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Pushing the Envelope Blog

Driving the Rural Delivery Route

Date: 02/07/22 | Category: Finances: Cost & Revenue

The U.S. Postal Service has almost 80,000 rural delivery routes serviced by some 133,000 rural letter carriers. For some of those routes, USPS provides the vehicle; for others, the carrier uses a private vehicle and receives a maintenance allowance from the Postal Service for wear and tear. In fiscal year (FY) 2020, the Postal Service paid out nearly $583 million in maintenance allowances — a rise of $71 million, or 13 percent, over FY 2015.

Not long ago, the Postal Service started converting some private-vehicle rural routes to USPS-vehicle routes, estimating the change would save $888 million over six years. For a recent audit, we reviewed a sample of these completed conversions nationwide as well as future conversions, and found that the Postal Service’s strategy for these changes was generally effective. We also discovered a few shortcomings.

For instance, maximum savings weren’t realized because USPS wasn’t implementing conversions in a timely manner, and we determined that some of the future conversions wouldn’t be the most cost-effective. We made a couple recommendations to improve the process, and Postal Service management agreed with both.

Are you a rural letter carrier, or do you know one? How does a USPS-vehicle route compare with the private-vehicle route? Does one seem more cost-effective from your point of view?

Leave a Comment

Your Name
Amy Copeland
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
Private vehicle’s are the only way for a true rural route to be delivered the Postal Service does not need to provide vehicles for these routes the metris van is a complete failure it’s not suitable for rural delivery Postal Service has not provided enough proper maintenance or back up vehicles to prevent the delay of the mail when A route has been assigned a metris van I suggest contacting Honda to see if they would be interested in manufacturing a right hand drive vehicle for the United States Postal Service similar to the ones that were provided by Subaru years ago jeep wranglers are not reliable enough as well and should not be considered the only choice
Your Name
Ronnie callaway
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
I personally would love to have a vehicle placed on my route cause then I wouldn’t have to maintain a vehicle and make my life less stressful
Your Name
Ellen krantz
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
I’m a rural carrier in new waterford Ohio. We have 2 k routes. One route has a metris. I have been waiting for my metris for over a year now. My office needs it! We can’t keep rcas because of the responsibility to keep a car running. Bench seat cars are no longer available. Which makes it hard to find a vehicle to use for the route. There are 2 routes in my office and one has a metris. I am on the second wave of vehicles that are supposed to be appointed out. I need a gov vehicle asap!
Your Name
Jeff Hunt
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
I’m POV 62 miles. Maybe 5 miles of dirt road. I have 2 mail vehicles. Insurance, tax, brakes, tires, oil change and misc yearly work that pops up plus the gas I use…. I profit about $5000 per yr from EMA. Been doing this 13 yrs now. It would be a hit to lose that extra $ but not having to deal with the maintenance would be worth it for me. So it wouldn’t be cost efficient for me to have a GOV and over 10 yrs, that’s roughly $50,000 tax free profit. Not sure of the cost of a metris van but I’d think the post office would be saving money if I had one.
Your Name
denise armstrong
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
I believe it would be more cost effective for the post office to convert all rural routes to government supplied vehicles. please do away with the ema & provide all routes with vehicles. you would be able to maintain employees.
Your Name
Kelly Osborn
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
BEST vehicle for rural routes are By FAR LLV! Hands down No question about it! It's turning radius is uncomparible. Easier to get to box. Much harder and takes much more time to deliver out of POV or Metrix!
Your Name
Jeanne hartman
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
I was so excited to get the new metris van. Having no more repairs was suppose to take stress off me. Instead I have more stress. I have a 132 mile route and my metris goes nowhere in the snow. I was stuck at my 3rd box Friday and it was plowed out. I would have missed 90 percent of my deliveries Friday if an rca with 4x4 hadn’t take half the route. I still missed 215 deliveries between the two of us. This is unacceptable to put a rear wheel drive in snow country. It’s so stressful and terrible customer service. And to top it off we have carriers smoking in these brand new vehicles. They have felt ceilings which hold the smoke in. I refuse to drive one that’s been smoked in. This is not suppose to be allowed yet it’s happening everywhere and no one is doing anything about it. I never thought in all my years I’d be expected to work in a smoking environment. I’ve made a complaint to my local congressman as well. I was brought a metris on Black Friday and when I opened it it almost knocked me over it smelled so bad. I thought I’d have an anxiety attack. I cannot deal with any cigarette smoke. Why is this being allowed?? One time I was brought an llv to drive when my metris was broke down and I went through 5 llvs in two weeks because they all had issues. I filed a safety grievance over it. The stress getting one of these wasn’t worth it. Id rather fix my own 4x4.
Your Name
Lonnie L Womack
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
Postal owned would over all be more cost effective and convenient. I have to purchase a vehicle I can deliver mail in. My sub if I ever get also will have to get a vehicle to deliver mail in. Getting e vehicle to deliver mail in is a difficult task. I have had to go out of state to find one (twice). I have been getting paid overtime for a year because it's hard to find someone willing to use a pov for delivery. I could even get a day off if only I had a postal vehicle.
Your Name
Donna Massey
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
I'm an Rca with my own car. The newer vans seem to break down more than the older ones. But it's hard to find car, van, or jeeps you can buy to drive on mail route. It cost alot to buy the kits to have brakes and steering wheel put on other side. The post office doesn't pay you enough to do this. In long run think it's better with you giving the vans to the routes.
Your Name
Chris
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
I have been a rural carrier for 12 years. I have found that the government provided vehicles that have been provided LLV are unreliable, in addition to being a health and safety Hazzard. The amount of dust the LLV allows in is unhealthy. Blowing mud from your nose for days and the suspension and parts are under maintained and worn out. In addition the narrow front makes handling on gravel roads sketchy. Unable to do the speed limit and slowing down mail delivery and the carrier’s do not get compensated correctly because of the evaluated system.
The Metris is the VFM's job security vehicle. Windows, sensors, doors, internal controls get filled with dust and stop working. The fueling turns into a headache. Something fills with dust and prevents normal fueling. Makes the fuel pump shut of every time you pull the handle. Wasting time and money.

