United States
In the United States, there are three types of mail carriers: City Letter Carriers, who are represented by the National Association of Letter Carriers; Rural Carriers, who are represented by the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association; and Highway Contract Route carriers, who are independent contractors. While union membership is voluntary, city carriers are organized nearly 93 percent nationally.
Letter carriers are paid hourly with the potential for overtime. Letter carriers are also subject to "pivoting" on a daily basis. When a carrier's assigned route will take less than 8 hours to complete, management may "pivot" the said carrier to work on another route to fill that carrier up to 8 hours. It is a tool that postal management uses to redistribute and eliminate overtime costs, based on consultation with the carrier about his/her estimated workload for the day and mail volume projections from the DOIS (Delivery Operations Information System) computer program. Routes are adjusted and/or eliminated based on information (length, time, and overall workload) also controlled by this program, consultations with the carrier assigned to the route, and a current PS Form 3999 (street observation by a postal supervisor to determine accurate times spent on actual delivery of mail).
Carriers who walk generally also drive postal vehicles to their routes, park at a specified location, and carry one "loop" of mail, up one side of the street and back down the other side, until they are back to their vehicle. This method of delivery is referred to as "park and loop". Letter carriers may also accommodate alternate delivery points if "extreme physical hardship" is confirmed. In cases where mail carriers do not have assigned vehicles, they may also get undelivered mail from relay boxes placed along their routes.
Rural carriers typically work routes that have a lower density and higher mileage than those of letter carriers. They all work mounted routes, leaving their vehicles only to deliver to group mailboxes or to deliver an article that must be taken to a customer's door. However, now that former rural areas are being urbanized, their routes are growing very similar to mounted "city routes." Rural carriers often use their own vehicles and are not required to wear a uniform. Because of urbanization around cities and because rural carriers deliver mail at less cost to the Postal Service, the rural carrier craft is the only craft in the Postal Service that is growing. Highway Contract Route carriers work routes that were established with a density of less than one customer per mile driven (some later become denser and can then be converted to rural delivery). They are only mounted routes, and all HCR carriers use their own vehicle. These routes are typically found in outlying areas, or around very small communities.
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- 3/4 cup olive oil, divided
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder, divided
- 1 (16-ounce) loaf Italian or French bread, cut into 1-inch slices
- 10 plum tomatoes, chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Preheat oven to 400º. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; mix well and brush over bread slices. Place on a baking sheet and bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden on both sides.
- In a large bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup olive oil and 1 teaspoon garlic powder, and the remaining ingredients; mix well. Spoon over toasted bread slices, and serve.
****By baking this in a really hot oven, the bread gets crispy on the outside and stays tender on the inside
