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The Complete Guide to Becoming A Postal Service Mail Carrier
The real pay, the real path, and the real day-to-day — so you can decide if carrying mail is the right career for you.
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: What Does a Postal Service Mail Carrier Actually Do?
Let's start by clearing away the romantic image. You're not walking a sunny suburban street, whistling, with a light bag and a pocketful of friendly hellos. Sometimes you are, but often you're not. The job of a Postal Service Mail Carrier is a physical, repetitive, weather-beaten, surprisingly technical job that requires precision, endurance, and the ability to work alone for hours at a stretch. To understand whether it's for you, you need to see what a carrier actually does from the moment the day starts to the moment it ends.
In the United States, the vast majority of mail carriers work for the United States Postal Service (USPS), an independent federal agency. There are also private mail carriers for companies like UPS or FedEx, but "Postal Service Mail Carrier" specifically refers to someone who delivers letters, flats (magazines, catalogs, and large envelopes), and packages along an assigned route. You'll either be a City Carrier (working in urban and suburban areas) or a Rural Carrier (working in less densely populated areas), and the difference matters more than you'd think. City carriers typically walk most of their route, carrying a heavy satchel or pushing a cart. Rural carriers drive their own or a postal-provided vehicle, often on gravel roads and long driveways, delivering to roadside mailboxes.
Your day doesn't start on the street. It starts inside a postal facility, usually between 6:00 and 8:00 in the morning. The facility is loud: