Many postal workers responded to last week’s article, USPS Productivity Has Declined This Year, about USPS delivering fewer mail pieces per work hour than it did a year ago. From the comments, on Dead Tree Edition and on other sites, come eight reasons for the USPS’s declining productivity:
- Longer hours: “Perhaps if we weren't so short staffed and didn't have endless OT being forced upon us, our productivity would be better,” wrote one of several letter carriers who blamed declining productivity on fatigue caused by longer routes and work days. USPS statistics back up claims from the front line that overtime is increasing among carriers.
- More street time: Not only are carriers working longer hours, automation has resulted in them spending more of their day actually delivering mail rather than preparing it for delivery. “I know I am nowhere near as fresh at hour 10 as I am when the day starts after walking in 90 plus heat and full humidity.” Automating the sequencing of mail had been contributing to rising productivity the past few years, but how much of those gains are being lost to burnout? (Which may be why we've heard nothing more about a 2010 USPS proposal to have some carriers making deliveries all day while others prepped mail full time. Aug. 5 update: Oops! USPS recently experimented with the concept, as discussed in Postal Service Trial of '100 Percent Street Time' Fails.)
- Flats Sequencing System: And then there’s the issue of what happens when automation doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do. “The billion-dollar wonder flat trashing machines are a nightmare on the street,” wrote one carrier. The huge machines’ erratic performance sometimes result in carriers spending just as much time preparing the mail, or even more, but now have more addresses to serve than in the past because of the expected productivity gains from FSS. Last winter, that led to many carriers delivering mail after dark – definitely not a high-productivity environment.
- Shortage of postal clerks: “There are fewer clerks processing mail. It takes longer to get the mail to the carriers, so it takes longer for them to get it to the street,” said one employee. “For every one minute of delay on the workroom floor each morning, you lose (1) x the number of carriers,” noted another. “We have about 60 routes. We've had one clerk excessesd, one moved to the 'Concierge' position, etc. We lose the equivalent of 50-60 man hours nearly every day.”
- More delivery points: “Adding millions of delivery points every year will always increase delivery costs,” wrote one commenter, “while increasing volumes (or decreasing volumes) will have little effect on delivery costs because most of the delivery cost (the cost of servicing a delivery point) is fixed while the marginal cost of delivering a mailpiece is darn near negligible in comparison to the fixed cost. In other words, the cost is in having the carrier walk up to the door; whether he is carrying 8 pieces or 3 pieces doesn't affect the cost of making that delivery.”
- More parcels: “Parcels definitely take more time” than letters, noted one carrier. The Postal Service’s growing parcel business, coupled with the declining letter business, means fewer mail pieces can be delivered per work hour.
- Management: The complaints about USPS having “too many supervisors who supervise the supervision of supervisors” are nothing new. But many employees believe that USPS’s recent downsizing efforts have focused too heavily on unionized employees and not enough on supervisors and administrators who never "touch the mail.”
- Morale: Cutbacks, increased labor-management disputes, and USPS’s insolvency are discouraging postal workers and sapping their productivity, several have said. One put the situation succinctly: “Good news---> high morale---> high productivity. Bad news ---> low morale---> low productivity.”
108 comments:
It's about time someone got an answer from someone other than the PMG about what is wrong. Has anyone considered that the PMG does not know what is going on?
Great story. We managers too get tired of having to defend carriers walking in 100 plus temps for 7 hours a day. And then asking them to backtrack to mail out of sequence in dps. Something has got to give. These carriers are not machines. District Management does not care if they are 65 or 70. Just tell us why it took them longer to get from point a to point b.
Management doesn't care ......
first of all the whole reason this is happening is because upper management and especially the district know it alls are trying to justify their jobs by trying to save expenses on the largest group of employees the carriers, they don't care if people get the wrong mail or if business's get their mail after they are closed, only that they pivot...and get back by 5pm. its a joke and no one seems to be able to make a decision in management. As for less clerks, thats a good thing, many walk around all day, on break, lunch, have to go to the bathroom and are off more than they are on, i say eliminate the clerks and bring in all casuals and move the clerks to carriers and let them feel how it is to work for a change!!
When you make a blanket statement like management does not care.... we too could make the statement that carriers are all lazy. I am a Postmaster and I do care. The fire is rolling down hill from DC. If you vote Republican, you are simply throwing another tank of gas on the fire and we will all continue to burn until there is nothing left.
With management, it's never about delivering the mail. It's about whether you can take an extra relay on what they think is a light day. It's about not using more overtime than their numbers tell them you can have. It's about making them selves look good, and getting their bonuses. Moral is low because management sucks.
When everbody is makin 8 dollars an hour everything will be just like the politicians want...
How about the way mail volume is counted in the first place? Estimates made from calculated guesses based on expectations of assumptions. My boss has to fudge the numbers to keep her boss happy and so on up the chain of command until the numbers given to those at the top are no where realistic. Recently we even had a day where our pivot plan was made out the day prior! How do you do that not knowing what the volume is going to be that day?
All the talk about making the USPS more like a private business? lol Maybe its time to bring in an outside management consulting firm to review the USPS Management Structure from the Top on down to the floor and make recommendations? Won't happen though. It would make too much "cents". :)
The bottom line. just read these statements. they hit the nail right on the head. Those who have the power to change can't see the forrest for the trees.
YOU KNOW WHAT I DID AFTER 31 YEARS OF STRESS AT THE P.O. AS A 52 YEAR-OLD CARRIER ? I OPENED UP A CAN OF RETIREMENT PAPERS !! BEST THING I EVER DID !! GET MANAGEMENT ON THE ROAD (WITH THE SATCHEL ON THEIR SHOULDERS)AND LET THE CARRIER HOLD THE WATCH SO THEY COULD LEARN HOW TO RUN,PIVOT AND GET BACK ON TIME AFTER EVERY ROUTE (ADD-JUSTMENT)!!
pmg pat donahoe has been a total failure in my opinion. how he keeps his job is just an indication that there is no accountability for postal management.
