US Post Office doesn't keep track of DUI records of it's drivers? Umm… What?

James Jarman

Awarded Best Investigative Reporting in the Nation by RTDNA

US Post Office doesn't keep track of DUI records of it's drivers? Umm… What?

November 12, 2009 at 2:52 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

The US Postal Service made some changes after our hidden camera investigation showed a letter carrier being driven to, from and around his route by other post office employees. The letter carrier had lost his drivers license after a 2nd DUI.

At first the Postal Service defended the action. Then after our story hit the airwaves & internet they switched gears and reassigned the employee to work inside.

We still had more questions though. Like, how often does this kind of “DUI-driving-the-letter-carrier around” thing happen in the country. We received emails from across the country from post office employees claiming it happened at their local offices. A few included offices in Idaho, New York and Kentucky.

So, we decided to ask the USPS Office of Inspector General some questions about it. Afterall, according to their own website, they play “a key role in maintaining the integrity and accountability of America’s postal service, its revenue and assets, and its employees.”

Perfect.

They must be interested in helping us get to the bottom of this, at least to “maintain the integrity and accountability of America’s postal service.”

Wrong.

(Now with apologies to US Postal Service Communications Programs Specialist Al DeSarro.)

They told Al to call us and answer our questions. After I specifically went to the Inspector General, they sent a PR guy to try to placate us instead of letting us talk to one of their 1,100 auditors about the data mining that would be required to get some answers.

Of course, Al didn’t have the answers. Indeed, he said he tried to get the answers, but it would be a very complex and difficult process because the USPS doesn’t keep track of those kinds of records. Exact quote now from Al, “they (USPS) don’t maintain those records on a national level, regional level, even on a local district level.”

Don’t keep track of how many of your drivers have DUI’s?

Really?

%CODE1%

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35 Comments»

Wheezy wrote @ November 13, 2009 at 3:36 pm

If it weren’t for the union these people could be fired for not being able to do the duties of their job but you would have to actually kill someone at work in order to be fired.

breezy wrote @ November 13, 2009 at 3:55 pm

inspectors keeeping the integrity?? c’mon anyone who works for the post office knows that they are just a puppet for upper management.

buttplug wrote @ November 13, 2009 at 3:57 pm

I work for the post office, screw all of them. I was forced to chauffeur 2 vested carriers around for months on end due to dui’s…one on his 3rd offense! I think this is bullshit, you’re job is driving a mail truck on public streets…get a dui and lose your license! Driving is your livelihood and public safety is a huge issue…I have seen nonvested carriers get fired for missing a days work due to a death in the family, get written up and suspended for missing a scan point! Pull your head out of your ass…dui= automatic dismissal…period!! Anyone that wants to challenge me on this…I give you the fattest part of my arse to kiss before you even open your mouth! There is a zero tolerance for this dui crap at the USPS!

psycho wrote @ November 13, 2009 at 4:35 pm

now now now, it is a golden rule, that anybody and I mean anybody that kisses ass is either promoted, given a detail that requires and IQ of 3, or sent to Postal jail, (a shit hole station with at least 600 stops that nobody that is at least a GED caliber would bid, and is 100 percent walking , including out of the office) until their time of punishment is up.

retired wrote @ November 13, 2009 at 4:47 pm

How many tv anchormen have past, or pending dui’s????????????????

non drinker wrote @ November 13, 2009 at 4:59 pm

Watch the idiot posts that some put in here. They either have a beef with someone either in management, or craft. The one that complains about the union has to either be jealous, or naiive as to how a union functions.

I can’t even begin to understand what a “vested carrier” is. I think it might be someone that has more “seniority” than the complainer, and he/she wants that particular carriers job/route.

Some people that work for the USPS haven’t been in combat either. It might be these very folks that complain about someone having a “problem”, whether it be drinking or worse. Granted, this carrier doesn’t condone drinking and driving AT ANY TIME!!!!! I just want to make that perfectly clear. Anyhow, some of those veterans that have been in combat situations have problems, some hidden, that some folks just don’t understand. Sometimes they need some “help”, and instead of asking for it properly, they might substitute actual help with alcohol.

In closing, this is also a site whereas people remain “anonymous”. Get them face to face with witnesses, and you will find out a different story from them.

non drinker wrote @ November 13, 2009 at 5:01 pm

Oops, almost forgot one important thing. I have NEVER been tagged for a DUI, or whatever charge that involves drinking while driving. Just to set the record straight for anyone that might ask.

Don wrote @ November 13, 2009 at 5:21 pm

This should not be surprising. This needs to be changed ASAP! And what does news peoples dui’s have to do with this? NOTHING. DUI should = FIRED!

Al Coholic wrote @ November 13, 2009 at 6:10 pm

As long as you report your dui to management, they cannot fire you. If you do not report this and they find out, then you may be terminated. If your dui happened off the clock, then no big deal, get a work permit just like everyone else and go do your job Professionaly like you do every other day. DUI does not equal termination dumbfucks!!!Ninety five percent of politicians and news reporters have a dui and that’s a fact jack!!

