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Postal Clerks and Mail Carriers

(D.O.T.  209.687-014; 230.363-010, .367-010; 239.367-018; and
243.367-014)

Nature of the Work

Each day, the U.S.  Postal Service receives, sorts, and delivers
millions of letters, bills, advertisements, and packages.  To do
this, it employs about 792,000 workers.  Almost 5 out of 10 of these
workers are postal clerks, who sort mail and serve customers in post
offices, or mail carriers, who deliver the mail.

   Clerks and carriers are distinguished by the type of work they do.
Clerks are usually classified by the mail processing function they
perform, whereas carriers are classified by their type of route city
or rural.

   About 350 mail processing centers throughout the country service
post offices in surrounding areas and are staffed primarily by
postal clerks.  Some clerks, more commonly referred to as mail
handlers, unload the sacks of incoming mail; separate letters,
parcel post, magazines, and newspapers; and transport these to the
proper sorting and processing area.  In addition, they may load mail
into automated letter sorting machines, perform simple canceling
operations, and rewrap packages damaged in processing.

   After letters have been put through stamp-canceling machines, they
are taken to other workrooms to be sorted according to destination.
Clerks operating older electronic letter-sorting machines push keys
corresponding to the ZIP code of the local post office to which each
letter will be delivered; the machine then drops the letters into
the proper slots.  This older, less automated method of letter
sorting is being slowly phased out.  Other clerks sort odd-sized
letters, magazines, and newspapers by hand.  Finally, the mail is
sent to local post offices for sorting according to delivery route
and delivered.

   A growing proportion of clerks operate optical character readers
(OCR's) and bar code sorters.  Optical character readers read the
zip code and spray a bar code onto the mail.  Bar code sorters then
scan the code and sort the mail.  Because this is significantly
faster than older sorting methods, it is becoming the standard
sorting technology in mail processing centers.

   Postal clerks at local post offices sort local mail for delivery to
individual customers, sell stamps, money orders, postal stationary,
and mailing envelopes and boxes, weigh packages to determine
postage, and check that packages are in satisfactory condition for
mailing.  Clerks also register, certify, and insure mail and answer
questions about postage rates, post office boxes, mailing
restrictions, and other postal matters.  Occasionally, they may help
a customer file a claim for a damaged package.

   Once the mail has been processed and sorted, it is ready to be
delivered by mail carriers.  Duties of city and rural carriers are
very similar.  Most travel established routes delivering and
collecting mail.  Mail carriers start work at the post office early
in the morning, where they spend a few hours arranging their mail
for delivery and taking care of other details.  Recently, automated
equipment has been able to sort most of the mail for city carriers,
allowing them to spend less time sorting and more time delivering
mail.

   Carriers may cover the route on foot, by vehicle, or a combination
of both.  On foot, they carry a heavy load of mail in a satchel or
push it in a cart.  In some urban and most rural areas, they use a
car or small truck.  Although the Postal Service provides vehicles
to city carriers, most rural carriers use their own automobiles.
Deliveries are made house-to-house, to roadside mailboxes, and to
large buildings, such as offices or apartments, which generally have
all the mailboxes on the first floor.

   Besides delivering and collecting mail, carriers collect money for
postage-due and c.o.d.  (cash on delivery) fees and obtain signed
receipts for registered, certified, and insured mail.  If a customer
is not home, the carrier leaves a notice that tells where special
mail is being held.

   After completing their routes, carriers return to the post office
with mail gathered from street collection boxes, homes, and
businesses.  They turn in the mail receipts and money collected
during the day and may separate letters and parcels for further
processing by clerks.

   The duties of some city carriers may be very specialized; some
deliver only parcel post while others collect mail from street boxes
and receiving boxes in office buildings.  In contrast, rural
carriers provide a wide range of postal services.  In addition to
delivering and picking up mail, they sell stamps and money orders
and accept parcels, letters, and items to be registered, certified,
or insured.

   All carriers answer customers' questions about postal regulations
and services and provide change-of-address cards and other postal
forms when requested.  In addition to their regularly scheduled
duties, carriers often participate in neighborhood service programs
in which they check on elderly or shut-in patrons or notify the
police of any suspicious activities along their route.

   Postal clerks and mail carriers are classified as casual, part-time
flexible, part-time regular, or full time.  Casual workers, hired
for 90 days at a time, help process and deliver mail during peak
mailing or vacation periods.  Part-time flexible workers do not have
a regular work schedule or weekly guarantee of hours; they replace
absent workers and help with extra work as the need arises.  Part-
time regulars have a set work schedule of fewer than 40 hours per
week.  Full-time postal employees work a 40-hour week over a 5-day
period.

