With the Arizona summers raging in full swing — and in July, the city of Phoenix reached the hottest temperatures of the year — there are a few things that are getting out of hand.
One of the being the US postal system. The USPS drivers reportedly must deliver mail in trucks with no air conditioner.
Arizona lawmaker, Rep. Shawna Bolick, revealed to everyone the unacceptable working conditions for USPS drivers. In a letter to the American Postal Workers Union leadership and Postal Service executive, 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 heat stroke and heat exhaustion.”
The lawmaker revealed that she was appalled to find that the employees have no air conditioning in their trucks as the temperatures can get up to 128 degrees inside of them.
This is not the first time the US Postal Service has run into these hazardous working conditions. Earlier in the year, they received a $150,000 fine for the heat-related death of 63-year-old Los Angeles area mail carrier.
One of the employees found a way to help them by conducting a meaty experiment.
After measuring the temperature in his truck over the course of a couple weeks, he discovered that temperatures have averaged about 128 degrees Fahrenheit inside of the vehicle.
Which lead to him to cook a steak inside his truck.
After placing the raw steak on his dashboard and leaving it there from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – the steak had an internal temperature of a medium-rare steak or 142 degrees.
Bolick demands to know what USPS is doing to improve their employees’ working conditions as well as take the next steps to improve the escalating issue.
