Little Darwin

I just saw this in an internal newsletter, and thought I would share it here.

The attached picture was captioned "Sun City, AZ, Letter Carrier Terry Hesselrode."

East Hill

I can see where it would not work well (LD, you know the kind of terrain here! ), but on flat ground, I can see this being a win win situation. The USPS really needs to think of creative ways of using less fuel, so this is a great start.

East Hill

StephenH

Looks to be the Worksman Low Gravity bike in the picture...wonder what they did with the old ones???

wahoonc

I am all for it...and to solve East Hill's problem...give them an electric cycle for boost, something along the lines of the stoke monkey where they have to pedal to get the effect

Aaron

tsl

And they even took the picture in front of a white garage door!

JeffS

LOL... they must have hired an outside consultant from BF for the shot.

East Hill

That would do the trick!

It would save a LOT of fuel. I wonder if there's plans to expand this further? I remember when we were going to put all the carriers on Segways .

East Hill

Lion Steve

I delivered mail for almost 35 years. The biggest drawback that I can see from the photo is the need to constantly return to a central location to reload the bike basket. It is really amazing the amount of mail that is loaded for a normal day's delivery. In a desert climate like Arizona, it would have a place, but in winter snow belt regions, not really doable.

East Hill

Not to mention that I don't see a way to lock up registered mail...but it's still got a lot of pluses, not the least of which is all the saving of fuel.

East Hill

Little Darwin

I think it is in the thread on the same article in the Advocacy forum that someone explains the full process. Each of the bicycle routes still uses a motor vehicle for moving from place to place, and the bike is used to deliver from that point.

So in effect, this is a bike replacing mail carriers walking, not replacing mail carriers driving. Although, perhaps this enables a walking route for what would normally be a driving route??? Since the bike is carried to the neighborhood on a motor vehicle, I wonder what numbers they used to compute gasoline savings...

vey

"The biggest drawback that I can see from the photo is the need to constantly return to a central location to reload the bike basket."

Back in the olden days, in urban locales where the carrier walked, they used to have green mailboxes. Those boxes didn't have a slot, but were used to store mail for the carrier in the field. A truck delivered sacks to the boxes and the carrier picked them up and dropped off what he had picked up.

But this was also back in the days where there were people in the local post office sorting mail for the routes rather than the carrier doing it for himself before he left in the morning.

wahoonc

^^^ That is what I remember too. FWIW there are a few places where the carriers still walk, and we USED to have neighborhood post offices, but most of those have been closed and consolidated. I can also remember when mail was delivered in the business district twice a day.

Aaron

donnamb 

They still use those green mailboxes in downtown Portland.

East Hill

There's not many of them left, that's for certain.

It sounds as if the carrier vehicle essentially turns into a mobile mail storage facility then. It's still going to save fuel, because the vehicle isn't going to be stop and go idling constantly. It also allows for valuables to be locked up, and it keeps the rest of the mail dry.

When you've got as many vehicles as the USPS, any time you can cut down on fuel costs, without incurring more injuries, that's a good thing. I would imagine also that the less driving a carrier does, the less likely he/she would be in an accident involving motor vehicles.

East Hill

Elkhound

https://cyclesmaximus.com/

What about these? The cargo version could be outfitted to carry mail--the (British) Royal Mail uses them--and there are two electric assist options.

vey

This PO uses Worksman
Low Gravity bikes.

https://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/17/Ne...the_post.shtml

