I can see it now. Each carrier supervisor will be watching their computer all day long, viewing carrier’s progress based on some program that says where they should be. If not progressing as fast as the program says, an automatic letter of warning will be printed out. A nasty automated phone call will probably be sent, too, telling the carrier to go faster. More programs, more graphs, more management, but less craft workers. Soon, all postal workers will be tracked by their ID badges, so break and bathroom breaks can be monitored. “You said you had to do a number one, but you took longer than what a number two should take” would be an example of what a supervisor might say.

Waste of money. I can very easily adjust my walking pace to suit my needs and make sure I don’t get ahead.

Giving carriers deliveries other than their primary route is called Overtime, not pivoting.

Why don’t they also put cameras in the LLV while they are at it?

Don’t forget to wipe your MCO hole, especially if you have District Managerhea.

This is really laughable. I am so glad I’m retired. What they are saying is that they don’t trust you. Do you want to work as if you were being followed by a cop. As if a carriers job isn’t hard enough they now want to make it even more unpleasant. Does that system also take into account the time it takes to scrape ice off your windshield?

That’s funny. Your argument is that the older, more senior carriers slow down and don’t do as much work as younger, newer carriers. My experience is that people who are bums when they are hired are bums when they retire and those who produce when they are first hired, keep producing thier entire career. Some of the most productive carriers today have 25-35 years in the PO. And if your “aging” theory is true, then why the heck should an employer pay twice as much money to senior Step O employees who have slowed down to the point that they do half as much as when they were first hired. Seems to me, based on your theory, that the newest, youngest employees should start at 60 thousand a year and work backwards to retire at 30 thousand a year. The NALC argues that the older, senior carriers have more experience and are a greater asset to the PO, therefore step increases are justified…But youre telling us the union is wrong and the longer you are kept around, the less work you’ll do…Try that in the real world and see what happens. As for evaluated routes…they should be based on time, not whether they are walking or mouted so senior carriers can always bid to evaluated mounted routes and finsh their last 10 years riding. If your office doesn’t have mounted routes, then transfer to an office that does if you foresee yourself being unhealthy and unable to meet the job qualifications in 10 or 20 years. Under the current system, the unhealthy end up on limited duty – doing nothing all day while everyone else picks up the slack. Of course, the non-producers take home just as much money if not more than productive employees and contribute nothing to the USPS or society. You probably don’t have a problem with that either.

Right on MrZip

Paul , I work in Boston mass , every route here and we have 66 in our 2 zip codes deal with 75- 150 packages daily . most students move in by mail , 20 parcels to new apartment weighing 40 lbs each . also most routes take out 10 accountables daily , I.e express, certs, reds . so take your 4 packages and be happy clown!

You couldn’t be more wrong and it’s not funny. Senior carriers are more experienced and efficient. However the evaluated system does not recognize anything but speed. There is a reason there are no 50 year old football players. Senior carriers simply can not go as fast as they could when they were 20. That doesn’t make them less of a carrier in fact they’re better, they know and care for their customers, they are an asset to the service but they’re not as fast. The Union recognizes this undeniable fact by supporting the seniority system which allows senior carriers to bid routes commensurate with their ability as they age. They have earned and deserve the highest wage. They have paid their dues. Your mention of the unhealthy is cruel. We are all more likely to have something go wrong as we age. Nothing in your post acknowledges the fact that the evaluated route system gives no concern to effects of aging let alone addresses the questionable fairness of the evaluation system.

So BIgtime, let’s see you said most students “move-in” by mail, seems that once the semester begins the students have “moved-in” so there should be a reduction in the “move-in” parcels, or do your students “move-in” 12 months per year? I personally haven’t tried to fit 75 to 150 packages into the back of an LLV, but unless they are mostly small, but if they all weigh 40 pounds like you claim, they can’t be too small can they? So it seems it might be difficult to fit that many parcels into the back of an LLV along with the mail. Also, if you work in Boston, from my experience as a tourist there, many of the city proper routes are walking, where do you put 75 to 150 parcels in your satchel? Pretty tough to fit that many parcels in a relay box also. Or, do you have parcel delivery routes? I work in the Phoenix, AZ suburbs, and we have more than 4 packages daily, with multiple Amazon warehouses in the phoenix area, we get tons of parcels daily, Sunday’s included, but really, you knew that before you posted your senseless drivel, didn’t you?