I have preferred my POV. Yes, it can be expensive for me to maintain. And yes ,EMA doesn't always cover the expenses. But I know that when the maintenance is done correctly. I most likely will not be stranded on the side of the road Waiting for the VMF for hours. This includes a simple flat tire that I can change if necessary. In addition, I live in Iowa where we have some bad winter's. I have been able to perform my duties because of my well maintained vehicle with the right tires and do it safely. This task is very difficult with a government vehicle with rear wheel drive.
Your Name
Anonymous
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
Unless you are going to provide 4 wheel or all wheel drive vehicles, I’d rather drive my POV. Our rural routes in Montana in the winter needs a dependable vehicle that can make it through snow and slush. The only upside would be that we maybe able to get RCA’s hired and retain them. Since they wouldn’t have the cost of converting or buying a right hand drive.
Your Name
Melissa Burch-Necaise
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
I would love a vehicle provided to me instead of me maintaining my personal vehicle. Please give me one, o would be so grateful.
Your Name
Lisa
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
The post office does not take care of their vehicles while it may save money for the post office personal safety for carriers should be their first concern. Using a pov is safer then driving around in non 4wd vehicles with bald tires sucking in exhaust fumes
Your Name
Christine Lochard
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
I have an LLV and I like that a lot more than driving my personal vehicle. Only thing I wish is that my LLV was taken better care of. I also wish for being on a rural route I wasn’t sent out in a toaster in the summer. Rural routes need vehicles that have air conditioning. The po needs to quit wasting money on crap vehicles and get good sturdy vehicles that can handle the rural routes.
Your Name
Anonymous
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
Personally I would like a government vehicle for my route. However, if it wasn’t a four wheel drive, I would have a lot of unhappy customers due to being unable to deliver packages to their home. I have a 99 mile route which is 75% gravel/unpaved. Metris van wouldn’t last a year on my route.
Your Name
Aaron
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
One of the biggest problems is that the metris and the ngdv are both ill-suited to truly rural routes. Ground clearance is insufficient and the rwd metris suffers from insufficient traction on any surface other than dry pavement, not even touching on the poor reliability model mercedes are known for.
Many rural offices have insufficient space and infrastructure to accommodate the full electric fleet that has been proposed. With the epa estimated fuel economy of the ngdv and the repair costs of modern vehicles the post office cannot touch my running costs of 22 cents per mile I get in my 1995 jeep cherokee.
In summary, the metris was one of the worst out of the box vehicles that could of been put on rural routes, the ngdv needs to be brought back to the drawing board, and it may never be cost-effective to convert some routes from pov.
Your Name
Cort Sears-Massey
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
I’m honestly at a 50/50, it really boils done to what is best for the company. My route is 78 miles. Personally the biggest Benefits to me are the heat and all wheel drive in the winter.
Your Name
Anonymous
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
If you get to you a POV then you at least to get a vehicle that’s safer. Working heat and A/C. Headlights that work. No water leaking all over you while it’s freezing out.
Your Name
Kimberly
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
Probably cheaper to fix a Jeep than a Mercedes.
Your Name
Chasity Todd
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
