Photo/Illutration The Totsuka post office in Yokohama, where the drunk-driving case occurred in May 2024 (Kazushige Kobayashi)

The transport ministry issued administrative guidance to Japan Post Co. over the failure to hold a mandatory sobriety check before a worker got behind the wheel. 

A postal carrier who was caught after driving drunk in Yokohama last May prompted Japan Post to instruct post offices nationwide to thoroughly conduct mandatory screenings during roll calls.

However, in February it was discovered that 80 percent of post offices in the Kinki region were not properly carrying out tests required by the Motor Truck Transportation Business Law. 

A ministry ordinance states transport companies must conduct checks for their delivery workers, including alcohol tests before and after work and a pre-work briefing of health conditions.

Japan Post has not publicly announced the Yokohama drunk-driving case from May 2024.

According to Japan Post and internal documents, the drunken postal carrier, who was a temporary worker at the Totsuka post office, drove a delivery vehicle on May 11.

The post office did not conduct any before-delivery checks of postal carriers on that day.

The worker in question had been drinking until around 2 a.m., commuted to the post office by bus around 9:20 a.m. and left on a minivehicle for deliveries around 9:50 a.m.

When the worker returned around 7:30 p.m., another post office worker noticed the smell of alcohol.

Three tests detected a breath alcohol content of 0.40-0.63 milligrams per liter, leading to Japan Post’s conclusion that the worker was intoxicated.

It also found that the worker was drinking white wine from a plastic bottle inside the vehicle during the day.

Vehicle-mounted camera footage showed the worker driving recklessly in the late afternoon and at one point ignoring a red light.

Japan Post reported the case to the transport ministry and received administrative guidance.

The company also reported the case to police.

An investigation later found that the Totsuka post office had almost routinely failed to conduct checks on weekends. This case was no different, as May 11 fell on a Saturday.

In a notice issued on May 30, Japan Post instructed post offices nationwide to thoroughly conduct screenings of postal carriers on duty.

However, it was found in January that a post office in Hyogo Prefecture had failed to conduct checks and falsified records for years.

An investigation by Japan Post’s Kinki branch discovered improper testing at 80 percent of post offices in February.

The company started an emergency investigation of about 3,200 post offices nationwide on March 3.

The transport ministry is considering auditing Japan Post and slapping administrative punishment based on the results of the company’s investigation. 

After The Asahi Shimbun reported the problem on March 11, Japan Post announced improper checks in the Kinki region at a news conference the same day.

But the company still did not publicly disclose the Yokohama drunk-driving case from almost a year ago.

(This article was written by Nobuya Sawa, a senior staff writer, Yosuke Takashima and Yuji Masuyama.)

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