that’s great, for him, then there are those who are hurt when they’re 25, one can always give rare examples, my post stands

I have 27 years in as a letter carrier with the USPS. In the last 6 years or so I have watched customer service go by the wayside, and the treatment of city carriers worsen daily. The rural carriers, clerks and management in my office every morning are laughing and joking with each other – it’s a happy place for them all as they eat their donuts. For us letter carriers as soon as we come in after our vehicle check around comes management with their clipboards with the magic DOIS numbers. So begins the “bullying process”, not the “estimate process” for the city carriers every single morning! Every morning, every day “DOIS says you should leave at this time and be back at this time”. Every morning, every day “DOIS says you are under” by whatever! I honestly believe management would not have a clue how to manage the operation daily without that DOIS computer printout. Maybe they would actually listen to the city carrier’s “estimate” based on their experience on their own assignment.
Lately in the AM the latest by management is confronting us as to why we were over in the office and/or street the previous day – even though we informed management the previous day as to why. Our managers are constantly on their computers daily now watching and looking up where city carriers are at on the street with the current GPS system. Management pivots routes daily and for some reason cannot understand it takes time to carry the pivot on the street, or that you have to wait for the pivot to be ready to take to the street. A minute here a minute there adds up quickly, and before you know it you are over. And forget about calling in to inform management you are over due to traveling to do your pivot – you are yelled at and told to do what DOIS says or else.
So as the new GPS is implemented I only see more bullying by management against the city carriers. The GPS has nothing to do with efficiency – it’s all about the numbers – trying to bully the city carrier to go faster to make management look good so they can get our “Pay For Performance” bonuses.
Get it over with – put a GPS computer chip on every worker and management’s forehead in the USPS including the top wasters in National, Area and District to monitor efficiency. If the computer shows a second was wasted zap the worker! Cause if the computer says it is so then it must be. How pathetic.
Five more years to go before retirement. Don’t know if I will make it without having to get on anti-anxiety medication to handle the daily stress and bullying. One third of my fellow letter carriers are anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds. So sad…

DOIS projects that imaginary under time daily. Evaluated routes? They’d have to add to them all based on DOIS. You’d get paid for 8 hrs, but wouldn’t leave before 6 pm.

That’s what I’m doing, living from one vacation to the next. I have 1 year 1 1/2 months to go. The main problem I have is that management always pushes those with a strong work ethic harder and lets their “pets” get away with murder! I don’t think this will ever change.

Bigtime,
So, let’s stop the one upmanship games okay? A pack of cigarettes is not exactly a parcel, is it? Many SPRS can be cased in with your mail. Your parcel estimates went from 75 to 150 in two posts. Yes, we get drop shipments daily from both UPS and FedEx and we do Sunday delivery for Amazon. In my previous post I mentioned that we have multiple Amazon warehouses in the Phoenix metro area. So let’s just say we are both overworked and let it go at that. By the way my wife and I love Boston. You should visit Phoenix sometime, but not between June and September, November through February when Boston is buried in snow and cold weather is a great time to be here for blue skies and 75 to 80 degree weather.

Same thoughts I had. When I started 20 years ago, heavy days you gave extra, light days management looked the other way. Now, light days you have to carry extra to “capture” time? And on heavy days? No way I’m giving that little bit extra any more!

They should put GPS on the supervisors and post masters and see where they disappear to while on the clock. Maybe they’ll catch some of them working second jobs while on postal time or maybe at the movies with there girl/boyfriends while there spouse is home. I am so tired of hearing how the carriers are not working. Maybe the supervisors and post masters should put a carrier uniform and start to carry when we are short handed. Three quarters of them would have a heart attack. They couldn’t do a carriers job.

This is why you fill out your 96′ and make a copy for your self. This is why you pitch your mail according to standards(18 and 8) which have been the same since the beginning of time. This is why you dont skip or hustle thru any of your daily duties like nixie mail, vehicle inspection, redelivery of hold mail, etc. The carriers are just as responsible as mannagement for the problems. Not swiping your badge when you change routes, taking out trucks on the roads with defects, getting caught 10 miles off your assigned route. Ive been a carrier for 28 years and Ive seen everything. Do your job like you were on inspection ever day. Management can scream till they are blue in the face and they wont be able to do squat

A rural carrier gets to go home when they finish – if they are fast, they go home early. Because I am fast, I get more stops added to my territory that I am expected to deliver to in 8 hours. I have 635 mounted residential deliveries that I deliver every day, yet there are some similar routes in my city that have half that number of stops – sound fair to you?

