What did the Postal Inspector say?
What did your union DR say? (not just that it's illegal, what are THEY going to do about it?)
Your Congress representative (House) in their home office has a person dedicated to things like the post office, IRS, etc that are federal jurisdictions. I believe you can contact their office and ask for anonymity due to threat of retaliation, etc. Your customers can surely call your Representative.
I'll tell you what my district rep said.
They said they can delay the mail if they want. (I don't know if that's true when there's actually criteria spelled out)
When you Hotline on OIG website it says that you won't find out the results. It says that you should wait 60 days before filing a FOIA request if you want to see what their findings are.
I just figure that this is our only way of having an investigative interview.
Here's part of my letter:
While management has the "right to manage," they do not have the right to intentionally delay mail to manipulate route evaluations or avoid paying overtime. Here is the breakdown of why this is against the rules: The Sanctity of the Mail. According to Handbook PO-603 (the rural carrier’s primary manual) and the ELM (Employee and Labor Relations Manual), all employees—including managers—are required to handle mail to prevent "unauthorized delay."
Willful Delay: Intentionally holding back mail is a federal offense (18 U.S. Code § 1703).
Official Stance: USPS headquarters consistently reminds staff that delaying mail to "save hours" erodes public trust and can lead to administrative action or removal.
Impact on Rural Route Evaluations: The rural craft is unique because pay is based on the evaluated time of the route. This delayed mail is not accounted for on the radar report. The radar report is how rural carriers are paid based on an average of daily mail. When the daily mail exceeds the standard amount because it is multiple days worth of mail, carriers should receive proper compensation to adjust for the mail that is unaccounted for. Because rural carriers are paid based on a "system of averages" (the evaluation), the rules about how mail is handled are much stricter than for city carriers. Any mail left at the case directly affects the data used to calculate your salary.
Proper Procedures for "Left Behind" Mail if mail is legitimately delayed (e.g., it arrived too late from the plant), management must follow specific protocols: PS Form 1571: Any time mail is not delivered on its scheduled day, it must be reported on PS Form 1571 (Undelivered Mail Report). If a manager tells you to leave mail behind but refuses to sign a 1571 or instructs you not to fill one out, they are likely attempting to hide the delay from higher-level reporting systems.
Exceptions
There are a few rare cases where delaying mail is permitted:
Safety: If a bridge is out, there’s an aggressive dog, or weather makes a road impassable.
Acts of God: Fires, floods, or storms that prevent the carrier from completing the route.
Operational Necessity: Occasionally, if a clerk shortage means mail isn't sorted until long after the carrier’s "cut-off time," a postmaster might delay it to the next day—but this must be documented.
18 U.S. Code § 1703 is a federal statute that specifically addresses the "Delay or destruction of mail or newspapers" by USPS employees. It is one of the foundational laws used to ensure the reliability of the U.S. Mail.
Here is a breakdown of what the law says, who it applies to, and what the consequences are:
The Legal Text
The statute is divided into two main parts:
Subsection (a): Focuses on any "Postal Service officer or employee" who unlawfully detains, delays, or opens mail (letters, packages, bags) that was entrusted to them or came into their possession.
Subsection (b): Specifically addresses the delay or destruction of newspapers by an employee, or an employee permitting someone else to do so.
Key Legal Elements
To understand how this applies to a manager delaying a rural route, there are three critical terms:
"Unlawfully": Courts have interpreted this to mean acting without authority or outside of authorized postal procedures. If a manager delays mail to hide poor performance metrics or to manipulate a route count, that is generally considered "unlawful" because no postal regulation authorizes mail delay for those reasons.
"Detains or Delays": This is not just about destroying mail; simply holding it back from its intended delivery schedule is a violation.
"Knowledge": Recent court rulings (like the 10th Circuit) have clarified that the government doesn't necessarily have to prove the manager had a "bad motive" (like stealing). They only need to prove the employee knowingly engaged in conduct that was unauthorized.
Penalties:
Violating 18 U.S.C. § 1703 is a serious matter:
Imprisonment: Conviction can lead to up to one year in federal prison.
Fines: The court can impose significant financial penalties.
Employment: Beyond criminal charges, a violation of this code is almost always grounds for immediate removal (firing) from the Postal Service.
Why it Matters for Rural Carriers
If a postmaster or member of management tells a carrier to leave "raw mail" or "parcels" or "DPS" or "flats" behind because they don't want to pay overtime, they are potentially stepping into § 1703 territory. While management often claims "operational necessity," they are legally required to report delayed mail.
, nor sleet, nor fog of night nonsense.... thing of the past.... 