Management cares more about making MSP points than delivering the mail in the correct box. Having to update names when people move in/out is critical to the mission, but takes away from their productivity. Getting hit with over 100 parcels/spurs, 15 accountables, and having to do Advo's the day after a holiday really wipes you out. Do away with Saturday, and the day after a Monday holiday will kill you.
It's not surprising since my mail (in Arlignton VA, 22201) was being deliverd at 8:30 PM tonight!
This Postmaster did carry mail. Suburbs of St. Louis. I started as a casual driving tractor trailer out of downtown 6months. I became a TE letter carrier, then PTF letter carrier for 3 years. Then I switched to clerk on midnight shift for over 2 years. Then I started going into management. I worked my way up to level 18 Postmaster. I still sort mail, carry and do what ever needs to get done. Not to steal work from my employees, but to help them when they need it. I love my job, I love the group I work with & I love the USPS. I just dont like the PMG. His leadership skills and the direction they are taking will be the end of us. Your manager is not the enemy. Your carrier is not your enemy. Each office is a team and all employees in that office have a responsibility. Play hard and leave it on the field. When the score is final, we will only have ourselves to blame.
I'm retiring on Disability at age 42 after 14+ years as a Letter Carrier. What the Army didn't/couldn't do, the USPS DID! The 'Postmaster' above, who pointed out that they 'care'....gimme a break!! All management cares about is NUMBERS in the REPORTS that go 'up the chain'. Never will I believe that a supervisor or postmaster cares about anything other than themselves. I watched friends nearly lose their livelihoods over BS! I had one friend who was in a severe accident after working 10+ hours a day for weeks on end---and almost got FIRED because of it. She was SO TIRED AND SO MENTALLY EXHAUSTED that she passed out behind the wheel. I, myself, started having more and more serious problems related to PTSD because of the stress...the VA just sent me packing. I'll take the war ANY DAY over the Post Office, at least I could defend myself.
What bonuses? Do you even work for the USPS? Lower level managers have not received a 'bonus' in almost 15 years. And what u mean by bonus possibly, is actually a cost of living adjustment that is built into our performance. If we dont perform, we dont get our COLA.
Isn't the idea of privatizing the postal service breaking the Constitution? The Government is supposed to provide this service as per the Constitution....not some business
lazy carriers, lazy clerks, maintenance who do absolutely nothing, career employees who take advantage of their union rights. supervisors who have no clue on what it takes to deliver mail. management who have their hands tied and act like the give a dam about anybody in their stations. working te s like their robots and have no lifes. everyone pointing the fingure every which way and having its me against u mentality. u wonder why they want privatize this place because its a nightmare! worst ran company ive seen.
That's right, all upper management care about is for carries to make time from one MSP point to the other! Oh! but PARCEL'S AND CIRCULAR'S DON'T COUNT! they must get deliverd by a phantom. What about all that scanning it only takes couple seconds' YOUR......
Bill Painter: Mitt is an outside business consultant.
37% of Union Membership vote GOP.
The PO was doing fine, until the current POTUS took office.
Gas was $1.80 a gallon on Jan 20, 2009
Jeff Anderson- Management is definitely a very big problem in our Harrisburg, PA office. Sometimes we have 5 MDOs on duty and none of them know how to properly run an operation. Our union is basically in their pockets simply saying that, "We'll file a grievence" (What a waste of time and money). I am a Flat Sorter Clerk and I do take pity on the carriers. I've known my carrier since he was a boy so we certainly can speak frankly. At our office we are told to run 1st; 2nd; 3rd and priorit mail together; disregarding the dates or color tags, and labelling everything as 1st class and the color of the day we are working the mail. The carriers are hit with mail that shouldn't even be considered to be delivered for another few days, but since it's maked as an earlier day and 1st class then it has to go out that day. This is a perfect segue into "the numbers". By mixing all classes of mail into one and calling it 1st class it looks like more 1st class is being run then it truly is. To be frank we need to cut down high paying management; reform what's left of the so called union and run the mail like it should be. Why are we waiting for Congress or a president to decide our fate? We have our own Inspector General Office that is making good suggestions to keep the USPS on it's feet and serve our customers as is stated in the United States Constitution. I'd love to hear some feed back on my comments to see if our office is the only one being run in such a manner. Thank you.
Mail proccessing isn't any better. The clerks and mail handlers work 2-4 MANDATORY overtime hours each day, and on our days off. The only way to get a day off is to call in sick. If you call in sick, you are reprimanded. The 'rejects' from automation are run umpteen times before they are sent to be worked manually, then another supervisor comes in and sends them back to the machines for processing. None of the supervisors where I work have ever worked the mail, so they have no experience to base their decisions. They are hired off the street and go into the ASP program and BAM! they are placed in a supervisory position. They preach that revenue protection is everybody's job, but we are not allowed to take the time to mark postage due on anything. They can pay EAS employees, travel and per diem to work somewhere other than their 'real' job, so they never really get good at anything. Have I left anything out? Of course I have. But who am I kidding? NOTHING will change until we are run into the ground.
Mail proccessing isn't any better. The clerks and mail handlers work 2-4 MANDATORY overtime hours each day, and on our days off. The only way to get a day off is to call in sick. If you call in sick, you are reprimanded. The 'rejects' from automation are run umpteen times before they are sent to be worked manually, then another supervisor comes in and sends them back to the machines for processing. None of the supervisors where I work have ever worked the mail, so they have no experience to base their decisions. They are hired off the street and go into the ASP program and BAM! they are placed in a supervisory position. They preach that revenue protection is everybody's job, but we are not allowed to take the time to mark postage due on anything. They can pay EAS employees, travel and per diem to work somewhere other than their 'real' job, so they never really get good at anything. Have I left anything out? Of course I have. But who am I kidding? NOTHING will change until we are run into the ground.
