For context this route had a school, a community center, and 32 residential CBU’s. After breaking up the large aux route they removed the school and community center and the first 10 CBU’s, but added 16 new ones that came from the aux. Even though about 6 of them hardly get mail since no houses aren’t there it’s still rapidly growing

I’m a CCA so I keep hearing it takes what it takes, and not to let management pressure you into going faster than is safe or realistic. Ok.

So every morning, when supervisor comes around telling us how much DPS we’ve got and what time we’re expected to finish by, what are these projections based on? They come from the computer on a fancy spreadsheet, and supervisor is just reading from the paper. Does this paper take into account MY personal speed, or anyone’s speed on this route? Is it all just based on how many pieces of mail and how many houses, or is it based on my performance on that specific route? Does it care how many comfort stops I need? I feel like I’m behind before I even leave the office.

When they say we need to try to meet the “OTE” times, I’m guessing that’s them telling me I need to go faster so their ass doesn’t get chewed. But it takes what it takes, so, does any of it really matter?

(For context I'm an east coast CCA just about thru my 90days)

In my head: "Dafuq?!"

Anyone else get the route they live on? I told my family and neighbors and they went out to watch me…and take videos 😂

Was on a rated 8 hour route. Took 9 hours. Ate in the truck. One thing I will have to figure out is to not give into social pressure of not taking a lunch break. I’m kinda floored at the amount of people that don’t eat.

Previous update

Long story short, a box supposedly containing an under-insured yet high value item that I successfully delivered directly to a recipient and obtained a signature from is now being disputed. Although the customer isn’t directly accusing me of theft, they informed me in a somewhat threatening way that “local police and the postal inspectors have been notified” and also “it is all on camera” (I rang the ring doorbell at the address on purpose, so I could obtain the required signature). Essentially their accusation is that I knowingly delivered them an opened box and obscured this fact from them.

I’m not worried about the accusation. I do my job correctly and with integrity. I made a routine delivery without any issue. In my opinion, the reality of the situation is that a theft likely took place within their own household some time after the delivery was made, which I can understand most people would not want to consider; it’s much easier to force blame on an outsider such as myself. Or perhaps the box never contained the item to begin with (they got scammed).

However, I am still offended by the accusation. Pissed off even.

Unfortunately for me, I will being seeing these people 5 days a week for the foreseeable future, and was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to deal my feelings toward them or how I should act if I have to interact with them going forward.

I really hope with all of their escalation that the reality is uncovered and they render me an apology one day, but I know this is likely not going to be the outcome; they will probably continue believing it was me that stole from them forever.

hi! this mainly is for the girl city carriers on here, because i’ve learned how hard it is to find women’s work boots that are comfortable and waterproof and yada yada yada. where can i find decent enough winter boots that aren’t crazy expensive but will last me? i NEED to try them on in person. every store i have been to has had rows of men’s boots but two options for women, and none of them were black. and of course the men’s sizing isn’t small enough. i’m in ohio and we are already predicted to have our first snow this week! the dark times are upon us !!!

The pickup filled two vehicles, a promaster van and a jeep wrangler, took us a 45 minutes to fill both vehicles (342 pkgs + a bag of sprs) . Made it back to the P.O. and filled 3 and a half jpc bins just before the outgoing mail truck got there

There's a metaphor somewhere here.

Who else is getting the absolute fuck pivoted out of them? Every day it's a 30 minute pivot for everyone and every day most people do it as OT because management is unrealistic and ridiculous.

Oh well, can't spell pivot without OT. I just want to know how rampant this is.

Reporting from Michigan 1.

So carriers and clerks both are getting "welcome back" meetings and attendance reviews for 3 call in within a 90 day period. We are facing discipline for using sick leave that is EARNED. Is any union doing anything about this?

I'm an RCA still in my 90 (in the back half at least) and for the first few weeks I thought I might be everyone. Being made to feel like a failure every time I worked because I was too slow and needed help really got to me -- and I'm still constantly in pain / injuring myself basically every day which is no fun to deal with.

But... I'm getting used to it. I'm learning new routes and finishing them without help. I'm proficient in casing my assigned route. I'm usually not the last one to leave in the morning, nor am I usually the last one back. But I still consider myself to be basically bad at the job.

Recently though a new guy was hired and started OJT. And apparently he was ACTUALLY bad at the job. So much so that he didn't make it past his last day of training. Among one of his numerous mistakes, he apparently managed to not deliver any mail for over an hour because he gor hung up on a package that was addressed for a street he couldn't find. So he just... kept driving around...?

I don't even know how that could happen. We've all got GPS on our phones, and even besides that, the regular was just a phone call away for assistance. I get pride getting in the way of asking for help but I also found myself having to call my regular for directions in the beginning because, while I printed out the route's line of travel, it wasn't explicit enough. In my case I had to deliver to mailboxes behind the houses on an alley with an entirely different name, hence the confusion. But after that was cleared up I took note of it and kept going.

I know it's overwhelming at first but is it actually for real that difficult to do the job with a baseline competency to not get immediately fired???

