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RURAL CARRIER NEWS

2025 Rural Carrier Year in Review

A look back at the rural carrier universe in 2025

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North Attleborough postal worker delivers Christmas cheer as ‘Buddy the Elf’

NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. (WLNE) — For over a decade, a North Attleborough postal worker has delivered packages and Christmas cheer as Buddy the Elf. Some North Attleborough residents know him as Scott the mailman, but others, know him as Buddy the Elf. Since 2011, Scott Phillips has been delivering packages door...

USPS is bringing home the holidays

The Postal Service has entered the holiday season’s final stretch. Across the nation, employees are working hard to accept, process and deliver the last batch of holiday mail and packages. “This is the Postal Service’s busiest season, and it’s also a season that brings us so much joy. We love delivering...

After 1.8 million miles of service, rural USPS mail carrier gets big surprise from a Secret Santa

A local Secret Santa is giving $1 million to deserving people in eastern Idaho this holiday season. Every day, from now until the end of the year, the East Idaho News elves will be delivering gifts from Secret Santa and we’ll be sharing the surprise videos here. Jayne has worked...

Christmastime is here

Christmas, the annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ, is Thursday, Dec. 25. Historians believe the holiday originated in Rome in the year 336. As Christianity spread across the world, the celebration of Christmas became more widespread and the holiday evolved to include both religious and cultural traditions, such...

USPS OIG Wants your Thoughts on How the Postal Service Screens Potential Employees

Postal Service’s Employee Vetting Process Project start date Wednesday, September 10, 2025 Estimated release April 2026 The Postal Service must thoroughly screen and evaluate prospective employees to ensure suitability and maintain the integrity of the organization. The level of clearance required is based on the type of position; however, most positions are considered low...

The Postal Service Can’t Deliver Without Financial Reforms

By Roman Martinez IV Roman Martinez IV served as chairman of the board of the United States Postal Service from 2022-2024 and as a governor until December 2025. He was previously a managing director at Lehman Brothers until 2003. The United States Postal Service has reached a pivotal moment. Challenged by technological...

Implementation Update on the USPS Processing Network

The Postal Service presented its 10-year plan, Delivering for America, back in March 2021. The Office of Inspector General has done numerous audits of the plan, and it’s been reviewed by the Postal Regulatory Commission in two Advisory Opinions (N2021-1 and N2024-1), a Public Inquiry (PI2023-4), and other proceedings as well. In September 2025, the PRC asked the Postal...

U.S. Postal Service Announces Bid Solicitation for Access to Last-Mile Delivery Network

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service today announced that it will open up entry to its valuable last mile delivery network. Shippers large and small will be able to access the more than 18,000 USPS delivery destination units (DDUs) nationwide via a solicitation process that will begin accepting bids in late...

Use an FSA debit card? Keep all your documents

Postal Service employees with flexible spending account debit cards might be asked to provide documentation after using the card for out-of-pocket expenses. Inspira Financial, the Postal Service’s flexible spending account administrator, must ensure that such purchases are eligible under Internal Revenue Service rules. If a request from Inspira is not...

2025 Christmas period for rural carriers begins Saturday, December 6, 2025

The 2025 Christmas period for rural carriers begins Saturday, December 6, 2025 (Week 2, Pay Period (PP) 26–2025), and ends Friday, December 26, 2025 (Week 2, Pay Period 01-2026). During this period, certain timekeeping and pay rules apply. Timekeepers, including postmasters, supervisors, and other employees responsible for rural carrier...

Online Retirement Application (ORA) Effective January 1, 2026

Online Retirement Application (ORA) Effective January 1, 2026 The Office of Personnel Management has introduced a new system to process retirement applications. The Online Retirement Application (ORA) is a secure, fully digital system that replaces the paper-based process. USPS is now processing all optional retirement applications through ORA. (Disability applications...

26-year-old U.S. Postal Service mail truck driver (RCA) killed in two-vehicle crash near Kountze

KOUNTZE, Texas — The Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating a fatal crash involving a U.S. Postal Service truck that happened Tuesday afternoon at the intersection of U.S. Highway 69 and State Highway 327 in Hardin County. On Wednesday morning, DPS identified the driver of the postal service truck...

NEW: 2026 Rural Carrier Benefit Plan (RCBP) Premiums and Coverage Details

Did you know the Rural Carrier Benefit Plan (RCBP) is the only plan dedicated to rural letter carriers, annuitants, and their families? Membership is restricted to members of the NRLCA. The RCBP has been providing superior service to rural letter carriers nationwide for more than 60 years. With RCBP, you could save on your...

Grievance filed less than 90 days before Allen Park postal worker’s death warned machine was unsafe

Fewer than 90 days before 36-year-old Nicholas John Acker was found dead in a mail-sorting machine at the USPS Detroit Network Distribution Center in Allen Park, a formal grievance had been filed warning that the very same machine was unsafe, Local 4 has learned. Acker, an Air Force veteran and maintenance mechanic...

NEW VIDEO: NRLCA Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier: December 8, 2025

On December 8, 2025, NRLCA National Officers had the distinct honor of participating in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. This meaningful ceremony allowed us to honor not only the veterans within our NRLCA family, but also all the brave men and...

USPS worker dies at troubled Palmetto mail facility

PALMETTO, Ga. — A United States Postal Service worker died at the Palmetto mail facility, USPS confirmed with 11Alive on Monday. It’s unclear how the employee died, but USPS said that the person was a mail handler assistant at the Palmetto Processing & Distribution Center. “The Postal Service is deeply saddened...

Here’s the story of how holiday stamps came to be

Using holiday stamps to send season’s greetings may seem like a centuries-old tradition, but it’s really a relatively recent phenomenon. The first-ever Christmas “stamp” was a nonpostage seal, an idea developed in 1904 by a postal clerk in Denmark to sell seals to raise funds to help children with tuberculosis. That...
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