Mail proccessing isn't any better. The clerks and mail handlers work 2-4 MANDATORY overtime hours each day, and on our days off. The only way to get a day off is to call in sick. If you call in sick, you are reprimanded. The 'rejects' from automation are run umpteen times before they are sent to be worked manually, then another supervisor comes in and sends them back to the machines for processing. None of the supervisors where I work have ever worked the mail, so they have no experience to base their decisions. They are hired off the street and go into the ASP program and BAM! they are placed in a supervisory position. They preach that revenue protection is everybody's job, but we are not allowed to take the time to mark postage due on anything. They can pay EAS employees, travel and per diem to work somewhere other than their 'real' job, so they never really get good at anything. Have I left anything out? Of course I have. But who am I kidding? NOTHING will change until we are run into the ground.
Mail proccessing isn't any better. The clerks and mail handlers work 2-4 MANDATORY overtime hours each day, and on our days off. The only way to get a day off is to call in sick. If you call in sick, you are reprimanded. The 'rejects' from automation are run umpteen times before they are sent to be worked manually, then another supervisor comes in and sends them back to the machines for processing. None of the supervisors where I work have ever worked the mail, so they have no experience to base their decisions. They are hired off the street and go into the ASP program and BAM! they are placed in a supervisory position. They preach that revenue protection is everybody's job, but we are not allowed to take the time to mark postage due on anything. They can pay EAS employees, travel and per diem to work somewhere other than their 'real' job, so they never really get good at anything. Have I left anything out? Of course I have. But who am I kidding? NOTHING will change until we are run into the ground.
Mail proccessing isn't any better. The clerks and mail handlers work 2-4 MANDATORY overtime hours each day, and on our days off. The only way to get a day off is to call in sick. If you call in sick, you are reprimanded. The 'rejects' from automation are run umpteen times before they are sent to be worked manually, then another supervisor comes in and sends them back to the machines for processing. None of the supervisors where I work have ever worked the mail, so they have no experience to base their decisions. They are hired off the street and go into the ASP program and BAM! they are placed in a supervisory position. They preach that revenue protection is everybody's job, but we are not allowed to take the time to mark postage due on anything. They can pay EAS employees, travel and per diem to work somewhere other than their 'real' job, so they never really get good at anything. Have I left anything out? Of course I have. But who am I kidding? NOTHING will change until we are run into the ground.
Mail proccessing isn't any better. The clerks and mail handlers work 2-4 MANDATORY overtime hours each day, and on our days off. The only way to get a day off is to call in sick. If you call in sick, you are reprimanded. The 'rejects' from automation are run umpteen times before they are sent to be worked manually, then another supervisor comes in and sends them back to the machines for processing. None of the supervisors where I work have ever worked the mail, so they have no experience to base their decisions. They are hired off the street and go into the ASP program and BAM! they are placed in a supervisory position. They preach that revenue protection is everybody's job, but we are not allowed to take the time to mark postage due on anything. They can pay EAS employees, travel and per diem to work somewhere other than their 'real' job, so they never really get good at anything. Have I left anything out? Of course I have. But who am I kidding? NOTHING will change until we are run into the ground.
Everyone that commented is right on the money. I would like to add that the whole world is going through some type of ''mismanagement''. We humans tend to things our own way even, especially those who are vested with some type of authority above the subordinates. Even though there are rules and regulations to things the ''right way'', they'll decide what's best for themselves for that day. No humans will care for another human if their own welfare is in danger. It takes a special kind of individual like those who believe in God to care for others. Anyway the only thing we can do as letter carriers is come to work, get paid and go home. If these business is run to the ground then we find another job. It's useless to fight against forces that one cannot see...it's a waste of human life.
I am a level 15 PM soon to be a 6 hour PM after 17 years! I haven't had a raise in 4 years and I don't get COLA or bonuses. I work the mail and drive the rural route on days my carrier can't (no RCA here). I don't get paid OT but I work it every day. I am NOT COMPLAINING! I LOVE my job and would do it forever if PMG DONAHOE would just leaves the people that actually deliver the mail alone. I think the USPS is kind of like a tree...when the top gets too heavy you have to trim it or the tree will die, you kill the roots you kill the whole tree. Instead of management and craft fighting each other we should all get together and fight PMG Donahoe!!
Everyone that commented is right on the money. I would like to add that the whole world is going through some type of ''mismanagement''. We humans tend to things our own way even, especially those who are vested with some type of authority above the subordinates. Even though there are rules and regulations to things the ''right way'', they'll decide what's best for themselves for that day. No humans will care for another human if their own welfare is in danger. It takes a special kind of individual like those who believe in God to care for others. Anyway the only thing we can do as letter carriers is come to work, get paid and go home. If these business is run to the ground then we find another job. It's useless to fight against forces that one cannot see...it's a waste of human life.
Carriers love talking crap about clerks. Maybe you should work ovenights feeding, sweeping, caging DPS mail on a DBCS. Don't generalize. The fact remains the clerk craft gets shorted too, running machines with 1 person, and we get to work with superivsors standing over us questioning what's wrong with our out of sequence, telling us to jog the mail, keep the belt full, etc.
#1. Who signed you up for the military? YOU did. Who applied for the USPS job? YOU did. You poor poor thing. You signed up and thought it would be all fun and games? Welcome to the real world. If you cant handle the responsibilities, then why did you go through hell and high water to get in the door? Did you think you were signing up for cheerleading team? Take some responsibility for your actions. YOU signed up.
