New schedule in effect for Texas USPS mail carriers following employee’s death in Dallas, source says
By Briahn Hawkins, Tiffany Liou
On June 26, 2023
It’s suspected that Eugene Gates’ death was heat-related, but that has not been confirmed.
According to the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 132 President Kimetra Lewis, USPS letter carriers will have a 7:30 a.m. start time effective on Monday, June 26.
This comes after the death of 66-year-old Eugene Gates Jr. The NALC Branch said he collapsed in Dallas’ Lakewood area while delivering mail door-to-door on Tuesday, June 20.
It’s suspected that Gates’ death is heat-related, but that has not been confirmed as of June 26. USPS officials and Gates’ family are waiting on an autopsy to be completed.
The heat index was 113 degrees that afternoon at about 3:00 p.m. when the incident happened.
Gates’ sudden passing has been directing attention to working conditions for letter carriers.
NALC Branch President Lewis, along with other sources, told WFAA that start times for letter carriers were originally 7:30 a.m. at the Lakewood Post Office, but it was recently changed to 8:30 a.m. due to lack of clerk staffing.
The day after Gates’ death, Lewis said USPS management agreed to resume the 7:30 a.m. start time on Saturday. Multiple sources confirmed it was announced on Thursday morning to the Lakewood letter carriers.
Sources then said it was changed back to 8:30 a.m. before Saturday came around. Frustrated, Lewis spoke to local journalists about the situation. Then on Sunday, Lewis told WFAA mail carriers were notified that the 7:30 a.m. start would be effective beginning Monday.
This time, it happened.
In addition to that, Lewis was told the air conditioner was broken in Gates’ USPS vehicle. She is looking into whether a ticket was filed for repair in the vehicle. Lewis said it is the mail carrier’s responsibility to make sure their units are in working condition.
Gates’ widow, Carla Gates, spoke to WFAA two days after her late husband’s passing.
Gates had been a USPS letter carrier for almost four decades. He and Carla met at a Lancaster church in 2010, started dating in 2013, then got married two years later.
“When he meant yes, he meant yes. When he meant no, he meant no, and when he loved you, he loved hard,” Carla Gates said on Thursday. “If you came across his path, you would have never forgotten him.”
Carla Gates is now begging for more answers about her husband.
“Am I mad at the postal service? Yes. Am I angry? Yes. The mail will still be there, but my husband won’t.”
She believes the 7:30 a.m. start time is not enough during the extreme heat of Texas summers. She said it’s already hot by that time. She remembers when her husband started his shift at 6:00 a.m., and believes that would be a better solution for letter carriers.
Carla Gates said, “Not just for the postal service, for anyone that is working out in this hot Texas weather outside, that’s a death trap.”
When asked about the start times for USPS letter carriers, the company said they have no further information at this time.
However, on Saturday, A USPS representative sent the following statement to WFAA:
“Our carriers deliver the mail throughout the year during varying temperatures and climatic conditions. This includes during the summer months when the temperatures rise throughout the country. The safety of our employees is a top priority and the Postal Service has implemented a national Heat Illness Prevention Program (HIPP) for all employees. In connection with the HIPP, the Postal Service provides mandatory heat-related and other safety training and instruction to all employees and assures they have the resources needed to do their jobs safely. Carriers are reminded to ensure they’re hydrated, wear appropriate clothing, including hats, get in the shade whenever possible, and to take sufficient amounts of water and ice with them out on their routes. Carriers are further instructed to contact 9-1-1 in the event they begin experiencing any symptoms of heat exhaustion or heat stroke, and they are provided with information to help them identify the symptoms associated with these two forms of heat illness.
Since 2003, all motor vehicles purchased by the Postal Service have been equipped with air conditioning. Thirty four percent of all current postal vehicles have air conditioning. The Long Life Vehicles (LLVs) used by many Postal Service carriers did not come equipped with air conditioning features from the manufacturers, and were purchased through the early 1990s. As of April 2022, 153,000 LLVs and Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFV) were still in operation, and all have fans.
The Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDVs) will feature air conditioning among other features including improved ergonomics, and some of the most advanced vehicle and safety technology — including 360-degree cameras, advanced braking and traction control, air bags and a front-and-rear-collision avoidance system that includes visual, audio warning and automatic braking.”
This piece was republished from WFAA ABC News.