Posted on 06/26/2025 7:22:01 AM PDT by DallasBiff
A 51-year-old Dallas letter carrier, Jacob Taylor, died over the weekend after collapsing on his route.
Taylor's cause of death is still unknown pending the results of an autopsy.
The National Association of Letter Carriers fears his death could have been related because of how similar it was to the death of Eugene Gates, who died of heat exhaustion two years ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at fox4news.com ...
How did they know?................
Newman!!!!
Another Dallas Postman died on the job 2 years ago.
“On June 20, 2023, Dallas letter carrier Eugene Gates Jr. collapsed and died on his mail route. The heat index that day was 117 degrees. His wife said the vehicle he was driving that day was not air-conditioned.
OSHA fined the U.S. Postal Service more than $15,000 for not protecting Gates from the heat. The citation listed recommended measures, including earlier start times and a heat acclimatization plan.”
Same thing happened to a postal worker here where I live in Colorado a couple weeks ago.
Safe and effective is NOT the cause.
We have the most wonderful mailman. It has been hot as blazes around here the past 3 days. When we can catch him getting into his truck, we give him water and Gatorade. He is very appreciative.
A bottle of water doesn’t cut it in 117 degrees. Especially if it’s in the jeep getting hot. If your core temperature gets up too high, you die. And really, they should have AC.
So he is too cheap to bring water, gatorade, or other liquids with him.
““On June 20, 2023, Dallas letter carrier Eugene Gates Jr. collapsed and died on his mail route. The heat index that day was 117 degrees. His wife said the vehicle he was driving that day was not air-conditioned.”
Non air-conditioned USPS delivery vehicles has always been the case as far back as I can remember.
My dad was a letter carrier back in the 80s and drove a jeep.
However, lately the USPS in my neighborhood had been driving vans that appear to have AC, but not every day.
People who work outdoor jobs full time need to know the basics of working outdoors life, and managers and foremen need to maintain the basic heat/cold education and enforce it.
Is this really news?
I would expect at least one mail carrier death per day due to cardiac arrest... A lot of mail carriers are fat and out of shape... That’s why they give them those tiny vans to drive around in. If wasn’t for those tiny vans, the death rate amongst them would be much higher.
UPS, USPS, and others, they all buy special truck fleets, it would be reasonable to design special A/C for those open door trucks focused purely on the driver in between stops and it would also cool them if the heat was so bad that they needed to just sit in it for 15 or twenty minutes to get their body temp under control.
It is popular to blame the employer for every mishap experienced by a worker. But at the end of the day coming home with all the parts you left with or even coming home at all is a personal responsibility.
No one is responsible for you except you. I have had some wonderful employers who cared deeply about my safety. But never once did I leave my well being in their hands.
One employer said that lift truck drivers and pedestrians (factory worker) were each responsible for looking out for each other and they had guarded cross walks and flashing lights for lift trucks everywhere.
My other employer said “Assume that the lift truck driver is trying to kill you”.
Guess who never had a death or even serious injury?
Taylor looks like a nice guy. RIP.
While the guy from two years ago was definitely working in bad conditions with 117 temps, this summer has been one of the cooler ones with temps in the lower to mid 90s. Still, that’s hot. Postal vehicles should all be air conditioned these days.
Of course the last time USPS tried to get a new fleet that got blocked.
I believe the USPS does the same.
I’m 70 and was out doing carpenter work mad dogs & Englishmen yesterday.
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