I feel like the EMA has not been adjusted to correctly reflect the costs it actually takes to drive a POV. I was on the route for 8 months and went through 3 sets of tires and 6 full sets of brakes, and I was just an RCA. The EMA earned didn't even come close to the cost of repairs. Let's not forget, the stress if the POV is out of service, then you're out of work. Nor does EMA cover the dangers of sitting in the middle and not being able to be properly restrained. I've seen too many carriers killed from straddling and not being able to be belted in.
Your Name
Lisa Garcia-Toth
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
I’m a RCA on a rural route, I’m all for getting POV’s as long as they can get through snow and mud. Most rural carriers have 4 wheel drives because that is what we need to finish our routes certain times of the year.
Your Name
Jennifer
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
POV make more sense in extreme rural areas. Having 4wheel drive and higher vehicle clearance allows for easier delivery on dirt and gravel roads.
Your Name
Branden
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
The ema ant enough to cover the cost of parts gas the extra insurance plus break down time in a pov is on us if we break down in there’s we get paid
Your Name
Shirley Palmisano
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
I used a POV for years then finally got an LLV … not sure how anyone can find a vehicle large enough to hold all the parcels we get .. it is much easier in an LLV
HANDS DOWN LLV is Best
Your Name
EMR
Feb 7, 2022
Your Comment
Here’s your problem. And it all goes to why rural majority “POV” offices are struggling to find help. Who wants to come to a job that requires them to spend $2K-$3K right off to do the job after they’re hired? These offices will never have a full house of RCAs with this situation. Worse yet, the regulars who have put in their RCA time are working way more than they should have to from lack of help. RCAs are burned out and on the verge of quitting, if they haven’t already from lack of help. As far as a POV vs a GOV, the POV EMA isn’t enough to barely cover putting gas in it. Y’all forget, or don’t have a clue. Besides gas, there’s expensive repairs such as alignments, two sets of brakes(front/rear) and two sets of tires on average a year. That’s not even coming close to the suspension repairs that are a guarantee yearly. And to pay a shop to do the work. Luckily l’m a mechanic by trade or I’d be broke just from shop repairs. Then there’s that thing called insurance. Y’all really think it’s cheap having a “work” car covered for insurance? Think again. And what’s worse is having a vehicle that isn’t big enough because of all this Amazon that’s being put on us. There’s another $10K minimum to buy a worn out van just to deliver all those parcels. A good one, you’re looking at a minimum $20K plus. So the EMA might as well be called gas money. Because “Equipment Maintenance” is as far from what that money covers. As you can see, GOVs is a benefit to the rural carrier more than what your numbers on paper show. Get out from behind your desk and come do what we do. Drive your POV on these rural roads and then you’ll see what I mean. Go make two and three trips to get all this ridiculous amount of Amazon delivered. This job use to be an “in demand” career. Now it’s just hire anyone who can foot the bill on a used car to do a job that EMA couldn’t cover if it was a $1 per mile. Y’all really need to wake up and realize the struggle us POV carriers deal with. No help and expensive repairs. And a vehicle nowhere near big enough to deliver all this massive amount of Amazon that’s out of control. So that’s why we need vans!!! I seriously doubt any of y’all will read this or even care. That’s kinda the morale us POV carriers have right now. But if you do, I’d love to meet DeJoy or whomever is in control of GOV distribution/EMA to let them know exactly what we deal with everyday.