I’m a general expeditor at the Cheyenne, WY, Processing and Distribution Center. I make sure that everything runs smoothly — that the mail moves when it needs to move and gets to where it needs to go on time.
My career began 25 years ago when my brother-in-law, who worked for USPS at the time, suggested I apply for a job at the Postal Service. I started my career as a casual employee, but I’ve worked most of the jobs on the plant side.
I work Monday-Friday, and my hours are from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. As an expeditor, I accept and dispatch the trucks that arrive at the loading dock.
We get a lot of drop shipments, which are pallets of letters or periodical flats. Drop shipments can make things pretty hectic.
During the spring, we get a lot of birds. Our customers get chickens for eggs and ducks to have as pets, I guess. One guy likes to race pigeons. Those folks usually come down to the facility and pick up the birds themselves.
My favorite part of the job is interacting with all of the drivers who come through. I like meeting new people and just being around my co-workers.
The position has changed over time mostly due to the drop in volume. There are a lot fewer letters and a lot fewer trucks than there used to be. We see a lot more packages, though.
Scanning has also been a big change. We used to have to track everything coming through manually. Now we do it electronically.
When I’m not working, you can usually find me at home either playing with my dog or reading a book.
I’ve been married to my wife for about 15 years, and we have four adult children. We don’t have any grandkids yet, but I’m not in any hurry to be a grandfather.
A career with USPS has been good for my family. I think the fact that I’ve had so many jobs has made it that much more interesting.
“On the job,” a series on individual employees and their contributions to the Postal Service, appears regularly in Link.