LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Post offices in and around the Louisville area need dozens of mail carriers. As part of the United States Postal Service 10-year plan, Delivering for America, USPS is looking to hire 75 city carrier assistants (CCA).
For Charles Peterson, he applied because he likes to stay moving.
“I was coming out of college and was looking for work,” Peterson said. “I wanted something that paid well, had a good work/life balance.”
Peterson delivers to over 800 houses daily.
“I like that I get to keep moving, I meet a lot of nice people that I’m familiar with so there’s more than just small talk, it’s not awkward after a couple of weeks,” Peterson said.
After starting out as a non-career employee with USPS 5 years ago, Peterson has become a regular letter carrier with his own assigned route.
“I get to help make dinner, do the chores, get showered, and that was all before putting the young one to bed, something a lot of people don’t get to do,” Peterson said.
While many current city carrier assistants are transitioning to full-time letter carrier positions, USPS is looking to fill those spots by hiring 75 CCAs.
“This is a little bit higher right now and there are several reasons for that,” Susan Wright, spokesperson with the United States Postal Service for Kentucky, said. “First of all, we were staffing up as part of the Delivering for America plan. Also employees we hire prior to our holiday peak season have now been converted to regular career employees.”
For those on the overtime list like Peterson, he said he’s seen the impact of the need for mail carriers.
“It was pretty dramatic when COVID hit, a lot of new people quit, a lot of people retired all at the same time and we just never were able to fully recoup from that,” Peterson said. “We went from getting 15, 30 minutes of overtime on a daily basis to two hours.”
Picking up a few tricks has helped him along the way.
“I categorize the route into hours, so I’ve got it kind of timed and I know how long each street takes me,” Peterson said. “So I’ll put it between hour one and hour six on the street, then as I get through them, I’ll push them more towards the back of the van so I can grab them as I go.”
Giving Peterson more time for his growing family.
“But once you get the hang of it, delivering mail is delivering mail anywhere you go,” Peterson said. “It’s all about organization and double checking the address.”
The CCA starting pay is $18.92 with paid federal health benefits, paid vacation and paid federal holidays.