Jen Yo wrote @ November 13, 2009 at 6:20 pm

If you asswhole only knew what tha post office is REALLY LIke you’d be more surprized that all of us arent being driven around our route. I wish i HAD it that good. maybe i should start drinking!!!

postalvet wrote @ November 13, 2009 at 7:13 pm

I agree with this statement!!!!

inspectors keeeping the integrity?? c’mon anyone who works for the post office knows that they are just a puppet for upper management.

Sally wrote @ November 13, 2009 at 7:42 pm

They don’t even keep track if carriers even have a drivers license.I knew a carrier who was on the revoked list and he was delivering mail.

Cliff Claven wrote @ November 13, 2009 at 8:34 pm

We got a carrier in our office who got a DUI. His second one. And they’re doing the same thing. Driving him around. When will they ever learn? Kentuckiana District.

Tony wrote @ November 14, 2009 at 12:36 am

His driver was probably a lite duty do nothing anyway..

Anonymous wrote @ November 14, 2009 at 12:39 am

USPS Office of Inspector General some questions about it. Afterall, according to their own website, they play “a key role in maintaining the integrity and accountability of America’s postal service, its revenue and assets, and its employees.”

What a joke..I emailed them about a lazy carrier that sleeps for at least an hour in his personal vehicle on his route and they said they don’t handle this sort of thing

lisa wrote @ November 14, 2009 at 7:22 am

Inspectors Are Too busy listening to manangers who dislike employee who don’t kiss their feet or coworkers who just show up everyday because thats all it takes to become anything or anybody in the USPS. just be present everday drunk or what ever just be there.

doggiebag wrote @ November 14, 2009 at 9:11 am

If they didn’t keep track of their sex offenders, why would you expect them to monitor DUIs? Isn’t this asking too much of an organization with 42 Vice presidents?

Truth wrote @ November 14, 2009 at 2:02 pm

It’s in the contract that the USPS has to provide work for them. I don’t like it either but that’s the way it is. The contract is up next year have that provision taken out. Back in the day there was one contract and it stated that if an employee lost their POSTAL license that work had to be provided or pay them to be at home. There wasn’t a grievance for crossing crafts (clerk-carrier). Then they had separate contracts but the provision remained. Except now carriers couldn’t do clerk work that was a grievance. Not a viable option to pay them to be home. Arbitrators have interpreted that provision to now include State driving privileges. There are plenty of laws that don’t make sense. This is one of them. As a steward, have to follow the contract for my members. My personal beliefs are not part of the equation.

jjhasi wrote @ November 14, 2009 at 3:18 pm

Wow! The news reporter on this story should immediately be nominated for a Pulitzer! This story could save the world hundreds, maybe even tens of dollars in taxes every year. Oops, the Post Office is not directly tax-funded! But then again, everyone thinks the Postal Service is simply a public works program anyway, so why bother? Perhaps the Obama Administration should get all these Letter Carriers fired so the unemployment rate can hit 15% a little sooner. Jealousy is … a booming biz!

Witness wrote @ November 14, 2009 at 6:20 pm

Unions will fight termination of any employee for any reason including violence in the workplace and DUI on the clock or in their own private life. I have seen one instance of an employee assaulting another union employee in the same union. The employee was terminated. The union filled for reinstatement and the employee committing the assault got his job back. Must feel good to be the Union employee that was assaulted and now continues to work by the employee who got his job back. Management cannot force reassignment of the employee that committed the assault thanks to the ever protective union.
If the reporter would do his homework, he would have been able to easily find this type of information out. Instead he went for the sensationalistic journalism to try and get more viewers to watch the ads on the news shows. No telling how many promo’s were done before the story actually aired.

LIKE YOU ARE SHOCKED wrote @ November 15, 2009 at 2:49 am

You will NOT get the U.S.P.S cooperation in ANYTHING!!!!

I DARE you to try to get information on EEO complaints. We have managers with 50 + EEO’s. NOTHING is EVER DONE!!!! It is about time the MEDIA start taking a look at what REALLY goes on. Check on the DENVER GENERAL MAIL FACILITY!!! It is PATHETIC!!!! We have MANAGERS with DUI’s and ASSAULT and FELONIES!!!! HELP……HELP…..HELP!!!!

LIKE YOU ARE SHOCKED wrote @ November 15, 2009 at 2:52 am

JAMES,

I hope you read these!!!! I DARE you, Hell, I DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU to get EEO information on the Managers at the Denver General Mail Facility. Why is it acceptable for any U.S.P.S employee not to use a TIMECARD? Ah, So easy to FALSIFY your time. Come on U.S.P.S employees this is OUR ONLY VOICE OF THE EMPLOYEE that COUNTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! START TALKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HCR Drivers wrote @ November 15, 2009 at 3:34 am

As a contractor driver for the USPS we are immediately fired by our Employer for a DUI charge! The USPS will not allow HCR contractors to hire any driver with a DUI charge in the previous 5 years. Employees should be terminated if their job depends on operating motor vehicles on public streets, they should also follow federal DOT regulations that includes random drug testing.

lsw wrote @ November 15, 2009 at 11:11 am

Postal supervisors (I have been one for over 15 years) who have drivers in their unit are required to check their licenses 4 times a year. When an employee is found to not have a valid state driving permit, their Postal driving privileges are suspended.

