Easier Day at the Post Office

I had an easier day at the Post Office today. I worked rural route 7 which is my second favorite route. The reason I like it so much is it has a nice mounted stretch. What is mounted? Mounted means you can drive the mail truck right up to the mailbox, open it, put the mail in it, close it and drive to the next box. A mounted route is the easiest to deliver mail on. That's why I like it so much.

Why did I have it so easy today? I lucked out in three ways. First, my Direct to Point Service (DPS) mail was light. I received only 4 trays for the entire route which isn't a lot. How did that help me? First, I was able to case the mail quickly since there wasn't that much of it. Second, the route has 5 kiosks which are mail kiosks with multi-mailboxes in them. Those kind of mailboxes can slow you down as you have to do a second mail sorting at them. Since the mail was light, it didn't take me as long to deliver the mail to those kiosks.

Second, I didn't receive any accountable mails today. Accountable mails are certified or registered letters or Express Mail. When I return to the Post Office, I have to account for everyone of the certified or registered letters and Express Mail I signed for. Since I didn't receive any from the cage, I didn't have to worry about turning any in. Another plus of not having any accountable mail was time saved. Every piece of accountable mail must have a form 3849 filled out. Those are the small forms your carrier leaves at your door notifying you have an accountable mail or package you have to sign for. If your home when the carrier comes by, you'll sign a form 3849 which the carrier will take a picture of with his/her scanner. That is a record showing who received the item and when. Time wise, it also takes time to go to each door, knock and if the person is home, they'll sign for the item. Each one of these stops can take 5 minutes or more. If you get a lot of accountable mails, they can cost you a lot of time.

Lastly, the weather didn't slow me up. The weatherman was predicting thunderstorms and heavy rain. I brought my rain gear but, I hoped I'd be able to get most of my mail delivered before it really poured. To my relief, the heavens really opened up just as I pulled into my mail truck parking slot. I was very pleased.

So, the day went well. Where I had a 12 hour day on the route Thursday, I had a 9 hour day today. I was able to go home at a decent hour and, I won't have to work tomorrow since it's Sunday. I'll be able to go to church and do my first French lesson with my new French teacher. Stay tuned for an update on how that goes. Cheers all!