US Postal Service Rural Carrier Associate (RCA) reviews

Truck was broken a lot, from no horn for months, to broken mirrors, to the door getting stuck, to water getting in the truck getting mail and packages wet, to the truck having issues starting on rainy days. to flat tires, tires with air leaks. the mail never stops. Amazon was horrible most days. route turned into 80% amazon packages. trucks have no a/c, very hot like little metal ovens (sometimes people die in them from heat stroke, look it up). Post Office had lead pipes so we needed to use water cooler to fill jugs to take out on route with us. no time for lunch break, just drive and deliver, eat while driving. no bathroom in truck, find places on route. dangerous route in snow, and blind turnarounds. route times are always done on easy light days so route is rated lower than it should be (for hours to complete). heat is non existent in the trucks, get a pair of flannel jeans and good insulated boots and gloves! very physical job. spend 2 hours (or more) sorting mail and packages by hand into the trays to deliver from before you even get out on the road. political mailers and sale flyers get old real fast. will get damage in shoulder and wrist from repetitive movements. I hurt my knee on the truck door frame due to small & bad ergonomic design.

The roads are hard on your and their vehicles. If you must drive your own vehicle, always keep extra money and maybe even parts to the side. If your vehicle breaks down, you have a maximum of 2 weeks to get it fixed or get a replacement, otherwise you lose your job. They don't tell you that in training. My boss told me it was my responsibility to always have a backup vehicle and a back-up plan in case both vehicles are down. That's the most difficult part if you are the main breadwinner of your household. Benefits come out of your seemingly ever thinning paycheck, from buying gas, car parts, oil changes, tires, front end parts, alignments, and other vehicle maintenance.