This was no ordinary summer for the 79 college students who interned with the Postal Service.
The interns were assigned to sites across the nation, where they worked on a variety of operational projects.
For example, a group of Pacific Area interns worked on Delivery By Light, a program to reduce carriers’ loading and delivery times.
The team installed LED light strips in a delivery vehicle and modified its existing lighting, dramatically slashing time spent searching for parcels. In one trial, loading time was cut in half, while delivery time was reduced by about 11 percent.
“I gained a real understanding of how mail processing works, from both the plant and delivery perspectives,” said Sierra Raney, one of the interns who worked on the project. “My team took an out-of-the-box idea and created something that has the potential to change delivery forever.”
In Great Lakes Area, LeeAnn Lugo created an Excel program that links Post Offices to their Google reviews and developed surveys to help districts share customer wait time data with others.
Meanwhile, at USPS headquarters in Washington, DC, Jared Leone helped devise strategies to improve safety programs by analyzing industrial accident rates and their relationship to employee engagement.
“The tasks were a little daunting at first,” Leone said. “But the coaches were always there to give me the guidance I needed.”
Another headquarters intern, Erica Davidson, developed an interactive game to improve carrier training and reduce vehicle loading times.
“Our summer interns made great contributions to our organization,” said Learning and Development Director Susan McKeen. “The projected cost savings, improved efficiency and other results of their work look promising.”
The 10-week summer intern program is open to college juniors and seniors. Employees seeking more information should email inquiries to universityrelations@usps.gov.