You Are Only Young Once!
This article I am writing about is for the young carriers in age. You are only young once every day you are getting older. So, running your route today might take you longer in the future! So, it is important to protect your route when you are young so that when you get older you will be able to complete your route without any physical issues and in the timely manner that you set while you were younger.
In the office we have standards of 18 letters a minute or 8 flats a minute and 70 pieces of mail a minute for strap out time. You don’t have to be a mathematician to figure out your office time. But in the office, you get fixed office time to do other things besides casing and tying out your mail. Office break if your office has office breaks, 5 minutes personal time, vehicle inspection time (see M-41 section 832), time to cut the straps and count out and band into relays 3 rd bundles. Time to put your DPS in relay order and wash up time to name a few. Working off the clock whether getting your DPS or getting your workstation ready are anything else you do off the clock, is only going to hurt you down the road! SO DON’T DO IT! I don’t understand why carriers do this, why would you work for FREE?
There is no standard on the street like in the office for casing mail. So, you set the standard for street time by being consistent and professional while delivering mail.
The first thing I am going to talk about is that your scanner is not your friend unless you use it wisely. That scanner that you have attached to your bag, or hip is like having a supervisor with you every day all day long. That scanner records everything that you are doing from how long it takes you to put your relay in your bag. To how long it takes you to get from one relay point to the next. It will record how long you are on stationary time, to how long it takes you to deliver from house to house. So, if you are a professional letter carrier the scanner is your best friend but if you are an unprofessional letter carrier that scanner is your worst nightmare!
You young carriers that can run through the routes think you are getting over on management, but management is getting over on you! When they adjust the routes through route inspection, they will use the scanner time to adjust your route. Everything that is recorded on that scanner that is time wasting practices will be deducted from your street time, shortening your street time so that management can add to it when you are older!
With that said you should always drive the speed limit. Mostly all the towns on Long Island are between 20 to 30 mph. There is no reason you should jeopardize your safety by driving over the speed limit to get done early and appease management.
Relay Points: As you are driving your vehicle to relay points remember that you must park the vehicle at a safe location. Do not park at a fire hydrant, do not park at a bus stop, do not park blocking someone’s driveway, do not park where the street sign says, “no parking” or “handicap parking,’ do not double park. You must park your vehicle in a safe location, and you must chock the wheels, take the key out of the ignition, roll up the window so no one can put their hands down the window to release door lock and lock the doors every time you get out of the vehicle.
Parcel Delivery: If the parcel is too big or heavy to put into your satchel the proper way to deliver that package is as follows: If you park your vehicle before the address with the big parcel. You flag the house with mail for that address and when you are done with the relay, you drive to the address and deliver both the mail and the parcel at the same time. If you are passing the address prior to you parking the vehicle at the relay point. You stop at the address and get both the mail and the parcel and deliver it before you start your relay.
M-41 section 123.2: Report to unit manager all unusual incidents of conditions relating to mail delivery, including mail found trapped behind wall-mounted and wall-recessed apartment house mailbox units, condition of street letterboxes and relay boxes (e.g., unanchored boxes and schedules).
M- 41 Delivery and Collection Rules: section 131.11: Keep the mail in your possession or locked in a relay box or vehicle. All equipment and undeliverable mail must be returned to the post office at the end of each trip.
Section 131.12: If the use of a satchel cart is authorized, exercise reasonable care to prevent any attempted theft from the cart while delivering your route.
Section 131.22: Do not place letters, large flats, and other mail within the pages of magazines, catalogs, etc., at any time. Whenever letters and flats are cased together, care must be exercised to avoid having letters fall between pages of magazines, etc. Putting letter mail in between magazines while casing might help you get done quicker in the street but that is a violation of Section 131.22 and will hurt you eventually when inspections occur.
Section 131.44: Report on Form 1571 all mail undelivered — including all mail distributed to the route but not cased and taken out for delivery or mail/relays brought back in the afternoon. Estimate the number of pieces of mail.
Section 132.11: Accept letters handed to you by customers for mailing, providing that postage is affixed. Go to the door to receive this mail from the customer if possible.
Section 132.21: Collect mail from designated street letterboxes, cooperative mailing racks, and mail chute receiving boxes. Avoid standing in the street when loading or emptying these boxes.
Section 132.24: Report to manager any person who tampers with or deliberately damages mailboxes or takes mail from them without authority.
Section 133.2: Do not finger mail when driving, or when walking up or down steps or curbs, when crossing streets, or at any time it would create a safety hazard to the carriers or to the public.
Section 133.3: Use crosswalks when crossing busy streets and following traffic signals or the direction of traffic control personnel.
Section 133.6: Report immediately when you are being followed. Several important arrests have resulted from such reports.
Breaks: Depending on your local agreement you get either one or two street breaks. These street breaks are usually 10 or 15 minutes long. You cannot take them in conjunction with your lunch break, they must be separated. The union fought hard for you to get breaks because of the demanding work that you do. perform take them or LOSE THEM. You might not need a break now because you are young but when you get older you are going to wish you had more breaks.
Comfort Stop: You are allowed to go for comfort stops for bathroom purposes. The bathroom must be a clean safe location. If there are none available, you may return to the post office to use their bathroom facilities.
Lunch Break: You get a half hour for lunch nothing more or nothing less. Your lunch break starts when you get back into your vehicle after the last delivery on that relay. If you are driving to a location to take lunch the time it takes you to travel to and from is included in your lunch period. If you leave the vehicle while on lunch, you are required to lock the vehicle and chock the wheels. If you do not take lunch and work through it after 6 hours of work the USPS automatically deducts a half hour from your timecard. So again, use it or lose it. Too many times, I hear young carriers telling me that they don’t take lunch. So, if you do not take your lunch and work past six hours management is deducting a half hour. Another half hour you are working for free! You might be able to work without lunch when you are young but when you get up there in age you will want to take those thirty minutes to eat and relax.
These are just some examples on how to protect your assignment while out on the street. If you want a complete run down of how to be a professional letter carrier, I suggest that you read the M-41 manual that is at your case on how to perform your duties as a professional letter carrier.
