If you think it’s hot outside, try being a mail carrier for a day.

The U.S. Postal Service is open almost year-round, and mail delivery doesn’t stop because temperature may reach triple digits.

Water and Gatorade are go-tos for Carlos Marable in the summer.

”In my circumstances, I had a child and I needed a job with benefits, so that was my motivation,” Marable said. 

The mail carrier has worked for the postal service for 28 years. He’s used to dealing with scorching hot weather, but he says he is not a machine.

“The mental part is when it gets really, really hot out here. You have a job to do. So you are coming out here and trying to get that task done,” he said. 

He works five days a week for at least eight hours a day.

“It’s demanding. It’s definitely demanding,” Marable said.

So is the need to get all of the letters and packages en route to their final destination.

“Every day you come out here, you are just pretty much trying to take care of the public by delivering mail and parcels,” he said.

Marable, 55, is constantly hydrating. He estimates he can drink half a gallon of water each shift.

“And sometimes that’s not enough. The most important thing is that you hydrate before and after, and during,” he said.

He drives a truck with no air conditioning. A report from the Center for Public Integrity showed about 70% of postal service vehicles do not have AC. 

“Sometimes you have to talk yourself through it or drown it out and keep pushing, but that’s the dangerous part because you don’t know when you have pushed too far,” he said.

As long as delivering the mail takes care of his family, he said he will find a way to keep going.

“Peace of mind when you are out here by yourself. No one is standing over your shoulder. Beautiful,” Marable said.