NOT eat in their trucks. (They're really not supposed to be drinking anything like coffee, sodas, or water either, but there's more leeway allowed, especially during the summer months.) As for the "delivering a package", many carriers actually have to get out of the trucks depending on the way their routes are set up. IF they're on a route where EVERYONE has a box at the street, they SHOULD remain in the truck UNLESS they have to deliver "special" mail (not merely parcels, but Express Mail, Registered Mail, or Certified Mail--or any other mail that requires a signature). IF the route is one where most of the mail boxes are physically attached to the home or business (or is a slot in the door), then they are allowed (in fact, required) to leave the truck (this is where you normally see carriers with pouches--they park in a centralized area of the street, collect the mail for a number of addresses, put it in the pouch, and walk the route). IF the route is a mixed one--where one street has streetside boxes and another street has attached boxes or the street has a mixture of the two--then the carrier is supposed to use his best judgment.
The basic point, though, is that IF a carrier has to leave his truck then he must make sure the truck is secured before he leaves the vicinity. (He has to make sure the truck is properly parked, lock the truck, make sure he has the keys, and verify that he CAN safely leave the truck. Basically, whatever you would do when leaving your car in a mall parking lot is what the carrier has to do when leaving his truck parked on a street.)
Also, certain carriers may be responsible for collecting mail from the various dropoff boxes that may be on their route (or an adjacent route) and they have very little choice but to leave their trucks in order to collect that mail.

If a supervisor ever followed our mail carrier he would die of a heart attack. Our mail carrier is one of the funniest people alive. He spends no time at all delivering mail and hours sitting in his truck reading magazines. When he's not doing that he's out of the truck, walking around, talking to everyone.

[kitap]

Originally Posted by DarkDan

When my cousin pulled up to her house and blocked the mailbox a few weeks ago, my aunt told me that a postal worker cannot leave their truck unless they are delivering a package. If they do, they risk getting fired on the spot if a supervisor is following them. She said she heard it straight from a postal worker. Any truth to this?

My folks always told my sister and me (and our friends) not to block the mailbox because it's rude.

[Mr. Furious]

I'll ask my dad (he was a Postmaster for 20 years and worked for the USPS for 30) when he comes over today, but the risk of immediate firing sounds a bit specious to me. However, I do know that a letter carrier is not required to deliver mail to a blocked mailbox (and, in my experience, absolutely won't), so my suspicion is that DarkDan's aunt was trying to shame his cousin into not parking there to avoid not getting her mail by spinning a yarn.

However, if a letter carrier had to get out of his vehicle regularly* to deliver mail to blocked mailboxes, he may get canned for taking too damn long to do his job. Carriers are paid hourly, and if they can't do their job efficiently, the USPS will notice. Customers would notice as well, resulting in complaints. With that in mind, it might have been an exaggeration by a letter carrier - "if I got out of my truck to deliver that letter, my supervisor would fire me on the spot." I can see that as a possibility, too.

*I'm speaking here purely of routes involving mailboxes on the street, not city routes or others that involve walking.

[MichiganGirl]

Originally Posted by Mr. Furious

Carriers are paid hourly...

Not necessarily. My friend just got on full-time as a carrier (she had been working at an hourly rate as a sub). After a month (or so) of her doing her route, they figured out how many hours it should take her, and pay her that, whether she finishes in less or more time. She is a rural carrier, and they might have different contracts than city carriers though.

MG

[Mr. Furious]

Originally Posted by MichiganGirl

Not necessarily. My friend just got on full-time as a carrier (she had been working at an hourly rate as a sub). After a month (or so) of her doing her route, they figured out how many hours it should take her, and pay her that, whether she finishes in less or more time. She is a rural carrier, and they might have different contracts than city carriers though.

I'll have to ask my dad about that, too. All of his PO's routes were rural.

[robbiev]

Here, mailmen routinely leave their truck/jeep to deliver mail. I see mail trucks parked at the curb all the time and the delivery person walking down the street with a bag of mail.

Locally, it's more common to see mail boxes on the house rather than at the street.

[snopes]

I think people are taking this question a little too literally. Obviously a USPS letter carrier can leave his/her truck for reasons directly related to the function of delivering mail (e.g., reaching blocked mailboxes, obtaining signatures, etc.) and for other exigencies (e.g., mechanical failure, fire).

