Tuesday, May 11, 2010

My aching feet!

Benny here...

Carriers, clerks and almost every other postal employee spend lots of time on their feet. I know. I've had plenty of blisters over the years. Mrs. Franklin isn't too keen on rubbing my feet anymore, so I have to find better shoes.

One company, Rockport, has recently been studying carriers' feet. They looked at load factors, walking on a variety of surfaces and durability. They interviewed carriers and did quite a bit of research before coming up with a line of shoes they think will do the trick.

The three largest postal shoe retailers, Brookfield Uniforms, Ames Uniforms, and Postal Uniforms Direct carry lots of shoes, as do many of the 300 other uniform dealers.

Of course, the postal rules tell us that all shoes need to be fully enclosed at the heel, toe, and sides and made of leather or a substantial synthetic material. Canvas or nylon shoes aren't acceptable. They need to be made in the U.S. and be slip-resistant.

What do you think? What kind of shoes do you wear? Comment here.


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am sure that the USPS Vice President of letter carriers and USPS Vice President of clerk shoes and also the USPS Vice President of mail handlers shoes would dissapprove of any input regarding shoes from anyone except them. So, the USPS needs more money to hire more Vice Presidents to make a better decision regarding shoes.
Mike L.

hailstone said...

Growing up in a rural farm setting taught me the importance of taking care of my feet. My entire working life I've always wore work boots with proper arch and anckle support. Never have had back or feet problems because of this attitude. I've bought various marketed products claiming to be superior to the tried and true old methods but they don't live up to there claims. Several acquantances who work for various competitors and wear other types of shoes have constant back and foot problems. There's no free lunch -- wear quality foot wear or pay the price in medical problems!!

Anonymous said...

Several years ago I talked to a podiatrist who was part of an area study concerning postal worker's foot problems. Interestingly, they found more problems with clerk's feet than carrier's. Walking helps keep feet flexible and healthy but standing in one spot or moving back and forth in front of a counter or sorting case on concrete floors causes a lot of problems. I've had problems with plantar's fascitis and inflamation in the joints but losing weight, getting more exercise and wearing good supportive shoes made the pain disappear. You never know how much abuse your feet take and how much you take them for granted until they start hurting.

Anonymous said...

RED WINGS...A little hard to break in BUT after that... they're the BEST work shoe/boot that I've ever owned.