Explore by Career/Office and Administrative Support
Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
Prepare incoming and outgoing mail for distribution for the United States Postal Service (USPS). Examine, sort, and route mail. Load, operate, and occasionally adjust and repair mail processing, sorting, and canceling machinery. Keep records of shipments, pouches, and sacks, and perform other duties related to mail handling within the postal service. Includes postal service mail sorters and processors employed by USPS contractors.
- Median pay
- $56,530
- per year
- 10-year outlook
- -8.4%
- Declining
- Typical entry
- No formal educational credential
Key skills
- Monitoring
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Coordination
- Active Listening
- Operations Monitoring
- Judgment and Decision Making
What they do
- Clear jams in sorting equipment.
- Operate various types of equipment, such as computer scanning equipment, addressographs, mimeographs, optical character readers, and bar-code sorters.
- Sort odd-sized mail by hand, sort mail that other workers have been unable to sort, and segregate items requiring special handling.
- Direct items according to established routing schemes, using computer-controlled keyboards or voice-recognition equipment.
- Check items to ensure that addresses are legible and correct, that sufficient postage has been paid or the appropriate documentation is attached, and that items are in a suitable condition for processing.
- Bundle, label, and route sorted mail to designated areas, depending on destinations and according to established procedures and deadlines.
- Move containers of mail, using equipment, such as forklifts and automated "trains".
- Open and label mail containers.
- Load and unload mail trucks, sometimes lifting containers of mail onto equipment that transports items to sorting stations.
- Distribute incoming mail into the correct boxes or pigeonholes.
Majors that lead here
No mapped majors yet.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, Employment Projections) and O*NET, used under CC BY 4.0.