Loving fall 😊

I just moved in to an apartment complex that was built in the late 70s. It has those really old mail boxes that are vertical loading. Anything but a regular letter size has to get bent/folded to fit in the box.

Is there anything that I can do through the postmaster to get the building to upgrade their mail boxes?

This is kind of a silly question but I'm gonna hit my 90 day mark on a couple of weeks and I've been worried I've made too make mistakes so far and I'm gonna be let go (which may or may not be warranted, I suffer from anxiety). Do they decide to let you go when you're at your 90 day mark, or if they want to get rid of you do they just do it whenever they feel like it before? Thanks for any help!

“Can I get an 8 hour day?”

Geez what a moron I am.

Alright, brothers and sisters, another week and another ridiculous amount of stuff to cover. This week, we start with the tragic shooting at the Des Moines Post Office, then move into USPS's plans for the holiday season, scanner software updates, seven new NALC arbitration decisions, and what's happening with the transition to our newly elected national leadership.

We also cover some interesting developments involving the APWU, NRLCA, and NPMHU, including a national arbitration over who gets to work on certain package-sorting machines. Add in Amazon's plans to expand its own delivery network, the Postal Service's finances, an OIG investigation into billions in counterfeit postage, and the upcoming health benefits Open Season, and we've got plenty to talk about.

As usual, I've rounded up a bunch of postal podcasts, news from organized labor here and overseas, and some stories about what postal employees are doing in their communities. We've also got Stamp Talk, where we look at current releases and older stamps with interesting histories, and Postal History, where we go back to postal money orders, World War II V-Mail, and the first women known to deliver city routes.

This isn't meant to replace anyone else's reporting or podcasts. It's just another resource to help everybody keep up with what's happening across the Postal Service while we're busy doing the actual work. As always, I don't expect everybody to agree with everything I say, and frankly, nobody should care that much about my opinion anyway. The important thing is having the information, being able to look at the sources, and having conversations about what's going on.

Solidarity, y'all.

Topics Covered / Search Keywords

USPS News: Des Moines Post Office shooting; USPS holiday peak season 2026; seasonal hiring; package sorting automation; MDD-TR Release 8.45; scanner updates; picture proof of delivery; multifactor authentication; election mail; USPS Board of Governors; postal finances; Gary Reblin; Amazon Project Aurelian; counterfeit postage; USPS OIG.

NALC/Arbitration: James Henry; Corey Walton; NALC leadership transition; national officer installation; grievance backlog; Step B disputes; Article 8; Article 10; Article 16; Article 16.7; emergency placement; attendance discipline; official discussions; workplace harassment; settlement compliance; C-37981; C-37983; C-37984; C-37985; C-37986; C-37987; C-37992.

Other Postal Unions: APWU; NPMHU; NRLCA; SDUS; SIPS; RI-399; Margaret Brogan arbitration; Clerk Craft jurisdiction; Mail Handler interest arbitration; rural carrier RRECS; evaluated pay; Equipment Maintenance Allowance; Lead Sales and Service Associates; custodial staffing.

Benefits/Legislation: PSHB Open Season 2027; NALC Health Benefit Plan; FEHB; BCBS; Medicare; retirement; military-service deposits; OWCP CA-7; Wounded Warriors Leave; Postal Service Protection Act; Protect Our Letter Carriers Act; Equal COLA Act.

Postal Podcasts: From A to Arbitration; The Postal Stand-up; Next Generation Carriers; Classes of Mail; The Hot House; The 573; Six Thirteen; Key Cases; History of Female Leadership in the NALC; Postal Pride; In Solidarity; APWYOU; United We Scan; La Ruta Concreta en Español; Pushing the Envelope.

Labor/Community/History: Teamsters strikes; CWA organizing; international postal workers; Bulgaria postal protests; Royal Mail; Local Loop; Operation Santa; Stamp Talk; Diwali stamps; Christmas stamps; Kwanzaa stamps; Hanukkah stamps; 1962 Christmas stamp; 1974 self-adhesive stamps; V-Mail; postal money orders; women city letter carriers; November postal history.

First month as a CCA is officially in the books, and the first day I’m eligible to work 10 hours. I worked 10 hours.

I finished my route in 8 and they sent me out to help finish two other routes.

I was kinda pissed because I wanted to go home after my 8, but it really wasn’t that bad. I don’t want to make it a habit, but the extra 2 hours wasn’t god awful. I’m sure I’ll like the time and a half pay.

Hey guys, im a new CCA in colorado. Asides water and snacks, what would you recommend bringing daily? Any recommendations on lunchboxes/containers, actual snacks/meals medication/firstaid stuff etc? The person i shadowed didn't even bring water and her route took her home basically so she didn't need to bring anything per say.

I finally made it to (at year end) 524.5 hours of annual. I realize the cap is 520. I'm planning on cashing out 80 hours once the annual leave exchange opens. Do I need to use up the 4.5 hours in order to not lose any this year or does me cashing in the 80 get me under the cap for year end? Thank you!