Career Search Postal Service mail carriers deliver mail, once it has been processed and sorted, to residences and businesses in cities, towns, and rural areas. Although carriers are classified by their type of route—either city or rural—duties of city and rural carriers are similar. Most travel established routes, delivering and collecting mail. Mail carriers start work at the post office early in the morning, when they arrange the mail in delivery sequence. Automated equipment has reduced the time that carriers need to sort the mail, causing them to spend more of their time delivering it. Mail carriers cover their routes on foot, by vehicle, or a combination of both. On foot, they carry a heavy load of mail in a satchel or push it on a cart. In most urban and rural areas, they use a car or small truck. Although the Postal Service provides vehicles to city carriers, most rural carriers must use their own automobiles for whose use they are reimbursed. Deliveries are made house-to-house, to roadside mailboxes, and to large buildings such as offices or apartments, which generally have all of their tenants mailboxes in one location. Median annual earnings of Postal Service mail carriers were $44,350 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $40,290 and $48,400. The lowest 10 percent had earnings of less than $34,810, while the top 10 percent earned more than $50,830. Rural mail carriers are reimbursed for mileage put on their own vehicles while delivering mail. Work environment. Window clerks usually work in the public portion of post offices. They have a variety of duties and frequent contact with the public, but they rarely work at night. However, they may have to deal with upset customers, stand for long periods, and be held accountable for an assigned stock of stamps and funds. Depending on the size of the post office in which they work, they also may be required to sort mail. Despite the use of automated equipment, the work of mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators can be physically demanding. Workers may have to move heavy sacks of mail around a mail processing center. These workers usually are on their feet, reaching for sacks and trays of mail or placing packages and bundles into sacks and trays. Processing mail can be tiring and tedious. Many sorters, processors, and machine operators 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. Workers can experience stress as they process mail under tight production deadlines and quotas. Median annual earnings of Postal Service clerks were $44,800 in 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $41,720 and $47,890. The lowest 10 percent had earnings of less than $38,980, while the top 10 percent earned more than $49,750. Median annual earnings of Postal Service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators were $43,900 in 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $40,350 and $47,440. The lowest 10 percent had earnings of less than $25,770, while the top 10 percent earned more than $49,570. CareerSearch.com
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