I drive an 11-ton box truck for the Buffalo, NY, Processing and Distribution Center.
My day starts at 2 a.m., when I punch in at the plant. I help a mail handler load my truck, and once the load is secured and I receive the green light, I “scan out” and drive to a nearby station, where I have to meet the times on the scanners.
Once I arrive at the station, I have 10 minutes to unload the truck. Then I’m due out at 3:05 and back at the plant at 3:30 a.m. Then I load up for a run to another station.
I’m on the road, back and forth between the plant and the stations, for the next few hours.
My lunch hour is around 8 a.m. After I eat, the expedited mail comes in. I take the expedited mail out to the stations, pick up the empty equipment and come back. I fuel up the truck and park it in the garage. That’s the end of the day. I punch out at 10:30 a.m.
I’ve worked for the Postal Service since 2016. My first job with the mail was in 1996, when I got a job as a contractor. It was basically the same thing I do now.
The job has definitely changed. Back when I started, you didn’t have scanners. You couldn’t track anything. Today, everything is tracked. Even the trucks are tracked through GPS. The technology has made it more efficient.
I like my shift. The traffic is lighter in the morning. It’s more peaceful. It’s nice to get out from work at 10:30 in the morning.
I can pick my daughter Kayla up from school at 3 p.m. She’s 16.
On my off time, I visit my parents. I work on my house. I like to go out to the country. I have a couple of 4-wheelers that I like to ride.
When I’m out there driving, I always drive safely and act with courtesy. When people look at a truck, they aren’t looking at the driver. They’re looking at the company. I want people to look at the truck and think, “The Postal Service has professional people.”
The Postal Service is a solid job. I work with good, hardworking people. I think my job is very important. I love what I do. I can’t see myself doing anything else.
“On the job,” a series on individual employees and their contributions to the Postal Service, appears regularly in Link.