   Automation of mail sorting has reduced hand sorting significantly.

Working Conditions

Postal clerks usually work in clean, well-ventilated, and well-lit
buildings.  However, other conditions vary according to work
assignments and the type of laborsaving machinery available.  In
small post offices, mail handlers use handtrucks to move heavy mail
sacks from one part of the building to another and clerks may sort
mail by hand.  In large post offices and mail processing centers,
chutes and conveyors move the mail, and much of the sorting is done
by machines.  Despite the use of automated equipment, the work of
mail handlers and postal clerks can be physically demanding.  These
workers are usually on their feet, reaching for sacks and trays of
mail or placing packages and bundles into sacks and trays.

   Mail handlers and distribution clerks may become bored with the
routine of moving and sorting mail.  Many work at night or on
weekends because most large post offices process mail around the
clock, and the largest volume of mail is sorted during the evening
and night shifts.

   Window clerks, on the other hand, have a greater variety of duties,
frequent contact with the public, and rarely have to work at night.
However, they may have to deal with upset customers, and they are
held accountable for the assigned stock of stamps and for postal
funds.

   Most carriers begin work early in the morning, in some cases as
early as 4 a.m.  if they have routes in the business district.  A
carrier's schedule has its advantages, however.  Carriers who begin
work early in the morning are through by early afternoon, and they
spend most of the day on their own, relatively free from direct
supervision.  Overtime hours may be required during peak delivery
times, such as the holidays.

   Carriers spend most of their time outdoors, and deliver mail in all
kinds of weather.  Even those who drive often must walk when making
deliveries and must lift heavy sacks of parcel post items when
loading their vehicles.  In addition, carriers always must be
cautious of potential hazards on their routes.  Wet roads and
sidewalks can be treacherous, and each year numerous carriers are
bitten by dogs.

Employment

The U.S.  Postal Service employed 64,000 postal clerks and 297,000
mail carriers in 1992.  About 85 percent of them worked full time.
Most postal clerks provided window service and sorted mail at local
post offices, although some worked at mail processing centers.
Although most mail carriers worked in cities and suburban
communities, 43,000 were rural carriers.

   In addition to the postal clerks mentioned above, there were about
217,000 traffic, shipping, and receiving clerks employed in the U.S.
Postal Service in 1992.  Many of the duties of these clerks are
described in the Nature of the Work section of this statement.  For
more information about these workers, see the statement on traffic,
shipping, and receiving clerks elsewhere in the Handbook.

Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement

Postal clerks and mail carriers must be U.S.  citizens or have been
granted permanent resident-alien status in the United States.  They
must be at least 18 years old (or 16, if they have a high school
diploma).  Qualification is based on a written examination that
measures speed and accuracy at checking names and numbers and
ability to memorize mail distribution procedures.  Applicants must
pass a physical examination as well, and may be asked to show that
they can lift and handle mail sacks weighing up to 70 pounds.
Applicants for jobs as postal clerks operating electronic sorting
machines must pass a special examination that includes a machine
aptitude test.  Applicants for mail carrier positions must have a
driver's license, a good driving record, and a passing grade on a
road test.

   Applicants should apply at the post office or mail processing center
where they wish to work in order to determine when an exam will be
given.  Applicants' names are listed in order of their examination
scores.  Five points are added to the score of an honorably
discharged veteran, and 10 points to the score of a veteran wounded
in combat or disabled.  When a vacancy occurs, the appointing
officer chooses one of the top three applicants; the rest of the
names remain on the list to be considered for future openings until
their eligibility expires, usually 2 years from the examination
date.

   Relatively few people under the age of 25 are hired as career postal
clerks or mail carriers, a result of keen competition for these jobs
and the customary waiting period of 1-2 years or more after passing
the examination.  It is not surprising, therefore, that most
entrants transfer from other occupations.

   New postal clerks and mail carriers are trained on the job by
experienced workers.  Many post offices offer classroom instruction.
Workers receive additional instruction when new equipment or
procedures are introduced.  They usually are trained by another
postal employee or, sometimes, a training specialist hired under
contract by the Postal Service.

   A good memory, good coordination, and the ability to read rapidly
and accurately are important.  In addition, mail handlers should be
in good physical condition.  Mail handlers and distribution clerks
work closely with other clerks, frequently under the tension and
strain of meeting dispatch transportation deadlines.  Window clerks
and mail carriers must be courteous and tactful when dealing with
the public, especially when answering questions or receiving
complaints.

