My name is Bruce Schnittker and I’ve been a letter carrier on the same route in Garden City, NY, for 41 years.
Before joining USPS, I was a butcher. But I wanted a career with benefits and a union, so I started looking for a civil service job.
In 1983, I took the Postal Service test and was then hired to work at the Post Office in Garden City, which is a village on Long Island.
Back then, we started at 6 a.m. Because there was no automation, we had to sort all the mail by hand, which took between 2.5 and 3 hours.
When I first started, we used our own vehicles before we got Postal Service Jeeps.
I have a park-and-loop-style route, which means I park and walk away from my truck in one direction, delivering mail down the odd side of the street and then back up the even side of the street. Then I do the same thing in the other direction.
I usually have two loops. Then I move the truck and do another set of loops. There are 360 delivery points on my route. I probably walk about five to seven miles a day, but I prefer to be out in the fresh air instead of sitting inside an office.
My customers make it easy to come to work every day. I’ve watched people grow up and have their own kids.
I approach this job with a positive attitude, which helps the day go by.