Hello, Newman? U.S. Postal Worker Hoards Undelivered Mail in Nissan Pathfinder
A United States Postal Service employe was charged with hoarding thousands of pieces of undelivered mail on Thursday. The bulk of the load, which ended up being crammed into his Nissan Pathfinder, was comprised of more than 10,000 letters — a true testament to the vehicle’s nearly 80 square-feet of cargo space. However, more items were found stashed in his work locker and apartment. According to court documents, Aleksey Germash’s alleged dereliction of duty resulted in at least 17,000 pieces of mail going undelivered.
Earlier this month, the USPS’ Office of Inspector General received tip that there was an SUV parked in Brooklyn stuffed with mailbags. When Postal Service agents went to investigate, they found 20 blue post office bags holding mail intended for delivery to New York residents.
According to The New York Times, Germash said he has simply become “overwhelmed” by the amount of mail he was expected to deliver but “made sure to deliver the important mail.” If this sounds familiar, it’s because there was a running joke on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld where unhinged NYC postman Newman frequently stashed mail because he couldn’t cope with the volume.
The issue is fairly common occurrence. Between October 2016 and September 2017, the U.S. Postal Service said it has investigated 1,364 employee mail cases and arrested 409 employees.
Some of the mail found in the Germash’s possession was postmarked as early as 2005. He was released on $25,000 bail over the weekend.
[Image: NBC]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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When I worked for the Postal Service you would be reprimanded if you used the term "Junk Mail". We had to call it "Third Class". I helped process any and all mail to recipient Post Offices, regardless of sender or content. I delivered the First Class mail so fast that I had to quickly move on to help the Third Class throwers, who were quite slovenly. I was terminated on Friday, December 5, 1980 for "leaving government premises on a break", even though my supervisor told me to drive to Winchell's Donuts to get treats at 5 AM. I left the General Mail Facility and drove to a local Crown Bookstore to have a newly-released book signed by Ray Bradbury. The following Monday John Lennon was shot dead in New York. What a "weekend"!
Must have been a slow news day for the automotive world! Not much "auto" related to this, other than the guy happened to be driving a Pathfinder. Now, for full creepy effect, had he been driving a late 70's Econoline with the bubble port windows, THAT would have held some mail!
the carrier did state that he "made sure he delivered the important mail"so he does have a conscience at least, i myself could have never handled a job like that! deliver/dump - deliver/dump - deliver/dump - dump, dump, dump, dump,STOP!
I knew a guy that worked for USPS in the early 1980s. He told me that the post office he worked for got all employees together and they got a lecture. Essentially they were told that management was going to make their lives so miserable that they would quit before they qualified for retirement. They had increased workloads, erratic shift schedules, and general harassment. He quit soon after that. I imagine that situation did not do much to help employee attitudes and performance. About that same time frame another acquaintance that lived in the same area was not getting any mail. After inquiring at the P.O. it was found that they were hiring people and putting them on the job with no training. The person on his route did it for a few days, got overwhelmed, dumped the mail in a storm drain and went home.