   Postal clerks and mail carriers often begin on a part-time flexible
basis and become regular or full time in order of seniority as
vacancies occur.  Full-time clerks may bid for preferred assignments
such as the day shift, a window job, or a higher level
nonsupervisory position as expediter or window service technician.
Carriers can look forward to obtaining preferred routes as their
seniority increases, or to higher level jobs such as carrier
technician.  Both clerks and carriers can advance to supervisory
positions.

Job Outlook

Those seeking a job in the Postal Service can expect to encounter
keen competition the number of applicants for postal clerk and mail
carrier positions is expected to continue to far exceed the number
of openings.  Job opportunities will vary by occupation and duties
performed.

   Overall employment of postal clerks is expected to decline through
the year 2005.  In spite of anticipated increases in the total
volume of mail, automation will continue to increase the
productivity of postal clerks, slowing employment growth.
Increasingly, mail will be moved using automated materials-handling
equipment and sorted using optical character readers, bar code
sorters, and other automated sorting equipment.  In addition, demand
for window clerks will be moderated by the increased sales of stamps
and other postal products by grocery and department stores and other
retail outlets.

   Conflicting factors also are expected to influence demand for mail
carriers.  Despite competition from alternative delivery systems and
new forms of electronic communication, the volume of mail handled by
the Postal Service is expected to continue to grow.  Population
growth and the formation of new households will stimulate demand for
mail delivery.  However, increased use of the ZIP + 4 system, which
is used to sort mail to the carrier route, and other automated
sorting equipment should decrease the amount of time carriers spend
sorting their mail, allowing them more time to handle longer routes.
In addition, the Postal Service is moving toward more centralized
mail delivery, such as the use of more cluster boxes, to cut down on
the number of door-to-door deliveries.  Although these trends are
expected to increase carrier productivity, they should balance with
the growth in mail volume, and employment of mail carriers is
expected to change little through the year 2005.

   Jobs will become available because of the need to replace postal
clerks and mail carriers who retire or stop working for other
reasons.  However, the factors that make entry to these occupations
highly competitive attractive salaries, a good pension plan, job
security, and modest educational requirements contribute to a high
degree of job attachment.  Accordingly, replacement needs produce
relatively fewer job openings than in other occupations of this
size.  In contrast to the typical pattern, postal workers generally
remain in their jobs until they retire; relatively few transfer to
other occupations.

   Although the volume of mail to be processed and delivered rises and
falls with the level of business activity, as well as with the
season of the year, full-time postal clerks and mail carriers have
never been laid off.  When mail volume is high, full-time clerks and
carriers work overtime, part-time clerks and carriers work
additional hours, and casual clerks and carriers may be hired.  When
mail volume is low, overtime is curtailed, part-timers work fewer
hours, and casual workers are discharged.

Earnings

In 1992, base pay for beginning full-time carriers and postal clerks
was $23,737 a year, rising to a maximum of $33,952 after 12 1/2
years of service.  For those working between 6 p.m.  and 6 a.m., a
supplement is paid.  Experienced, full-time, city delivery mail
carriers earn an average salary of $32,832 a year.  Postal clerks
and carriers working part-time flexible schedules begin at $11.81 an
hour and, based on the number of years of service, increase to a
maximum of $16.91 an hour.

   Rural delivery carriers had average base salaries of $34,951 in
1992.  Their earnings are determined through an evaluation of the
amount of work required to service their routes.  Carriers with
heavier workloads generally earn more than those with lighter
workloads.  Rural carriers also receive an equipment maintenance
allowance when required to use their own vehicles.  In 1992, this
was approximately 34 cents per mile.

   Postal workers enjoy a variety of employer-provided benefits.  These
include health and life insurance, vacation and sick leave, and a
pension plan.

   In addition to their hourly wage and benefits package, some postal
workers receive a uniform allowance.  This group includes those
workers who are in the public view for 4 or more hours each day and
various maintenance workers.  The amount of the allowance depends on
the job performed some workers are only required to wear a partial
uniform, and their allowance is lower.  In 1992, for example, the
allowance for a letter carrier was $252 per year, compared to $108
for a window clerk.

   Most of these workers belong to one of four unions: American Postal
Workers Union, National Association of Letter Carriers, National
Postal Mail Handlers Union, and National Rural Letter Carriers
Association.

Related Occupations

Other workers whose duties are related to those of postal clerks
include mail clerks, file clerks, routing clerks, sorters, material
moving equipment operators, clerk typists, cashiers, data entry
operators, and ticket sellers.  Others with duties related to those
of mail carriers include messengers, merchandise deliverers, and
delivery-route truckdrivers.

Sources of Additional Information

   Local post offices and State employment service offices can supply
details about entrance examinations and specific employment
opportunities for postal clerks and mail carriers.