For the past week, a group of truckers known as the “Freedom Convoy” has circled the Capital Beltway outside Washington, and begun to venture into the city. Perhaps some of the truckers might consider stopping off and filing a job application at the U.S. Postal Service while they’re in town. USPS, like other employers of truckers, is looking to hire.
“The ongoing national truck driver shortage is…hugely consequential to postal operations,” the Postal Service inspector general’s office recently reported. USPS has been short about 1,000 drivers in its Postal Vehicle Service for several years. The vehicle service, along with private-sector suppliers in USPS’s Highway Contract Route system, handles mail between postal facilities that are less than 300 miles apart. Long-haul routes of more than 300 miles are handled exclusively by HCR contractors.
So far, the vehicle shortage hasn’t had an impact on service, postal officials say. But it has put more stress on the existing trucking workforce.