1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from how stuff works, Hey, brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 1: Lauren vogelbam Here. Neither snow nor rain, nor heat nor 3 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: gloom of night keeps your loyal mailman from making their 4 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:16,720 Speaker 1: daily rounds in their powder blue shirt, gray shorts, and 5 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: occasionally awesome safari hat. But how exactly did your trustee 6 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,480 Speaker 1: mail carrier get assigned the specific route? And how long 7 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,800 Speaker 1: are they stuck with it? The US Postal Service was 8 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: established by the Constitution, and the first Postmaster General was 9 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: named by George Washington. In nine The new country was 10 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:38,200 Speaker 1: served by seventy five post offices, delivering to four million people. 11 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:41,880 Speaker 1: According to Sue Brennan at the United States Postal Service, 12 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: your mail carrier's current route is one of more than 13 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: seventy four thousand rural postal routes and nearly a hundred 14 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: and forty five thousand city routes across the nation. The 15 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 1: longest single route in America is in Magnum, Oklahoma, where 16 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 1: a well traveled world carrier drives a hundred and eighty 17 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: three miles that's two kios every day to serve two 18 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: undering forty eight customers. The shortest route is in Athens, Georgia, 19 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: where a city carrier walks nine d and fifty feet 20 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,319 Speaker 1: that's two hundred nine ms to make two hundred and 21 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: eighty one deliveries. We spoke with Brian Renfrow. He's a 22 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: second generation letter carrier from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, currently serving as 23 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,120 Speaker 1: the executive vice president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, 24 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: a labor union representing America's two hundred thousand city postal workers. 25 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:27,960 Speaker 1: Renfrow explained to us the process by which an individual 26 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 1: postal route is designed and assigned for starters. Renfrow says 27 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: rural carriers and city carriers have different systems for determining 28 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: the size of a route. A rural carrier's route is 29 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,480 Speaker 1: much more consistent, and they are paid for the amount 30 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 1: of time it takes them to complete the route. For 31 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: city carriers, the guiding principle of route design is for 32 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: a carrier to complete the route in as close to 33 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 1: eight hours as possible. As you can imagine, an eight 34 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: hour route looks a lot different depending on your location. 35 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: In a dense urban center full of high rise apartments, 36 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: it might take a postal worker eight hours to serve 37 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: us a couple of blocks out in the suburbs. Another 38 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 1: postal worker might walk and drive miles delivering two single 39 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: family homes. The size and dimensions of each route are 40 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 1: calculated using a combination of computer based mapping software and 41 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: old fashioned on the ground experience. Renfrew said. The postal 42 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 1: service has a computer program that maps the exact location 43 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:22,959 Speaker 1: of every delivery point, not just this house is here, 44 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:26,120 Speaker 1: but where the mailbox is. And this program uses a 45 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:28,680 Speaker 1: number of algorithms to try to generate the most efficient 46 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: way to travel the route based on the time value 47 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: that's assigned to each street. The computer's timing of the 48 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: route is just a starting point, though after that it's 49 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 1: the postal manager's job to account for reality, which includes 50 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: all the variables that can impact the time it takes 51 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 1: to complete a route. There are seasonal fluctuations in mail volume. 52 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: There's inclement weather, there's road construction and new home construction, 53 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: and the very human differences between one carrier and the next, 54 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,360 Speaker 1: Renfrew said. Some letter carriers are tall, some are short, 55 00:02:56,639 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: some are young, some are older, some are faster, some 56 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:01,359 Speaker 1: are slower. There are all sorts of variables that play 57 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,960 Speaker 1: into it. There's no set time to deliver mail at 58 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: a particular house, the postal carrier has to spend a 59 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: few hours sorting the mail into trays before heading out 60 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: on their route. The trays correspond to the order of 61 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: the route. If the house is ahead of you on 62 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: the route happened to be heavier on mail than usual 63 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: on any given day, the letters may get to your 64 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:21,800 Speaker 1: box later than on another day, even if the weather 65 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: is good and there's no road construction or other delays. 66 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:27,519 Speaker 1: Keeping the roots as close to eight hours as possible 67 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: requires regular adjustments. Postal managers will conduct six day root 68 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: inspections to accurately time each part of the letter carrier's day, 69 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: from the daily morning sorting to the on the street 70 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: delivery to hanging up their bag at night. If a 71 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: carrier's day is stretching closer to eight and a half hours, 72 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: the postal manager will slice off a portion of that 73 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: route and divvy it up among nearby carriers with lighter loads. 74 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 1: That explains why you might see a new face on 75 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: your route every couple of years. Otherwise, the assigning of 76 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: roots at any given post office is done by seniority. 77 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: When a route is vacated, the carrier quits or retires, 78 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: or a new one is created, all the carriers in 79 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,320 Speaker 1: the office get too bid on the route, the carrier 80 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 1: with the most seniority wins. If you've had the same 81 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:12,320 Speaker 1: letter carrier for a long time, that probably means you're 82 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 1: part of a desirable route, or those cookies you gave 83 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,040 Speaker 1: them on National Postal Worker Day July one are really 84 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:22,120 Speaker 1: paying off. In addition to the long term root adjustments 85 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: that are made every few months or years, the Postal 86 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 1: Service also makes short term root fixes. When letter carriers 87 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:30,279 Speaker 1: show up to work every morning, they look at the 88 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:32,480 Speaker 1: day's mail volume and make an estimate of how long 89 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 1: it will take to complete their assigned route. Maybe it's 90 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:37,279 Speaker 1: a snow day or a day after a government holiday, 91 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: so the delivery volume is doubled. If they know it's 92 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:41,840 Speaker 1: going to take more than eight hours, they can either 93 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: volunteer for overtime. Overtime sign ups are every three months, 94 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:47,479 Speaker 1: or the supervisor can assign a portion of the route 95 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:51,480 Speaker 1: to other carriers for the day. Renfrew notes that though 96 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:55,040 Speaker 1: this may sound simple in practice, it can get complicated fast. 97 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,679 Speaker 1: Individual post offices in big cities like New York, Los Angeles, 98 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,279 Speaker 1: or Boston might have to hundred to three hundred letter 99 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: carriers to manage, each with hundreds of ever changing customers 100 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 1: to deliver to. Today's episode was written by Dave Ruse 101 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: and produced by Tyler Clay. Brain Stuff is a production 102 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: of iHeartMedia's How Stuff Works. For more on this and 103 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 1: lots of other topics that deliver, visit our home planet, 104 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:22,320 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. And for more podcasts for 105 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 106 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.