Tales from the Rural Route

By Andy Leheny
Published on July 30, 2008
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The postal service employees of Charlotte, Iowa, know serving a rural community can be somewhat unusual.

“I know working in the country can sometimes mean making some unusual deliveries,” says Mark Eskildsen, who has been with the United States Postal Service since 1984. “I’ve delivered chickens, bees, even crickets. This means being extra careful and keeping the packages warm.”

But even with well-protected packages, getting live chicks to rural route customers can be difficult at times.

“I have an 83-mile route,” Eskildsen says. “Sixty-seven of those miles are on gravel roads. They can be rough, or even mushy. The worst time I ever had was in 1993, when many area gravel roads were eroded and impassable. When it was possible, residents picked up their mail at the post office.”

The Postal Service provides a stipend for using his own vehicle for mail delivery, Eskildsen says. “But with the wear and tear on the car, sometimes the stipend isn’t enough.”

Eskildsen’s route includes 270 rural mailboxes and averages 6.25 hours per day to complete.

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