USPS Worker Cooks A Steak Inside His Truck To Showcase How Dangerously Hot His Work Conditions Are
The summers in Arizona are hard to bear. In fact, it gets so hot there that even things that aren’t supposed to melt are melting like ice cream. In July, the city of Phoenix reached the highest temperatures of the year and it looks like the heatwave is not going away soon. While people are trying their best to fend against the excessive heat, some employers forget their responsibility of taking care of employees and instead are busy collecting their well-earned jerk-boss of the year titles. This time the offender is US Postal Service.
More info: azleg.gov
Image credits: banlon1964
As it turns out, the USPS postmen must deliver mail in trucks with no climate control in a heat that cooks a raw steak to medium doneness in just a couple of hours.
Recently, Arizona lawmaker Rep. Shawnna Bolick brought to everyone’s attention how horrendous the work environment is for USPS drivers. She wrote a letter to the American Postal Workers Union leadership and Postal Service executives in which she states: “It has come to my attention that quite a few USPS employees over the past few weeks in the Phoenix area have been sent to the emergency room to deal with heatstroke and heat exhaustion”.
The lawmaker said that she was shocked to find out that that the employees have no air conditioning in their trucks as the temperature soars up to 128 degrees (53 °C) inside of them.
As it appears, US Postal Service is familiar with the consequences brought by these hazardous working conditions. Earlier this year, they received a $150,000 fine for the heat-related death of a 63-year-old Los Angeles area mail carrier.
It seems that it may be hard for some USPS executives to imagine what it’s like to work under these conditions, so one of the employees found a way to help them out.
After measuring the temperature in his truck over the course of a couple of weeks, he found out that temperatures have averaged about 128 degrees Fahrenheit inside of the vehicle. It prompted him to conduct an experiment to see if it’s hot enough to cook a steak on his car’s dashboard.
After placing the raw steak on his dashboard and leaving it there from 10 am to 12:30 pm, the steak had an internal temperature of medium-rare steak (142 degrees).
Image credits: nyenyec
Bolick demanded to know what USPS is doing to improve employees’ working conditions and take the necessary steps to remedy the situation.
Here’s what people had to say about the whole situation
71Kviews
Share on FacebookStay safe out there people. Keep lots of water nearby. Stay in the shade. And don't forget sunblock, hats and fans. I do not envy the people that have to work out in the searing heat.
Can attest to the heat in Arizona. Not only will it cook your meat but don't leave lotion, hand sanitizer in the car. I had a bottle explode due to the heat.
I think the problem is, like almost all cases like these, that it's cheaper for them to pay fines for workers who died under their hellish working conditions than it is to install ACs on all the trucks, or get new trucks that have AC in them. Human lives just don't matter to these people, they only care about money. Fines need to be higher in order to 'convince' them that human lives aren't cheap. I mean, a $150,000 fine for allowing working conditions that ultimately caused a human being their life? That's insulting.
Ok I have to know...... DID HE EAT IT? How was it? A little seasoning, slow cooked in its juices from good ole natures oven. Has to be tasty!
It usually takes someone to die before a company do anything about whatever caused the death. The fact someone *did* die and they haven't done anything about it, is purely barbaric.
So, your body temperature can not go above 104 as an adult without serious risk to life. So, when it is 128 degrees, the only way to cool off is to sweat. How do you lose enough heat to keep you 24 degrees cooler than the air around you? I mean, how is that even physically possible? I know evaporation of sweat cools you down, but 24 degrees of cooling? We were not meant to live in that kind of heat. There IS an upper limit to how much heat you can bear.
If you left your pet in a car with air temp outside at 90F/32.2C, you could be fined due to endangering the pet and pet could easily die. But it's okay for humans to be in a vehicle with outside air temp at 128F/53.3C and no AC? I've always rooted for USPS and try to never use any other delivery service. I'm not very fond of them now.
A sensible boss would stop work in these conditions. ??? Do these people not have a union to protect Health and safety at work??? ..... Air con may not work with jumping in and out all time, but workers could take cool breaks. * which should be mandated. ... Cool seats could be installed ( adjustable by worker) . So .. um sort of like water cooled engine. Fluid circulates in the seat / and back of seat, is cooled by refrigerator tech.
A quick and relatively simple partial fix, would be to change work hours to the cooler parts of day. 2 - provide mini fridges with cold drinks and ice packs. 3 -Mandate cool breaks at ...? shopping centres?
Load More Replies...Yeah, try the same thing in a UPS truck which is dark brown and has a fiberglass roof and you'll get a well-done steak in a few hours. And last time I checked UPS drivers aren't just sitting in their rig or walking a few steps to shove lightweight things in mailboxes.
