quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
Even if it's something to get me through the next 2 years of school, then I would be fine with that. Never know what types of networking I could do on a route. Fellow Soldier said she's working a lot of OT. I have class for 10 weeks and have 2 weeks off between semesters. Ideally I would work more those 2 weeks. I'm only going part time now with 2 classes and they're online classes at night. I might have to take the semester beginning July 2018 off as I have to wait for the annual cap for my Post 9/11 GI Bill to set. That essentially means I would be off school from June-September of next year; that means my availability to work would be great.

Do not expect management to work around your schooling. The USPS encourages education but does little to nothing to accomodate it.

Damn straight you will get OT, in my old office CCA/RCA's often work fifteen or more straight days.

After having not worked for nearly 3 months now, I would definitely like to take any opportunities to not just work but work OT.

Be careful what you wish for

Financially we are doing fine as we have savings and I've been day trading. We've cut our expenses and have some sort of income coming in with reserve duty and the BAH for going to school. All is not lost. I used to read about people not working for months and wondered how they made it but we're making it.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Watch out for the dogs, it's a jungle out there!

I've read about the dogs and that it's not just some sort of rehashed hyperbole. The threat of dogs is very real. One guy was saying how dogs are chasing him and all he has is dog spray. LOL.

My last dog bite, April 6. The owner was standing right there and assured me it was O.K. to step out of the truck.

quote:

Originally posted by ASKSmith:
Yes, I've been thrown under the bus.

First, it is a fun job, if you don't mind walking around all day, in the cold, heat, rain, dealing with dogs, etc... But it is all in your perspective. I'm kind of a fitness goon, so I don't mind walking 12-15 miles a day. And that's not including my pre-work workouts, and soccer practice after work. I pretty much walk around all day listening to the radio (DO NOT WEAR HEADPHONES!!!)

I will not lie, starting out is not a joke. Think of it as hazing. I'd say 1/3 of all people who take the job as a carrier, quit within the first year. Everything is based on seniority: routes, overtime, days off but getting forced to work, etc. And now with Sundays, you could work 7 days a week.

The main thing is to be safe, take your allotted breaks (two 10 minute breaks, and a 30 minute lunch). Do not let them push you to go faster. We have scanners with GPS capability, so they know exactly where you are. If they ask what took you so long, remember this, "I was trying to be as safe and efficient as possible". It's all about repetition, I can do my route with my eyes closed, but if I had to do another unfamiliar route, I might as well be blind.

You won't get rich in the PO, but the benefits are there. TSP (like a 401K), health, FSA accounts, paid government holidays, and 4 weeks vacation a year. Contrary to popular belief, the pension is a joke. 30 years of service with survivor benefits and health insurance might net you $700/month.

With your military time, that can be calculated into your retirement time, so don't pass that up.

PM me if you have any questions.
Smith

No headphones for situational awareness? I've seen a lot of carriers wear headphones. Didn't know if it was a policy or something to maintain situational awareness.

I won't mind the physical aspect. Seems most around here are going with the centralized boxes instead of delivering to each house (besides packages).

I'm used to walking and carrying weight around. The benefits seems nice.

Safety is preached but speed is the religion. Management wants the mail delivered a.s.a.p., but screw up in your first 90 days and your butt is gone. I have mentioned the ancient LLV's are POS's. The new Sprinter vans are great for parcel delivery and pick up, and areas with cluster boxes but curb side delivery is not possible in those.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
There are a number of jobs with UPS, from carrier to window clerk to maintenance. What positions are you interested in?

I applied for the carrier positions.

A USPS career begins at the bottom.

quote:

Originally posted by 0658:
Don't take the Pine Hills (Crime Hills) Route when hired in Orlando.

I think they should have an Infantry platoon deliver the mail there.

Equal opportunity employer; the USPS does nothing to protect a carrier from a bad environment

quote:

Originally posted by Colby Bruce:
I tried to talk Orguss out of taking the job, but he wouldn't listen, LOL!

I retired 4/28 after thirty years and three months. The job is not bad if you don't mind repetition or the weather. The USPS has an antiquated fleet of delivery vehicles with no replacements in sight beyond the drawing board.

Upper level management does not have a clue and they take turns lying awake at night dreaming up unrealistic expectations to dump on the workers each week. The clerks and carriers are exhausted and supervisors and postmasters are stressed. It is not a good work environment.

There are rumors of an upcoming early out for employees nearing retirement. If this is true, it won't happen until after the Christmas holidays. Possibly you could hire on now and become a regular within a year. I wouldn't hold my breath.

Kind of sounds like the military...

I don't mind the weather as we do get a few months of heavy rain here but the winter months are awesome. I'll be sure to wear the shortest shorts I can find.

I've seen older fleet vehicles around here as well as some of the newer vans. Our mailwoman has one of the newer vans.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
The mail carriers around here are driving new Sprinter vans.

Seems that's what is common here on this side of town though I've seen some of the older vehicles.

Best of luck to you with this decision, I would not wish this on anyone.

Edmond, I can seriously say I have had DI's at Parris Island that had more compassion then some of the managers I've had to deal with. My current supervisors aren't too bad, they seem to acknowledge that their expectations are unrealistic.