ST. PETERSBURG - Chris Hubble used to drive an old jeep to deliver mail in Tampa. One day about 10 years ago, he noticed a letter carrier on a route in St. Petersburg delivering mail on a bicycle.
"That's what I want to do," Hubble said.
So he applied for a transfer.
Now Hubble, 38, works as a letter carrier for the Open Air Station in St. Petersburg.
The downtown post office is the only station in Florida and one of a few in the country to deliver mail by bicycle, according to Open Air Station manager John Phelps.
A longtime bicyclist who rides with the St. Petersburg Bicycle Club, Hubble now delivers the mail perched atop a yellow bike owned by the United States Postal Service.
"I love it," he said. "The bike's the only way for me."
Phelps said the bikes have become a St. Petersburg tradition.
"It's novel and it's unique but to the people here that deliver, it's just a normal way of doing business," Phelps said. "They really don't see it as unique, they see it as the way it's always been done."
Carriers have used bikes since the Open Air post office opened in 1917, he said. Today there are 23 letter carriers using bicycles who range in experience from five months to 26 years. The station also has six vehicle routes.
Arizona is the only other state that puts letter carriers on bikes, according to Gary Sawtelle, spokesman for the Suncoast District of the United States Postal Service.
"This is really one of the unique places that has been able to hold onto this mode of delivery," Sawtelle said. "I think it's great that we're able to continue this tradition in St. Pete."
The Open Air Station delivers mail from 14th Avenue N to 17th Avenue S and from the water by the Pier to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street.
The bike routes make delivering mail easier and more efficient in a city with narrow alleys, one-way streets and a shortage of parking, carriers said.
But mostly, they just love the freedom that comes with riding a bike.
"Just riding, with the wind blowing, it's nice," said Jackie Genes, 44, who has worked out of the Open Air Station for 14 years.
Others touted being able to get some sunshine and a workout while getting paid.
"For me, most importantly, I'm outside and I'm exercising," said Brent Brown, 42, whose wife works as a circulation retention manager with the St. Petersburg Times.
Brown, who brings a thermos and snacks to help him refuel during his long rides, also said the bikes are a great conversation piece.
"It's more personal on a bike," he said.
But the job isn't without its downsides. Bad weather, flat tires and nasty falls are all part of the job.
"Rain is fine - I don't mind," Genes said. "We do rain, but not lightning. The bike is nothing but a lightning rod."
Hubble said being outside in the heat of the summer for hours at a time isn't that bad.
"As long as you're moving, you have a nice breeze," he said.
Most said they'd experienced a few spills on their routes but nothing serious. The bikes are equipped with a large aluminum or canvas box to hold mail, making the bikes front-heavy.
"I tipped the bike a couple times," said Chris Kenney, 29. "All the mail splattered. That was pretty memorable."
Many carriers said they wouldn't go back to driving a regular mail truck.
"When I first came down here, I was like, 'You got to be kidding me, I got to ride a bicycle?' " Genes said.
But the bike grew on her.
"I like it now," she said. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Esteban32696

I , am also, a retired mailman . Everytime gas prices increase, our office would come out with new [ really old ] ideas to save gas. More walking, using the green " Relay Boxes, " etc. We had one very short carrier, who walked all day on his route, continously using the relay boxes placed over his route. There was once a picture of him in the newspaper, sitting INSIDE of a relay box, eating lunch, while it was raining !! Never forget that !

bobcrotch

Man, why not use a 3 wheeled bike with a mega-rack in the back and a trailer? Or possibly just a normal ute like that with a trailer? I would love to be able to do that!

CommuterRun

CR: "Pack the kids in the car, Honey! We're moving to St. Pete!"

CR: "What's that?!"

CR: "It's about 250 miles south of here! Southwest of Tampa, across the bay!"

CR: "No, tonight! We're moving tonight! Pack up!"

Sianelle 

Here in New Zealand the good old postie on a bicycle has been a feature of the landscape for around 100 years. Parcel delivery and rural delivery that involves long distance over rough roads is done by postal vans, but the bicycle is still the mainstay of the NZPO.

dijos

Just FYI, the bike Mail carriers use relay boxes here.

Otony

I am an almost retired letter carrier (715 days to go). When I first started in 1976, Palo Alto CA was still using those same bikes, or had just recently stopped. I always thought it was a great idea but it does require the use of relay boxes PLUS a large truck. The cost savings are enormous however, as we will see below.

You see, there was/is a fellow that would drive around to each relay box and drop off the correct relay, as these do not magically appear in the green boxes! A great gas savings, no doubt, as long as the driver placed the right relay in the right box. I would imagine in the days before cell phones that the wrong mail was a real cluster fark to fix, but it seems worth it still. The same fellow usually delivered the larger parcels as well.

Oh, and +1 on where to lock up register mail (we call that an accountable item, along with certified, Express, and CODs. Woe to the poor fool who loses any of THAT!). Keeping it with you is fine if it isn't bulky (and most isn't), but otherwise?

In places where there is actually weather, the mail would be pretty tough to keep dry AND accessible at the same time. Sun City? Hey, no problem, it probably never rains!

USPS actually use horses in some places (Arizona, New Mexico), as well as small motor boats in areas where folks live on rivers (think Florida, Louisiana, ec). Some of these modes may be in use by contract carriers on rural or "star" routes. The USPS has the largest single fleet of vehicles in the USA. When gas prices change just one or two cents, it costs us hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is one of the reasons stamp prices are going up so frequently, as our fees are closely tied to actual costs. There is a profit (usually), but there have been many lean years or just flat in the red as well. And please, we do NOT work off of your tax dollars, usually heard by us as "I pay your salary with my taxes, wha-wah-wah!" All our expenses, salary, gas, etc, comes from stamp and service sales.

