Unique Gift Ideas For Delivery Drivers & Mail Carriers, If Your Neighbor Already Has A Snack Cart
Thoughtful gifts that will make their work lives better.
In this, the age of ordering everything online, you probably know your delivery drivers a lot better than you used to — to say nothing of the mail carrier you see every day but Sunday. They make sure our packages and parcels arrive on time, rain or shine, and all year long we bank on them to get what we need, whether the mail contains essentials for our lives or just fun little treats we’ve been eagerly awaiting. So if you’re able, the holidays are a great time to give something back to them. These gift ideas for delivery drivers and mail carriers are sweet, simple, and will actually make their daily work grind a little easier.
For starters, if you’re thinking of getting a gift for your mail carrier, you’ll need to know what they’re allowed to accept. Because they are federal employees, mail carriers must follow the law about what items they can and can’t accept. The United States Postal Service (USPS) website says:
“Carriers are permitted to accept a gift worth $20 or less from a customer per occasion, such as Christmas. However, cash and cash equivalents, such as checks or gift cards that can be exchanged for cash, must never be accepted in any amount. Furthermore, no employee may accept more than $50 worth of gifts from any one customer in any one calendar year period.”
Delivery drivers for private companies like FedEx, UPS, and Amazon are able to accept gifts of higher value or cash, so you have a bit more flexibility on what you can give them.
Gift Ideas For Delivery Drivers & Mail Carriers
Need some cute ideas on what exactly to gift your mail carrier? Here are some ideas from Kim Frum, a senior public relations representative for the USPS, that fit within their gifting guidelines:
- Bottles of water or sports drinks
- Candy bars
- Drawings and cards
- Gift bags with hand sanitizer, chapstick, Hot Hands, or snacks
- Gift cards for coffee shops or restaurants that are $20 or less (No cheating and giving multiple cards of $20 each — any gift must be $20 or less total.)
- Handmade items, like scarves or hats
- Homemade treats, like holiday cookies
When choosing a gift, think about the climate where you live. Delivery drivers and mail carriers spend most of their workdays outdoors or driving, so choose gifts that are convenient to transport home and maybe make their working life a little easier. For delivery drivers, it’s OK if you go above that $20 threshold, but many of these gift ideas fall near or below it anyway:
Whatever you decide to do for your mail carriers and delivery drivers this year, they’re sure to appreciate any gift. Seeing that their work matters to you and you’re grateful for them is what counts.