Colby, I have a Dodge 1 ton Sprinter van. I love it. A/C, radio, charger for my GPS enabled scanner. No they aren't ideal for curbside delivery, but I had some OT today and ended up just walking it off in small loops. It has gotten me out of forced OT, and I actually got into an argument a few day ago when they tried to make me do a mounted route on a very high traffic road. I said it was a safety issue, especially since I had a hit and run the day before when I was parked at my designated parking spot.

Something else to think of, they have "AO's", auxiliary offices. These are the smaller offices that normally only handle one zipcode. The pros are they a little more relaxed (from what I've heard), and the cons are it could take years for you to make regular (when you can bid your own route). You are kind of stuck there, and if you relocate, you lose your seniority, but not your time in service.

Where I work, there are 30 something Post Offices that start with a 5 digit zipcode. For example, 12345. I can bid into any station that has the zipcode 123XX, keep my seniority, and bid station to station if I wanted. Currently I am at the one that is closest to my home. The pros are you will become a "regular" much sooner than an AO. I've seen people do it in less then 6 months, and even have their own route in that same time frame.

You can even do something called a "mutual exchange", you basically trade seniority with another carrier, anywhere someone is looking to trade. Again, as an example, you want to move to CA, but live in VA. Somebody in CA wants to move to VA. You pretty much trade seniority to get their route. It's a lot of work, and I've never done it, but I know people who have, and it's worked for them. Usually health issues in the family or something like that.

You will go through a 90 day probationary period. This is the hazing I mentioned. After about 2 weeks, you will get an impossible workload, but they will expect you to complete it in the time allotted. As another member mentioned, DO NOT GET IN AN ACCIDENT, OR GET HURT!!! After your 90 days, you can put in for a "hold down", a route that is vacant either because someone bid off of it, the carrier is hurt, or the carrier is doing a temporary detail. That can last anywhere from 5 days to whenever.

As far as OT, you will get it as an FNG. I am not on the overtime list, but I get it daily. Luckily, they have not forced me in on my days off, but as I said earlier, with Amazon, you could be working 7 days a week. So there is a lot of overtime.

As far as school. Make sure your classes are as late as possible. You won't get much sympathy telling a supervisor you need to be done by 6pm to do something else. I know single mom's who had to quit because they couldn't pick up their kids from daycare in time, and they got stuck working overtime.

Look into the benefits I mentioned. Mainly the TSP and FSA's. I'm surprised how many carriers I talk too don't know much about the TSP (USPS will match 5% of your pay, and you can max out 15% of your pay). They have 5 allocated funds in the TSP, and Lifecycle funds (based on your retirement date) which have very good return rates. The FSA's are a gold mine if you have kids in daycare or health related expenses. You can take out $5,000 a year for them, but you need to use it all, or lose what's left. There is even a Mailman retirement community in FL, that is almost dirt cheap. Take advantage of everything you can.

Are you still in the reserves? They have to accommodate that, and I know several people who have taken that to their advantage. Co-worker use to volunteer for Iraq and Afghanistan, and it didn't count against his retirement date. He even did some home based duty for a year or two at his reserve unit.

As I mentioned earlier, I love my job. No, it's not easy, but once you are out on the street, you basically get paid to walk around. Although being new, you will probably get "street inspections", supervisors driving around seeing what you are doing. Wear your seatbelt, curb your wheels, lock your vehicle, and don't talk on your cellphone while driving. Take your 30 minute lunch, and 2 ten minute breaks. The GPS knows everything...

AND DON'T WEAR HEADPHONES. LOL. It is a safety issue and not allowed. You can't hear a dog charging you, or a car swerving off the road at you...

quote:

I've read about the dogs and that it's not just some sort of rehashed hyperbole. The threat of dogs is very real. One guy was saying how dogs are chasing him and all he has is dog spray. LOL.

Oh, I know it. All the deliveries here (USPS, UPS, Fedex) are happy when I'm home to keep the dogs at bay - the dogs take great offense to the white, the yellow, or the brown vehicle invading their territory.

Heck, the little Fedex girl wont even come on the porch.

My wife works for USPS in the DC metro area. She hates it. Management are totally retarded and no one else she works with gives a shit about anything. She works in a large processing plant and has had many positions within that plant and it's always the same deal. She finds gals in the restroom ducking work. The supervisors don't care. The use the good worker to compensate for the shit workers and the good ones burn out and the shitty ones keep getting the same pay. I wouldn't do it unless you're in a rural area.

You guys have sure made me not look forward to it. LOL.

If it makes it any less worse, I did apply to rural carrier associate positions.

I don't expect them to work around my school schedule but class typically does not start until 7:30-8:00pm so I should be okay.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
You guys have sure made me not look forward to it. LOL.

If it makes it any less worse, I did apply to rural carrier associate positions.

"RCA"'s are the red-headed stepchildren of the USPS.

I don't expect them to work around my school schedule but class typically does not start until 7:30-8:00pm so I should be okay.

Christmas is coming up. Last year we had carriers out at 10:00 p.m.

I know at least twenty Postal workers. There are quite a few unhappy people. On the other hand those that work in maintenance seem a lot happier. The mechanics who work on the vehicles seem fairly content. Those working in the General Mail Facility face certain pressures and almost all work the night shift. There is a reason for the phrase, "Going Postal".

Well I guess it's a good thing I've been applying to other jobs. LOL.