Don't blame parcels as the problem, that's where the postal service should and need to be focusing. That's where the money is. Electronic media can't get rid of package delivery.
Don't blame parcels as the problem, that's where the postal service should and need to be focusing. That's where the money is. Electronic media can't get rid of package delivery.
All of these comments point to the problem. Everybody is bitching about somebody else. If we all would man/woman up and take responsibility for our own actions, the whole process would run a lot smoother.
Ive read almost all of these comments. I agree most of all with this last statement. Everyone is blaming someone else. It is like a hurricane has come into the Post Office and everyone wants to know who left the door open. The door still needs closed...to keep the debris from blowing around and for the wind to stop blowing in. Someone just standup with me and HELP shut the door, instead of looking for who is to blame. No other way. Put up or SHUT UP! No I in TEAM!
To say that management is the problem is off the mark. There are plenty of capable people in management and plenty of capable people available to take the place of those who need to be replaced. The management style is the problem. It all started (IMHO)with a great influx of veterans who knew the military style: give an order-do it without contest. This does not set well with a civilian model of business. For years the post office has cloned management. The attitude is 'this is the way it's done, try and change it, your career dies right here'. As long as they continued the status quo, their job was safe. This decade has brought in a new element. Micro-managing. Every level of management demands complete control of those below them and even if their subordinates follow their guidance to a 't', and the results are a failure, the subordinate takes the blame as do anyone below. This has got to change. Management should be held to expectations (after all, it is a business, but give supervisors and station managers the ability to control their own destiny. I think you will see a team effort develop is offices with good management and numbers will improve beyond expectations. Those unsuccessful need replaced with someone who feels that not THEY can make a difference. I must add that unions must also be more flexible. Their future depends on that. There will be NO membership without a postal service.
Last night, day after labor day; I run an AFC. My start time is 3pm. We normally start canceling at 5pm. Now, everyone knows this is a high volume day, but we wait 'til 5 to start canceling. At 11pm, my shift is done, the system is still FULL, there is no-one outside my work area who has been trained on the new AFC200, no-one shows up to replace me, and I don't know where the boss is. I hit the stop button, and went home. I'm sorry for everyone whose mail was delayed, but management here just doesn't care, so why should I?
I work on an FSS machine. The number of mechanical rejects is unacceptable, but no one in management or maintenance cares because there must not be anything on their reports that will be used against them. For the last 8 months we have been handsorting rejects by zipcode into tubs which then went on the Function 4 casters. This amounted to 30 to 50 tubs of rejects per day and that was just one machine. There are 4 FSS machines in the plant I work in. Two weeks ago, they finally decided to send the rejects to coordinating plants, but instead of those plants matching our schemes, we still have to hand sort mail by zip code into sometimes 2 to 4 postcons per scheme. These rejects then get run on an AFSM machine. What a colossal waste of time that could otherwise be spent running mail. And no one in management cares how much pain we're in from sorting thousands of pieces of mail per week.
Does sitting under a tree for hours qualify as street time?
There's plenty of blame to go around and I'd say that 99.9% of the people have added to the problem in one way or another, even the good employees because they do get tired, and it is hard to keep a good attitude in an environment like the U.S. Postal Service, which is one of the most demeaning and thankless jobs I have ever had. You do make good money, but you sure pay for the trade-off of no family life and a constant barrage of attacks. The one guy who wrote about his 'working his way to a level 18 P.O.' is not living in the real world of the post office. He did not really work all that long to get to where he has gotten and although I use to epouse the very same ideal that he has now, I have given that up at least a couple of years ago. What the carriers say is true, completely true, when District Management has promoted people like Randy Brown, who was once one of the crappiest carriers in Fishers (having sexual encounters on his route with co-workers) and now he is OIC in Anderson, IN and calls the carriers lazy and 'stealing' from the post office! Takes one to know one, Randy! What these carriers say is true. Clerks...a few work their butts off while the rest do nothing. No fairness there. When the USPS has known for years (and can track the numbers) that parcels are up 35%, yet they refuse to accept that it takes longer to deliver a package and they harass the carriers because of their street time, what is right about that? Nothing. The guy who said it about the 'managers' wanting to justify their jobs is right. They are the classic example of 'do what I say, not as I do.' And then they wonder why in the world no one has any respect for them. That's an easy answer to me.
Too many management decisions are made with a spreadsheet thats looked at by someone, who doesn't touch the mail. You would lever believe how many 3rd class letters that are sent to an associated PO in a flat bucket; that get sent back to the plant to the DPS machine.
Wow....typical comments from one craft about the other. Too bad carriers aren't all we have....we'd have no problems at all.
Agree I'm so tired of his speeches he is so against the post office. Get rid of him and his pay and keep more carriers
amen start fixing this mess and get a pmg who knows what the hell their doing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
managers are the people in the post office that don't work, thats why they put them in the managers spot, eonder why the post office is losing money!!!!!!!
you do a two hour forced lunch for 8 hours bitch then talk to me about casuals doing our work. casuals don't know the difference between a periodical and std mail. doubt you would either. go back to sleep bitch. or whatever you do out there.
lets face it sat delivery has to go...were all screwed if we dont go back to plain simple service.. lets start with the right mail in the right mailbox..19 years as a carrier never had a manager that i could'nt get along with remember it all starts at the top...
How did u transfer from a TE to a ptf curious
Upper management is totally out of touch with reality. Lots of offices have been cut to the bone with less clerks and carriers and simply cannot do it. Customers paying box rents are not getting the service they pay for. Customers at the window are not getting the service that upper management spouts about because there are not enough clerks to give it. I really can't believe we even operate this way, have always felt that using diversity, nepotism, and cronyism to promote was just plain wrong. It's the reason why you now have unqualified people making decisions and running the usps into the ground.