The upshot is, these bikes should be seen in far more places, but likely never will. The Post Office is an old, old institution, hide bound and grizzled. Even in the face of success stories like Sun City, it would take a very expensive case study to determine if it would work else where. At some point in the study, realization that actual work would have to be performed would set in. The idea the project might not succeed as desired would be raised by someone with no involvement whatsoever in the project, usually to impress his or her boss with their astute business sense. This would result in mass panic, a search for the guilty, punishment of the innocent, and rewards and honors for the non-participants. Then the whole idea would be dropped as too expensive to begin with to ever save money on the other end. Sorry, it is just the way the PO works, trust me.

wahoonc

Otony,
IMHO one of the issues is that the PO is a quasi-goverment agency. IIRC Ross Perot was hired to help straighten out the bureaucracy and make it profitable. One of his first recommendations was to get it out from under the control of congress...he ended up fired and the rest is history. Also while fuel costs do affect the costs of delivering mail, I find it hard to believe (in fact I know otherwise) that just because gas goes up a few cents the postage has to increase. They buy fuel on contract, yes prices rise and yes it does get passed on. IMHO the post office should be run revenue neutral. But then again the prices currently being charged are not that expensive compared to other options and for the volume of mail they handle they do a decent job.

Aaron

Little Darwin

Ross Perot was never part of Postal management.

There was however Carvin' Marvin Runyon, a vey Perot-like person.

Perot like = creepy and old with no flexibility.

His process?

Come in, ignore ALL laws and simply lay off every person in the Postal Service above a certain level and make them apply for positions in the new organization.

He did it in such a stupid way that it was almost fatal.

I have two small distribution comic books on the fiasco that I think are closer to reality than you will see in any offiicial Postal document.

The author of the comic books was one of the people that was in a dislocation center when she wrote them, and eventually did get hired back into USPS as I recall. The biggest irony is that the claim was her position wasn't needed (the whole push for the process was eliminating waste) and yet a temp was hired to do her previous job... That temp was her mother, who previously did not work for the Postal Service.

As an IT worker, I was in San Mateo, and we had a manager of the center. After the re-organization the same manager was now in charge of the developers, and two diferent managers were added, one for accounting, and one for computer operations. There were times when in the previous configuration, things would have to be escalated to the center manager to resolve a problem... after the "flattening" of the management structure, the first place with a single manager to resolve disputes between one section and another was the VP... Two levels of management above the person who used to be able to resolve the issues.

Even though some people in the building used to work under the same local manager, things became more complex. As a developer in the old system, I would have had 3 levels of management until I could get to someone that could resolve conflicts with operations. After the reorganization, this changed to 5 levels of management.

I talked to someone who accidentally got into an elevator with Runyon, and she said she felt a coldness she had never felt before. He was the ONLY PMG ever to need body guards. He also instituted HQ only identiication badges, which is still the bane of IT workers needing to visit their customers in the HQ building. I have been working for the Postal Service for 25 years, know many people in HQ, and I am a similar pay level to those that work in the building, but I can get in no easier than a civilian off the streets.

And Runyon wasn't fired.. he was hired to "trim down" the Postal Service, and he left when his job was done... And I think he should pay back every cent he made since he defrauded the government into thinking that change for the sake of change accomplised that objective.

The one (and only) positive thing that resulted from his adminsistration was that before he joined and wanted to use frequent flier miles to go home to Tennessee (he never really moved to DC) the Postal policies didn't allow it... so, he changed it so that people that traveled could use their frequent flier miles, just like every other corporation. That is the ONE thing that he did right.

Perot did actually have a miniscule role in the USPS, as the owner of EDS we hired IT contractors from him. From that role, he was eventually underbid by another vendor. And the main thing I remember of that era was that while the rest of us were business casual, all EDS employees wore a tie every day... when he was beaten out for the contract, we did not have a decrease in quality... we just saw fewer people wearing ties. The average age of employee went up too, since EDS employees were typically very young. Once they got experience they changed jobs. His company did hire sharp people, and train them well, but retention was minimal. I understand from talking to one of the EDS workers, that even if they worked in a printer room throwing around boxes of paper and ink cartridges, the dress code wasn't relaxed.

That isn't all I have to say about that... but I'll stop boring you, for now.

Little Darwin

Actually the USPS is run as revenue neutral, but it is almost impossible to be neutral every year, so some years are profitable while others are at a loss.

The costs are tlhe lowest in the world (at least according to the propoganda) so that is good.

As far as size, I maintain the software for a system that will be processing each scan record from every piece of mail handling equipment... and the objective is to handle over 1.5 Billion scans per day. (I believe that is average, and goes up significantly during the holiday season).