So, do you think the “adjust the route to the individual” is a fair system? Even though I am hourly, if I deliver more mail every day than slackards, they end up getting paid more!!!

People should be paid for the time they work. Bank tellers are paid by the hour not how by many transactions they preform. McDonalds workers are not paid by how many hamburgers they sell. Auto workers are not paid based on how many cars they make. ER nurses are not paid based on how many patients show up on a given night. All are paid for their time. It’s up to management to manage Enjoy your retirement !

I work in Arkansas, one of our carriers came in and was asked why he was in Ohio, he asked why they thought he was in Ohio, he was told that was what GPS on his postal cell phone (that goes with the old scanner) said. He told them he was not in Ohio he was in Arkansas all day delivering his route. So much for the accuracy of the GPS.

I’ve done my job in a safe manner my mail route evaluated at 8.15 and they added 1 1/2 hours to my route and told me this was an 8hour route. cwhocares, not the same post office you worked for the new PO has a new set of rules.

There is a standard but the PO violates the rules!

Paul I’m in an associate office in the Atlanta area and my route averages 65 to. 85 parcels every day plus I have to pickup an average of fifty to 60 parcels. So it possible to have a high average of parcels. This is not counting SPR’s!

I do not qork for the post office but am being told that a package was delivered to my home mistakenly. I did not recieve said package and then was told that they have a gps photo of the house when she left the package…is that even possible?

Wow! I only WISH we had management here that thought as you do! !

Cwhocares,
local management ruins the service!
AKA stupidvisors

They may worship them but I tell every new CCA not to join the union until they make regular, since the union is powerless for at least the first 90 days during probation, but are at the orientation like used car salesman trying to sucker in the CCAS money, knowing they cannot defend them.

I will say this:
There are those carriers out there who have worked for 20 years or more who race at the case to get out of the office, run the route so they can sit and relax under a tree for 2 hours. We all know which ones they are in our respected stations.
This new technology will make them finally, finally do there job the right way.

I think there are a lot of postal workers getting butt hurt over this. Too bad, do your job as outlined in your job description and this will not be an issue or matter to you, only arguments can be made if you wish to have lead to operate outside of your restrictions.

From a business standpoint, and I own one. This would be a GOD SEND! The USA as well as the rest of the world has just about lost all morals and mail fraud is rampant. This GPS unit will and HAS did you read that HAS already saved my business hundreds of dollars by catching would be liars stating they never received packages.

I called in, the cities had the trackers, carrier was right there on their street in front of their house lmao. You people are so focused on self that you miss the bigger picture and why you are not in management!

Funny thing is when we had a supervisor and Station manager who would come in leave you alone and say “All I ask is you work hard.. Work together as a team.” They left us alone and just let us do our jobs… We were ranked in the top 5 of our district… Now we got some new managers who have no clue what they are doing… Harassing and disciplining carriers for petty things… We are officially ranked 6th worst in the country…. LOL

What a professional looking carrier in the picture above! You like looking frumpy? Half-dressed? Just plain sloppy? Join the USPS! How would you like to have an accomplished business, and then have a frumpy dressed employee like the one above bring in a package or overnight letter in front of prospective clients? I would be embarrassed. The FedEx ground clowns are starting to look the same! I have been with the USPS for 25+ years and I am embarrassed as to how our work force dresses. Garbage men and rap singers wear less wrinkled clothes.

Unfortunately there are a percentage of carriers who basically refuse to work and manipulate the system as much as possible…and all union backed at least in my experience and local president at the time? Fred Rolando. Perhaps the union should take a new stance on assisting the weeding out of malcontents and misfits and salary thieves. Put them back at Walmart and raise the professionalism within the city carrier craft.

I’m sure they knew it was a glitch and laughed about it….don’t tell me your management is that stupid….that would be nuts.

it’s the same by us !

There are too many managers who don’t know how to evaluate probationary employees, even when they have an instruction sheet in front of them, so those sub-marginal employees get past their 90 day probation, and are then permanent… faults and laziness and all.

Dont do it!!!

Yup did the same to me!!