Everyone lies.In Boston they just added 6 more msp ponts.Where did they put them?They put all of them next to existing ones,accomplishing what?The old saying is true,figures lie and liars figure.Another old story:In the USSR a Western businessman went into a pipe factory and saw that they were producing metal pipe for plumbing,when he commented to the factory supervisor that in the West they used plastic pvc pipe,the Soviet boss said that his quota was set in pounds from thousands of miles away,so switching to pvc would mean he never would meet his numbers.Sounds like a certain USPS
37hotocaeUntil Pat Donahue is sent packing(along with some others), There will be no worry from managers about keeping their jobs and doing the right thing as opposed to doing what will get you ahead and make you look good.
I would love to meet the idiot that invented this DOIS System bs and kick him right in the nuts!!!! He and number crunching stupidvisors have ruined the post office and any mail carriers who truely believe in doing a good job. We have to argue with idiotic stupidvisors about DOIS says and what we truely know we can doing in the time needed. Now they have added 15 MSP points to the equation. Carriers, do like I do. Keep a log of every time you scan an MSP and keep it as accurate as posssible. If you are ahead, slow down. If they ask you why you took so long between a pont, all you have to say is, "I scanned it when I go to it." Don't rush out there, Management don't give a crap about you. BTW, we have a PM who has been in drug rehab....the good ole boy postal network at work.
Mid TN Carrier
Mid TN - that's half of the reason we are in the mess that we are in, if you have to think so hard about how to beat the system, then you are part of the problem. There IS NO SUCH thing as a 8 hr a day route every day! Before you start spouting at me, yes I've been a City Carrier. That makes me highly qualified to be able to look at the mail, the parcels, etc. and determine if someone is giving a fair day's work for a fair's day pay. NO I don't want you to run in high temperatures, but I don't want you DELIBERATELY slowing down. The carriers talk about management fudging the numbers, but a lot of the carriers have it down to a science. If you are doing your job, then we wouldn't be on your back.
I agree there is way to many people sitting in offices upstairs that are clueless about what ANY of us do out in the field. That's where the cuts should BEGIN.
The post office is all politics and politicians whether Democrats or Republican will never ever can fix it!!!! Just watch. Politicians care only about their own retirement and see what happens if they are only allowed 4 terms and not eternity terms!!!! It is too late to fix anything that has been damaged like the global economy!!!!! Greece ,here it comes!!!! I'd also retired because I knew it can only get worse!
in my office management no longer counts parcels...I guess they just deliver themselves...Red Plums come in looking like crap and no one cares...we just give them discounts to give us more business
I'm a rural letter carrier, and I have between 60 and 100 scans per day on parcel items. Amazon now has "Carrier Release" on almost all their parcels, requiring doorstep delivery. As a result, my "deliveries per hour" is way down. They are appealing to the shipping industry, and the postal system takes the hit. Go figger?
Well to tell you the truth if you decided to get the post office back in shape you would have to get rid of the top its heavy and some offices have 40 people that have never acrried mail and they should go but then you have to buy them out and the next on down the line we always hear 8hours work for 8hour pay but now you work for 12hours most days . I have been wounded more in the post office then when I was in the service to my country and most of the wounds are not service connected from the army but combat at the post office I,ve been told that I would be invoultarly seperated from the post office as I,ve been out over a year from my wounds and now I,ll be receiving disabilty reetirement . So now I am out looking to see what happens in the election in NOV.
It sucks when i have to fight every day with bmue supervisors to get enough clerks to clear the mail we have. Then find out clerks are sitting back at the po with nothing to clear. So my mail sits and our clients get pissed. Why would the supervisor not send them out to help the other clerks. More and more of our clients are looking at other ways to market. So as a business we have to find new options for our clients.......
That's a very narrow minded attitude. If I thought that way I would assume all carriers sit in an LLV smoking cigarettes between every relay, went tanning at the salon on their route or were all whiners that cry when they don't get overtime then cry when they do. Sounds like we could use some of your clerks in our office since I'm busting my ass 10 hours a day with a two hour lunch and some days no time to take a break, all this with 7 carriers in my way making my job even harder.
Get rid of doughnut hole and go a different direction,he is clueless,also as for clerks not working I have been a mailhandler,carrier ,and am now a clerk over the last 25 years, every craft has its good employees and its lazy ones,congress is killing us, mailing requirements are killing us,five day delivery would work just fine as long as we deliver parcels and express on sat and readjust the routes to handle six days mail in five,dont count on mangagement doing that, thay would have to bring back a route or two to each station,rural carriers seem to always make it back on time at every station i have been at usually early oh thats right they are contracted not hourly hmm.
" If you are doing your job, then we wouldn't be on your back. " Wow. I guess you have evidence that the carrier was sloughing off don't you? Of course you don't. I have had this argument with management over and over again. If a carrier is beating you, then get up off your lazy fat ass, behind the CRT, and do YOUR job and go to the street and get the evidence to do something about it. All you want to do is sit and stare at the CRT and evaluate the carriers street. I have heard managers complain about how carriers are cheating THEM. Ever heard of time wasting practices? That would require you to go to the street and compile evidence. Not by looking at the CRT. Then the chances are, you won't find anything because MOST carriers are doing their jobs.
WOW! Are you a carrier? Because that statement about clerks sounds like something management would say. If you don't like the job you chose maybe you should look into becoming a postmaster.
There is a way to REbrand and REorganize the PO without cutting employees or offices... Reclaim and manage ALL zip codes (I used to own a bunch, then China scooped them up). INCREASE SERVICE, of course CHARGING for anything additional to basic service... Start a PREFERRED DIGITAL CUSTOMER program which can FUND the retirement payments... THERE's MORE! PS Please look up the music duo "The Postal Service" and ask them to release a single ONLY AVAILABLE through the US mail (signed and numbered?)
