Safety First: Protect Yourself, Your Job, and the Public
Recently, outside postal management has been visiting offices throughout Long Island with a specific focus on unsafe vehicle practices, particularly carriers leaving postal vehicles running while unattended. As a result, many carriers have already faced serious consequences, including temporary suspension of driving privileges, being sent home on an unpaid emergency placement, and formal discipline. These visits are not rumors, they are happening now, and carriers must understand that even momentary lapses in vehicle safety are being strictly enforced.
Carriers are reminded that leaving a postal vehicle running while you are outside of it is prohibited, even if you are only a few feet away. This applies while delivering parcels, during vehicle checks in the morning, and even when snow or ice has accumulated on the windshield. If you are not seated inside the vehicle, the engine must be turned off. Warming up a vehicle or clearing snow or ice off the windshield does not justify leaving it running unattended, and management has made clear they will not accept those explanations.
When delivering parcels on the street, carriers must take the time to do it the right way and the safe way. This means locating a legitimate and legal parking spot, placing the vehicle in park, curbing the wheels, applying the emergency brake, turning off the ignition, exiting safely, and closing the door. If the vehicle is out of your sight, it must be locked. Only after these steps are completed should you proceed to the delivery point.
At the residence, carriers should knock or ring the doorbell to attempt delivery. If no one answers, the parcel should then be scanned appropriately and then placed in a secure location consistent with postal policy before safely returning to the vehicle. Rushing deliveries by leaving the truck running, tossing packages toward the house, and/or running back and forth may seem like a way to save time, but it exposes the carrier to injury, discipline, and the very real risk of a runaway vehicle striking another car, or worse, a pedestrian. You may think “that won’t happen to me”, but we have seen it here locally time and time again with real consequences.
Carriers must also remember that regardless of what management may tell you, there is no contractual standard for how many parcels must be delivered per hour. We are paid by the hour, not by any arbitrary standard of your performance or speed. “It takes what it takes” is not just a saying, it is a fundamental safety principle. Cutting corners does not benefit the carrier, and it will not protect you from discipline. In fact, unsafe shortcuts are exactly what management is looking for.
Your safety, the safety of the public, and the protection of your job must always come first. No package, no scan, and no perceived time pressure is worth an injury, a suspension, or a preventable accident. Work carefully and safely, follow the proper procedures, and remember: safety is not optional, it is your most important responsibility.