Hi, postal worker with USPS here. We actually don't "walk a few steps", a mounted route might but those of us on city residential routes are generally walking eight to thirteen miles in a day, every working day while carrying a bag full of smaller parcels and am arm full of mail. Most sections (swings, in our lingo) are a block or two long before we can move the truck and do it all over again all day long.
Load More Replies...Feel for all delivery drivers out there with no ac in their vehicles . You are a better person than me
They continue to raise the price of stamps yet they won't provide safer working conditions for the drivers? The US Postal Service should be sold to a private company. Perhaps the conditions would improve if the government wasn't running the postal service!
Since 2003, trucks purchased have AC. However, this doesn't mean much if you are stopping and walking, or stopping and putting mail in boxes. Or if you drive an older truck.
imagine the live export of animals then....they die on heat...GO VEGAN!
I bet it was more rubbery than if on a grill. Article didn’t answer the real questions
Load More Replies...Hi, most of the country doesn't have the new trucks yet and are still operating out of the ones from the 80's or are using a whole different style that cannot do mounted routes.
Load More Replies...Stay safe out there people. Keep lots of water nearby. Stay in the shade. And don't forget sunblock, hats and fans. I do not envy the people that have to work out in the searing heat.
Can attest to the heat in Arizona. Not only will it cook your meat but don't leave lotion, hand sanitizer in the car. I had a bottle explode due to the heat.
I think the problem is, like almost all cases like these, that it's cheaper for them to pay fines for workers who died under their hellish working conditions than it is to install ACs on all the trucks, or get new trucks that have AC in them. Human lives just don't matter to these people, they only care about money. Fines need to be higher in order to 'convince' them that human lives aren't cheap. I mean, a $150,000 fine for allowing working conditions that ultimately caused a human being their life? That's insulting.
Ok I have to know...... DID HE EAT IT? How was it? A little seasoning, slow cooked in its juices from good ole natures oven. Has to be tasty!
It usually takes someone to die before a company do anything about whatever caused the death. The fact someone *did* die and they haven't done anything about it, is purely barbaric.
So, your body temperature can not go above 104 as an adult without serious risk to life. So, when it is 128 degrees, the only way to cool off is to sweat. How do you lose enough heat to keep you 24 degrees cooler than the air around you? I mean, how is that even physically possible? I know evaporation of sweat cools you down, but 24 degrees of cooling? We were not meant to live in that kind of heat. There IS an upper limit to how much heat you can bear.
If you left your pet in a car with air temp outside at 90F/32.2C, you could be fined due to endangering the pet and pet could easily die. But it's okay for humans to be in a vehicle with outside air temp at 128F/53.3C and no AC? I've always rooted for USPS and try to never use any other delivery service. I'm not very fond of them now.
A sensible boss would stop work in these conditions. ??? Do these people not have a union to protect Health and safety at work??? ..... Air con may not work with jumping in and out all time, but workers could take cool breaks. * which should be mandated. ... Cool seats could be installed ( adjustable by worker) . So .. um sort of like water cooled engine. Fluid circulates in the seat / and back of seat, is cooled by refrigerator tech.
A quick and relatively simple partial fix, would be to change work hours to the cooler parts of day. 2 - provide mini fridges with cold drinks and ice packs. 3 -Mandate cool breaks at ...? shopping centres?
Load More Replies...Yeah, try the same thing in a UPS truck which is dark brown and has a fiberglass roof and you'll get a well-done steak in a few hours. And last time I checked UPS drivers aren't just sitting in their rig or walking a few steps to shove lightweight things in mailboxes.
Hi, postal worker with USPS here. We actually don't "walk a few steps", a mounted route might but those of us on city residential routes are generally walking eight to thirteen miles in a day, every working day while carrying a bag full of smaller parcels and am arm full of mail. Most sections (swings, in our lingo) are a block or two long before we can move the truck and do it all over again all day long.
Load More Replies...Feel for all delivery drivers out there with no ac in their vehicles . You are a better person than me
They continue to raise the price of stamps yet they won't provide safer working conditions for the drivers? The US Postal Service should be sold to a private company. Perhaps the conditions would improve if the government wasn't running the postal service!
Since 2003, trucks purchased have AC. However, this doesn't mean much if you are stopping and walking, or stopping and putting mail in boxes. Or if you drive an older truck.
imagine the live export of animals then....they die on heat...GO VEGAN!
I bet it was more rubbery than if on a grill. Article didn’t answer the real questions
Load More Replies...Hi, most of the country doesn't have the new trucks yet and are still operating out of the ones from the 80's or are using a whole different style that cannot do mounted routes.
Load More Replies...
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