#9. Being called a "monkey" and other unkind gestures from those that the mail is being delivered to.
1-800-EAP-4YOU. Cause you got issues.
I like the long hours. I'm making close to $100,000 a year delivering mail! Just as long as I'm not late, not hurt, not sick, and I continue to work 60+ hours a week. Skip my lunch, breaks, kids birthdays, etc... Hey thanks NALC
Hey guys, don't worry, they'll just fake another count and take another pound of flesh and millions of dollars out of the rural carriers again. That should float us till the next rural count when we do it again. You may have route adjustments, but at least your pay does not go backwards every stinkin' year.
Now wait a minute. Who knows how seriously the USPS is f***ed up until they've actually worked there for a while? When this person "signed up," s/he had no idea. Sounds like most every fellow postal worker I know -- we have done our level best in good faith at a job that upper management has made increasingly difficult over the years.
All of us carriers in my office are working nearly 60 hrs a week because we have so many open routes. Many of us are working hurt -- sciatica, bursitis, strains, etc are common with those hours -- but we just take more pain meds and keep going, because if you use your sick time you get disciplined. Our PM and supe are decent, humane people, but their hands are tied by District. I've been in 17 yrs and the job is becoming ridiculous. Raise the prices to bulk mailers so bulk mail is profitable, let city carriers organize their mail efficiently like rurals, and staff us sufficiently to avoid paying all this overtime. I would MUCH rather have the time with my family than the overtime pay and the pain meds.
Obama does not care if the postal service folds. He wants everything to go digital.The postal workers will at least be retrained or allowed to take early retirement...the millions of people who work in the printing industry will just be screwed!
Our routes are out of adjustment,the windows are understaffed, and they have the maintenance man working dispatch and driving mail to the plant. Our PM is so stressed, she yells at everyone, and supervisors bully the carriers constantly. We just had one fired for bullying and sexual harassment of many employees. It made front page news. Late night deliveries made the TV News.To work under these conditions makes it hard to provide our customers the service they deserve. We are not given the time to clean up the apartment routes. Open routes are a disaster. We truly feel for the customers who don't have a regular carrier daily. We are a SERVICE industry. I think upper management lost sight of that. Shame on them... A 26 yr city carrier, So.Cal
Cut the Top eschelon, while the carriers are struggling and doing their jobs professionally and efficiently everyday, you have managers getting Bonuses, staying in million dollar homes when they are transferred to different duty stations, have chauffeurs driving them too work, 85% of the SO CALL managers HAVE NEVER carrier mail, THE WIMPS, but they know what a carrier goes through, WHAT MORONS, DONAHOE is quite STUPID, but yet while the mail supposedly declines and he wants to cut jobs i notice he is still getting his BONUSES, Yea, WHAT A LEADER, HORRIBLE, TERRIBLE LEADERSHIP, WORTHLESS.
I've been a carrier for 24 years, and all I can say is I can't wait to leave this place for good...I say a little prayer every night that the place locks the doors for good....Upper mismanagement has turned a job I loved into a endless nightmare...Love going to work evryday with a cramp hoping you actually do get an 8 hr day...Love the non existent home life i have now too...I remember before the machines we would start at 6 am and be done at 2 30....This place sucks!!!
The introduction of FSS and the route adjustments it created shows how inept those making decisions at high management levels are. The people obviously have never carried a route. Four bundles daily on mounted routes, three bundles daily on walking routes take a toll on letter carriers ability to perform thier tasks. PMG Donahoe and his associates couldn.t run a hot dog stand yet they control an organization with 600,000 employess. They wonder why we lost 11 billion last year?
I am a machine mechanic who used to be a carrier. Almost everyone in Maintenance has absolutely no idea what real work is. Most mechanics do as little as possible. The supervisors manage by rotating mechanics from machine to machine so that the few half decent mechanics will do the work the slacker the day before ignored. They should assign the mechanic the same machines so a good mechanic can take pride in his work and hold slackers accountable when they let their machines fall apart. Many of these slackers calculatingly to do as little as possible in hopes it will result in overtime being called so they can slack while making time and a half. As for custodians, they are almost constantly loitering or finding some hiding place to play on their smart phones. It's such a joke to see management calling overtime for them. You can say the same thing about the building side mechanics. I have a good work ethic and find it hard not to EARN my paycheck. I'm getting tired of managers counting on my good work ethic to accomplish enough good work to keep them from having to actually supervise and make the slackers accountable.
USPS a SORRY STATE OF AFFAIRS! Too many supervisors in non supervisor positions counting the counts. And too many lazy employees!!! I contacted the PMG AND OIG about mailhanlders being paid for 8 hrs a night and being off the floor for 3 1/2-4 hrs a night and their response was too many operations to keep track of employees?? Had a supervisor who stated talked to employee for being off floor for 2 hrs plus many times and didnt know what to do and did nothing!!! USPS is dying because too many employees feel they have to do nothing and expect to getget paid and too many supervisors who do not take action.
The rural carriers at our station rarely finish in under twelve hours. Parcels. During the holiday season, rural routes often ET after 11pm, not hitting the street until 2 or 3 in the afternoon.
We too are short staffed . Our pm in 11787 is short on clerks and due to this the carriers get out late. So instead of hiring clerks to get the mail up and get us out on time he keeps pushing startbtimes back to later times. Yet we continue to get out late. Mismanagement at its finest.
