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Posted

I took it in 1974. I did well enough to get a summer job out of it. Unfortunately, it's too long ago to remember much about it. In part the written test is designed to measure your ability read quickly (addresses), to recognize and remember patterns, abilities you need to sort mail and put up your case as a letter carrier. I don't think the driving test is a big deal. It's mostly to see how well you can adapt to driving from the wrong (right) side of the vehicle.

Posted

The PSD machine-sorting system has really changed how the mail is put up; a carrier can make the case a lot faster b/c it's prebundled except for magazines, etc. It's being implemented pretty widely now, and the theory is that it will take less time and save money. There's been a lot of dogging during the counts tho. The carrier on my route has went at it honestly (he drives way too fast tho), and has gone from ~2 p.m. delivery to, most of the time, 11:30 a.m. to noon. As time passes, I would guess there will be fewer carriers needed for fewer routes as efficiency grows (unions be damned, b/c the PO really needs to cut their spending to stop raising stamp prices, which is killing their volume).

 

The test is probably the same as it was, tho, b/c it is a bureacracy. And then there's always the argument What if the machines fail, etc. Still, it's like making a math major learn the abacus.

 

Don't know about the driving test, but a little birdie told me those trucks handle like a pig. Especially in the snow.

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