The question might better phrased as: "Is it true a USPS letter carrier can be fired for leaving his/her truck for reasons not directly related to mail delivery?" For example, can a carrier be fired for leaving his truck to return a borrowed DVD to someone who lives on his route? Or for stopping for thirty seconds along his route to buy a banana from a roadside fruit stand?

- snopes

[DarkDan]

Well my aunt said that they couldn't get out even if something was blocking it (which is obviously rude and she made her move it) but if they deliver a package or need a signature or other mail related stuff, they could get out. Having them not able to get out when something was blocking the mailbox (the conventional one with a post) is what struck me as odd.

[LadyAbaxa]

Originally Posted by snopes

I think people are taking this question a little too literally. Obviously a USPS letter carrier can leave his/her truck for reasons directly related to the function of delivering mail (e.g., reaching blocked mailboxes, obtaining signatures, etc.) and for other exigencies (e.g., mechanical failure, fire).

The question might better phrased as: "Is it true a USPS letter carrier can be fired for leaving his/her truck for reasons not directly related to mail delivery?" For example, can a carrier be fired for leaving his truck to return a borrowed DVD to someone who lives on his route? Or for stopping for thirty seconds along his route to buy a banana from a roadside fruit stand?

- snopes

I don't see why they would be. It's not like there's a supervisor tagging along with every carrier all the time. If one carrier stopped to buy a banana who would know? Moreover who would really care? As long as the mail gets delivered and the carrier isn't into overtime or doing something illegal their supervisors are probably happy.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by LadyAbaxa

I don't see why they would be. It's not like there's a supervisor tagging along with every carrier all the time. If one carrier stopped to buy a banana who would know?

As the OP states, the scenario presumes that a supervisor observes the activity: "If they do, they risk getting fired on the spot if a supervisor is following them." Obviously a supervisor can't fire an employee for committing an infraction the supervisor doesn't know about.

Moreover who would really care? As long as the mail gets delivered and the carrier isn't into overtime or doing something illegal their supervisors are probably happy.

You've obviously never worked for the USPS. My experience with them was that the mindless following of rules was their primary function, and actually processing mail was a distinctly secondary activity. Even worse, the "rules" were typically ones supervisors invented on the spot.

- snopes

[Artemis]

Well, obviously blocking the mailbox wouldn't stop the person from getting their mail, then, right? If they can get out of their truck in order to deliver something, then they can just get out to deliver the mail to the blocked box.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Well, obviously blocking the mailbox wouldn't stop the person from getting their mail, then, right? If they can get out of their truck in order to deliver something, then they can just get out to deliver the mail to the blocked box.

Not necessarily. There might be a rule that says carriers aren't supposed to deliver mail to blocked boxes (since it's the residents' responsibility to ensure that their mailbox is accessible), but some of them do it anyway.

- snopes

[Artemis]

I hadn't thought of that. Dark Dan's aunt's very premise, though, was that they can get out of the truck to deliver mail, but at the same time said that we shouldn't block mailboxes...so I was confused.

[Mr. Furious]

Originally Posted by snopes

You've obviously never worked for the USPS. My experience with them was that the mindless following of rules was their primary function, and actually processing mail was a distinctly secondary activity. Even worse, the "rules" were typically ones supervisors invented on the spot.

You should've worked for my dad. Employees and customers actually cried when they found out he was retiring.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by Mr. Furious

You should've worked for my dad. Employees and customers actually cried when they found out he was retiring.

I would've cried when my supervisor retired, too. But for completely different reasons.

- snopes

[Mr. Furious]

Originally Posted by snopes

I would've cried when my supervisor retired, too. But for completely different reasons.

I got along with my supervisors during the summer I worked for the USPS. It was actually a lot of fun; good money for a college job, I was in the best shape of my life to that point, and I met one of my very favorite ex-girlfriends.

Of course, it's probably a different experience when you're a college casual. The running joke when a new casual came in was "so, where's your dad a Postmaster?" We all had varying levels of knowledge of how the USPS worked, so it was like putting on an old pair of shoes. It was a blast, but I don't know that it would've been had it been the start of a career rather than a summer gig.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by Mr. Furious

Of course, it's probably a different experience when you're a college casual. It was a blast, but I don't know that it would've been had it been the start of a career rather than a summer gig.

I was working for the USPS as a college job, although it was during the school year rather than summer.

- snopes