Management is horrible, and they don't care. The postmaster should look at replacing the supervisors with ones who are capable to do the job. At the location where I work, the post office keeps losing money on grievances filed. I have been a PSE for almost three years. I was just told that mail handlers who have been there less than a year are being made regulars this week. Those who work the machines were passed over, because someone forgot to submit the forms for our location. We are being told that we are mandatory 12 hours shifts for six days a week. Moral is low because the Post Office can't keep treating their employees like dogs.
The amount of finger pointing and counter acqusations within the previous 82 comments is discouraging. As a individual who has previously been picked to lead one office, I am tasked with doing what is right for my employees, my customers and my employer; most times this is not possible. I am aware of what the Postal Service wants; less work hours while delivering more parcels (on time) with no accidents and no OT.. I also happen to care for the people who work with me in this endeavor. My employees are no different than I, they were not born a city carrier or a clerk, they were just born. We are human, we make mistakes, we work together, we attempt to do what is right. Often there is a managerial conflict between postal goals and the fluid, realistic facts that what is asked is not possible, or for the good of our customers/employees. We do not point fingers, we communicate amonest ourselves on what is right, and we proceed to get the job done. If this facility takes the proper course of action for my customers and my employees, I have no problem accepting any consequence that upper management deems appropriate. I will discuss what the situation was and why I took this action. I am not writing about illegal actions, I am discussing decisions that I make that may be counter to what is expected from me and this facility. I do what is right for this facility. Isn't that why I was appointed?
Biggest problem, management from front line on up to, and especially including the current PMG. There are exceptions, but far too few, in management that really remember what it is to do craft work. I spent about half of my 29 years in management and yet the Postmasters and other supervisors (all of them were craft employees at one time)forget so quickly what a day delivering mail or sorting/boxing mail, or working the window is like. Out of the mouths of these managers I have heard so many crazy things, and if I dared to defend a logical reason a carrier or clerk did not meet managements "numbers" I was looked at as a "Soft, weak" manager.
I love you.
We need you in our office! Our mgmt can't seem to understand that we underlings would pull together and work with all of the ridiculous expectations, with a smile, for just a small amount of respect and support from our bosses. Threats and intimidation just make employees push back. That's human nature. We carriers would love to be able to take pride in our jobs, and take care of our customers again.
Undertime in winter with ice and snow on the ground is a huge problem! Cutting the clerks to the bone is another. Starting the carriers at 8:15am when the mail is ready at 7:00 is another. Most carriers and clerks are willing to do the job for which they are paid but NO ONE can be accountable for every second of their day. If you really want to know what is wrong with USPS management, try this scenario: Suppose every elected official never had to face re-election nor could be fired like the U.S. Supreme Court Justices. Well, that pretty much sums up the higher-ups in USPS Management. Most of them could not do the work of a clerk or carrier, the position for which they were hired, so they get promoted. Enough said.
Spoken like a true manager or at least one with potential to be in upper management. You sign up for a job, not all unrealistic expectation crap that USPS puts on you.
Thank you! :-)
My husband comes home every day wishing he could quit his job!!! He hates it, he gets there at 8 in the a.m. Sorts all his mail, loads it up to deliver with his parcels the. Hits the street around 11:00 or sometimes later, then he will get a call at around 12 or 1 saying he has to come all the way back to the post office to get a parcel that has to be delivered before three!! I can't see how they expect for their carriers to get the route done in the evaluated time if they are constantly having to stop in the middle of their route to go and get more mail and go off course!!! It is ridiculous!!! Especially at Christmas time, Milly I believe is her name at the spring hill post office seems to have let the title supervisor go to her head, she barks orders yet won't do anything to help Her people, what kind of supervisor thinks they are going to be respected if all they do is try to wear big girl panties? I mean really, what is there to prove!? Nobody respects her, they all talk behind her back and she does nothing to warrant being a manager, it is sad that she thinks she is liked. All she is worried about is making sure all of the carriers are back by 5! Why? Mail truck don't leave till 6 or after, it's all about pushing her people to the point of hating their jobs so much they wished they could drag her behind their trucks for her to see how cruel she is!!! Somebody needs to start caring about these hard working men and woman, that are making them money, regardless of any weather conditions!!!!
I've been on both PSE and CCA sides. As a clerk, forget about clear instructions or training. English isn't the spoken language. And the plant is a Safety Hazard. The war between the union and non - experienced management is over the top. But true..... new CCA'S do not have the experience of a regular carrier. Nor the training. What the hell.. do this route in 3 hrs but you have a full route... get real. No wonder theirs a high turnover rate. To close. What should we expect... 80% of the regulars are up for retirement. What happens when they are gone.... Great Job USPS.
I agree, you said it best
Wow... this has been a real education. I just passed the assessment tests and was looking forward to an interview with the USPS. This is not the only thing I've read about what the heck is going on with the PO. I can't do it, I just can't. This sounds like the last place I would want to work. Not only that but I would feel guilty about taking someone else's job that they were trying to push into retirement. I would like to thank all of you for being honest and upfront about what your feeling and your experiences otherwise I would have never had a clue. You all saved me from making a huge mistake. I am so sorry for all your pain and grief. I had no idea how much stress you all are under. Thank you for saving me.
Very True!!!
Omg. I am a hard working clerk. I care about my carriers. I carried 20 years ago as rca. It sucks on both sides.we need to all get along and stop fighting each other. There ares pos no matter what craft. So shut up and get mail out. What needs to go are these crappy pennies on the dollars flats and parcels.
I don't know how you can slam the clerks. Our station used to have 12 clerks. We now have 5. They don't have time to get everything done before the window opens. Then the lines start out front and the carriers have to wait for parcels and accountable mail. It is not their fault that they have to take a long lunch to keep them from paying overtime. It's a ridiculous system. They definitely need more clerks and carriers and less supervisors sitting on a computer watching carriers and how long the sit at one spot.