Action can then be taken against the employee, subject to Labor Relations Manual and the National Agreement (contract) for not being able to perform duties required by their job.

I have personally been involved with 2 Postal employees who had their licenses revoked for DUI/DWI. One was removed and the other voluntarily bid on a job that did not require driving.

204b wrote @ November 15, 2009 at 11:58 am

We have 2 DUI carriers at the downtown station Colorado Springs. The PO lied News first, they are still being chauffered around by other carriers, and creating more overtime. Paying more to do someone else job. THis is one of the big reasons that they in the finacnial crisis.

JC wrote @ November 15, 2009 at 1:23 pm

The reason carriers are not terminated for DUI’s is because the same rule would apply to Management. There are supervisors with DUI’s driving route inspections and using official USPS vehicles for various duties.

Matt Call wrote @ November 15, 2009 at 3:31 pm

Thank you for your superb article. But I had difficulty navigating around your website because I kept getting 502 bad gateway error. Just thought to let you know.

Gruntled Postal Worker wrote @ November 15, 2009 at 3:45 pm

We had the same thing in the Raleigh, NC area. Though management here does check to see if you possess a license, that don’t check to see if it has been revoked. The carrier here only got caught because someone saw his mug shot published in a local magazine called The Slammer. No, he wasn’t terminated, he was driven around by another postal employee.

As for the OIG (Office of Inspector General), they only get involved if it involves a great deal of money, is a major crime, or becomes extremely high profile. On the other hand, if someone falsely accuses a postal worker of a serious crime, the postal worker will be investigated. However, nothing will happen to the person that made the false charges even if those charges were detrimental to the employee. It only cares if the employee did something wrong and would only follow up if the accusers messes over the USPS.

Go figure.

PS: for the guy complaining about tax dollars, get and education.

Bill wrote @ November 15, 2009 at 8:03 pm

Got one in my office that has a total of (5) DUI’s………..and I repeat (5)

Kukini wrote @ November 15, 2009 at 10:38 pm

As a retired postal manager I was appalled when I first heard of this prior to my retiring. The PS is REQUIRED to provide 8 hours of work to a carrier who has lost his/her license due to a DUI. Drinking is an “illness” and the carrier is not responsible for that. So sometimes they are driven to their route. Sometimes a walking route is created for them and in most cases they stay inside and work is found for them. Does great things for the morale of all the carriers who have kept their license and do their job. This is a labor problem and not the fault of the local managers.

buttplug wrote @ November 16, 2009 at 12:00 pm

Responses: I am retired US Army E-7, I have been to hell and back for our country so blow me on that comment!

A vested carrier is one with 6+ years on the job, get an education!

I have no gripe with postal management, they suck and I want a paycheck….I do as I’m told, nothing more nothing less!

I have no gripe with the union, they do what they do and I pay them to represent me. If I didn’t like the way my reps did their jobs I would nominate myself or another to replace the stewards…they do a fine job!

I don’t give a flying fuck about PTSD..we that have served have witnessed horrible things if we have been to war, 8 campaigns…I have seen enough shit to make a horror film!

I am not, nor have I ever been light duty, perhaps you’re just too much of a god damn pussy to speak your mind…you know I am right about having a dui and being able to continue to work, I feel that a carrier with a dui should have to use all of their annual and sick leave to cover the time it takes to regain their drivers license! This is a bullshit policy the USPS has and I feel it should be changed, no license…no job unless you do a walking route! Let’s sit back and watch all you crybaby pussies making suppositions, when someone close to you is killed or injured due to a dui driver I bet you change your tune! As I previously stated…this is a bullshit policy and you can kiss my ass!

Mel wrote @ November 29, 2009 at 3:15 pm

Supervisors are really butt kissers but at least they are good at what they do.

Karen w. wrote @ November 29, 2009 at 3:22 pm

The supervisors work on a buddy system. If they want to get rid of people, it will be people that cause problems. Dyke’s, whiners ,cry babies. If you have a “bike” you stay ,or if you golf with a boss you stay “Sometimes on your knees”. This is how the USPS is , was, and always will be. A lot of Miraculous recoveries have been made in the past several months. If I was a supervisor which I have no “taste” for. I would work the shit out of these miraculous recovery people. Do nothing for years on end and get rewarded. Place is a trip. Enjoy Colorado Springs.

Pat wrote @ February 9, 2010 at 4:06 pm

I don’t care who it is-if u get a DUi off the clock you shouldn’t be fired—period end of story

looking for a job wrote @ May 12, 2010 at 12:17 pm

Now I am just curious, could a first DUI, pleading no contest, paying everything off prevent one from being hired as a clerk?

I have a suspended for a year, to avoid further stress, I just paid for everything and went on with my life. I was charged with a DUI and I admitted to messing up, I made and ignorant decision to drive home and I hit a curb, I could have hit aperson, and I have never been so sorry about something in my life.

Could I still be hired?

James Jarman