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On the Job: Carrier strives for service excellence

San Diego Letter Carrier Laura Tapia
San Diego Letter Carrier Laura Tapia strives to provide the kind of service that keeps customers loyal to USPS.

My name is Laura Tapia, and I’m a letter carrier in San Diego. I collect and deliver mail and strive to provide the kind of service that keeps customers loyal to USPS.

I start my day by “casing” my mail and loading my truck with the day’s deliveries. I also check to make sure the vehicle is clean, safe and has enough gas. I spend most of my day on my route, which includes businesses, apartment buildings, hotels and one hospital. I like all my customers. It’s so nice to see them waiting for me to arrive each day.

I’ve been with the Postal Service for six years thanks to my sister, Claudia Tapia, who is also a San Diego letter carrier. She encouraged me to apply. I was working two part-time jobs at the time to support my family. Now I have one good job with benefits and a retirement plan.

I’m still learning things. For example, during this year’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive, I collected more donations than previous years because I learned to make a better effort to talk to my customers and promote it.

Some people ask why I haven’t switched to another postal job yet, and I tell them it’s because I love being a letter carrier and talking to customers on the street. San Diego is paradise to me. The weather is always nice.

When I’m not working, I enjoy spending time with some of my co-workers. We go hiking and out to eat together. Vietnamese restaurants are my favorite.

I also spend time with my father and two sons. My oldest, Aaron Salinas, who is 23, is attending San Francisco State University, and my youngest, Aaran Salinas, 21, attends San Diego Community College.

The Postal Service has been good to me. I love what I do. I enjoy it every single day.

“On the Job,” a series on individual employees and their contributions to the Postal Service, appears regularly in Link.

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