No one is blaming the parcels. The fact is we earned the Amazon contract, but management in the district made no adjustments for the overwhelming increase that now needs to be delivered everyday 7 days a week. Our CCA'S are working 7 days a week for 14 days, then the union usually has to step in and force management to let them have a day off. From the moment they start work, management expects then to work as fast as those who have been there for years. Training sucks. And they are constantly get threatening to fire them if they don't make their "times" I retired this year because they still expect you to be as fast at 60 as those who are 20. Common sense and attitudes need to change first. Stop blaming carriers and clerks who are working 10 to 12 hors a day 6 to 7 days a week.
The office I worked in had a postmaster who used the mail to ship drugs, in concert with a co-worker. Then he would bully the workers. All it takes to be a manager is to want to be one. Sometimes you get good ones, but we have gotten some really bad ones who do not respect the workers and some that are criminals (meaning they committed crimes and did not necessarily get caught). I am so thankful for the good managers, but they were few and far between. Just because you want to be a manager does not mean you will be a good one, and as far as I know, the USPS does not provide ongoing training OUTSIDE of the USPS on good management skill development.
What about the call ins? No one speaks about that. When the carrier's call in it affects the whole station. Yes we do have sick leave but some abuse it. Management is not to blame. Blame the carrier's that choose not to come to work. Stop complaining about the routes being to long.... no mail and your done by 2 pm... then what? Stop complaining and help out the company that has been good to you!
The manager is always responsible for the unit. No matter what happens it is the responsibility of the manager to make adjustments and corrections. Managers are promoted from within. That doesn't mean they are the best qualified. Sometimes all it means is that they were the only choice available.
My favorite phrase is: "You only need to have one thing to become a USPS manager, desire."
There are no skill levels just an application 991. Occasionally someone will come along who has actual management skills. They are few and far between. Too often managers are unqualified so they use intimidation or retaliation to substitute for skills. Verbal communications with the front line manager requires an understanding of ethnic verbiage or lack thereof. There are some who cannot even speak a complete sentence with subject and verb agreement. I guarantee you they would NEVER get a $50k job in private industry by using those communication skills.
Managers are not held accountable for their actions. They make so many mistakes based on their personality conflict and disrespect that they would have been fired on the spot in a private company.
Some have been fired for falsifying reports and altering time cards. Some know the system and claim EEO. Eventually they'll get caught but it takes years and years.
Some local managers hire all of their relatives and church members. Dozens of people here are related to one another due to nepotism.
When they do something bad enough the only solution is to transfer them to another city where they will screw up another operation.
Management will always be the problem. Read the manual. POM it spells it out.
Hire managers from outside the PO who are qualified to manage people with education in business. Promote from within and you get whoever applies qualified or not.
The Union is a joke. I've been in the union all the way to the State Convention where I got an education on exactly how corrupt they all are (few exceptions). State and National business agents get expense accounts that would rival a level 21 Postmaster's salary.
One business agent explained that the single most important thing about sending grievances to Step-3 was to make sure they didn't have ANY staples or paperclips. This business agent explained that the stacks of grievances needed to be level so that they could sit on the table without sliding off.
Other Union officers explained that their only motive for voting for or against a particular topic was due to maintaining their Union Salary.
I'm rather disappointed to be a part of a group who has such an attitude about everything. Yes there are severe issues with the quality of life in the postal service. There are amazing, dedicated people from all crafts and there are bad ones as well. You can't judge a Postal worker by their title only by their performance. And if everyone went by that it would be a wonderful place to work.
Speaking of.....
A city Carrier, a rural Carrier and a postmaster went out to deliver an open city route together..... you see the joke coming? There isn't one. It happened... Today. And our clerk worked Office open to close, penalty with no break... Great Office I work in. And I'm the rural one...
That's how it should be everywhere.... this grieve every bit of help and take an eye for an eye bullarky leaves the postal service blind and very far behind.
Great idea.
I am the mother of a cca. He works very hard. He is treated poorly His truck is always breaking down flat tires etc. my so also has a bachelors degree and graduated with honors. I never would have believed a government agency would treat it employees so poorly.
I've read all the comments. My God! Yes it's hard work! Yes management sucks! But it's a job and a well paying job with a good retirement and benefits. Quit whining. If you don't like it, quit and find a job that meets your qualifications and education level. For most, not all, I bet it won't have the pay and benefits of what you have now.
What is considered a HIGHER level manager?
over under set a 95% all these replies done on clock with postal computers
Saying that FedEx nd UPS are paid less is true but they do less too. You cannot compare 2 jobs that are different. In addition there is a consequence to paying less - you get people who don’t stay in the job for long. How much would it cost to retrain new postal staff every 2-3 years. As someone who is a consultant in this industry and managed a Kinkos I would say there are best practices and benchmark ratios of staffing to productivity that could help streamline the process, but comparing postal works to quick copy shop workers is inappropriate.
I have been with the postal service over five years and in that time I have met some amazing people on both sides carriers and Postmasters. The problem I see is NOT within your local post office but is at District offices that are puppets to the DC officials. Its a numbers game and I can tell you there are many Postmasters and carriers and clerks that do care about each other and take pridein what they do. They have these so called secret shoppers that can say anything and the District office takes that and throws hell and damnation at those who fail it. But they turn a blind eye to the lazy worthless worker that simply doesn't care and they keep their job for being rude to customers that put trust into this company. I go above and beyond to make sure the customers experience matters, however I have failed a secret shopper for not saying the BS spill correctly...REALLY? Wow! and now my Postmaster is being punished as well as myself and treated as though we are worthless. I have nothing good to say about District office or DC but I can tell you that I have worked at over 11 Post offices helping them when clerks simply walkoff the job and every Postmaster I have met do care and so does all the carriers I have worked with. I stay because of them only...and the customers as well.
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