Newspaper Delivery RRECS Credit

[MailLady1966]

Our office began delivering newspapers almost a year ago. I questioned whether I was getting credit for them. A union rep said to count all flats for 3-6 months. I counted and categorized these for 107 delivery days. The data clearly shows they never appear on the RADAR report. I filed a dispute last count that was "unable to resolve at this level". I get an average of 112 papers a day. The union rep who handled my dispute on the state level told me in an email that there is a 19% bump nationally for items dropped at the dock. My papers fall at about 27%. I have delivered the paper for a year with no compensation. Who can I contact to escalate this up the food chain?

 

[Casca]

If they’re dropped on the dock, they won’t be on the radar report. That report only shows volume that was run on automation. We had this come up on the first MMS with our dropped papers. District told us to count them during the MMS, so we did. Fast forward to a new PM and we were told to scan them WWS flats. So that is being done now. (Yay to the office). I have never bought that 19% bunk. The MMS instructions say count any flats not run on automation. Local newspapers dropped on the back dock are not run on automation.

 

[She mails rural]

Ours are hand counted during survey and added to flat credit

 

[damifiknow]

mine also she mails rural

 

[Rt2mailman]

You’ve waited long enough for the dispute to be resolved, grieve the fact that the Usps thinks nothing about letting them sit for years. You’ve tried their process, they dropped the ball, file that their procedure doesn’t work

 

[neciat]

Is there an ECR endorsement on these papers ? Do they have ECRWSH , ECRWSS, or ECRLOT on them ? Or, are they just 3 digit or 5 digit and the clerks manually sort them to the appropriate routes ?

 

[MailLady1966]

Is there an ECR endorsement on these papers ? Do they have ECRWSH , ECRWSS, or ECRLOT on them ? Or, are they just 3 digit or 5 digit and the clerks manually sort them to the appropriate routes ?

I get at least 2-3 bundles dropped at my case daily, they are not sorted into my Hot Flats, The label says CAR-RT LOT ** R 073.

 

[She mails rural]

Obviously they are addressed so not boxholders they are tied in bundles. You verified already your not getting credit. So the only other question is you have to find out are they dropped off from the plant or another outside source because if it's a outside source it's a automatic piece count. That's what was told to our office. Find out talk to management if they don't do the right thing then file a grievance right away right then don't wait. I'd also do a dispute after survey. Keep good records it will come in handy it's very important. I hope this helps we shouldn't have to jump through hoops like we do because we work but this is our life now. I wish you well take care.

 

[Beffannie]

We get nothing for ours. Mgmt claims they are counted when the newspaper company pays postage on Postal One (whatever that is). They also claim they are part of the 19% bump. None of us carriers believe them.

 

[neciat]

I get at least 2-3 bundles dropped at my case daily, they are not sorted into my Hot Flats, The label says CAR-RT LOT ** R 073.

Okay, the totals are SUPPOSED to be included in the far right hand corner of this which would also include your presorts ;

 

[She mails rural]

We get nothing for ours. Mgmt claims they are counted when the newspaper company pays postage on Postal One (whatever that is). They also claim they are part of the 19% bump. None of us carriers believe them.

Yes don't believe them

 

[Casca]

Okay, the totals are SUPPOSED to be included in the far right hand corner of this which would also include your presorts ;

Ours have car-rt lot too. They are dropped by the owner of the newspaper. He gets tubs from us, drives to the printer, sorts the bundles into the tubs by zip code, drives to our office, puts them in a hamper, rolls them into the office, leaves the paperwork and a check for postage, then leaves. The clerks then pull each routes bundles from the hamper and places them on our case ledge the afternoon they arrive. Ours ARE NEVER run on postal automation equipment, EVER in the process of us receiving them.

Not all CAR-RT LOT treated the same. If OP’s are handled the same way, then they aren’t on the radar either.

 

[neciat]

Ours have car-rt lot too. They are dropped by the owner of the newspaper. He gets tubs from us, drives to the printer, sorts the bundles into the tubs by zip code, drives to our office, puts them in a hamper, rolls them into the office, leaves the paperwork and a check for postage, then leaves. The clerks then pull each routes bundles from the hamper and places them on our case ledge the afternoon they arrive. Ours ARE NEVER run on postal automation equipment, EVER in the process of us receiving them.

Not all CAR-RT LOT treated the same. If OP’s are handled the same way, then they aren’t on the radar either.

Oh, I don't doubt that these are NOT on the RADAR. I just emphasized "supposed to be" in my previous post because that is how it is supposed to work and what we were all told. We do receive ECRLOT in our presorts as well. Have you checked to see if those are included in the report. The "original" RADAR only had what our plants ran but the updated RADAR does include carrier route sorted flats. I realize THAT number isn't accurate either AND lags days behind. That figure is the last column. Receiving credit for these unaccounted flats is only part of the problem. Even IF we received credit for various mailings, how are they recorded with respect to our coverage factor ? I can almost guarantee that we all have received a mailing(s) that covered a HIGHER percentage of our deliveries on a given day(s) than the RADAR showed for a coverage factor. Say you had a Harriet Carter catalog one day and it covered 80% of your deliveries , yet, when you look at the RADAR for that given day it shows a coverage factor of LESS than 80%. How can THAT be ? How could you have a LOWER coverage factor than the Harriet Carter mailing ALONE ? Remember, the Harriet Carter by itself was 80%. You still had DPS to "help" that coverage factor. The LOT presorts that are dropped at the plant and then brought to an office aren't different than the LOT that are dropped at an office. The mailings do not know where they are being dropped. There is another "one" we are not receiving credit and that is the "WSH" ( ECRWSH ) / high density. Originally, we were to enter these like we do WSS but then all of a sudden, we were "told" to not enter ECRWSH. Those , too, are nowhere to be found on any report. I guess we could say that these numbers are flying "under the RADAR".

 

[UNSUPERVISED]

this is why the union stinks! Our DR has said it is in the 19% bump. It would have to be a 105% bump for me as my newspapers dropped off at the dock are the majority of all the flats that I get. It would easily get me an extra hour of pay a week. It ought to be mandatory to be consistent across the country.

 

[Casca]

…………………Those , too, are nowhere to be found on any report. I guess we could say that these numbers are flying "under the RADAR".

From the most recent RRECS guide

10. ROUTE COVERAGE

The concept of “route coverage” is used to estimate the addresses actually serviced each day on each delivery route in order to give the carrier credit for the actual work performed.
Current USPS standards are based on the number of addresses eligible for service rather than on those actually served. Since the RRECS standards are based on a standard time for each address served, using the number of eligible addresses would overestimate the actual work required.
The parties are still in discussion and development of a Coverage Factor calculation using both breadcrumb data and information from Informed Delivery databases to determine how many eligible boxes were served on any given day. The parties have already agreed that, on any day the route is credited with a boxholder or walk-sequenced mailing, the route coverage for that day will be defaulted to 100%.

Here is what I believe. (not saying it’s a fact). Flats don’t factor into coverage % one bit. The guide is updated as of 2025, and that paragraph is still there. They still have not negotiated coverage factor. I believe they are only using DPS for coverage factor and flats are a piece count and the only time flats affect coverage is if they can be scanned WSS or you stop at a box long enough to deliver a flat alone and GPS registers the stop. (and even that isn’t locked in stone).

If OP has 1000 flats on radar for the week, the 19% only adds 190. She is delivering 112 dropped flats per day (560 for 5 days) That’s 370 not accounted per week, almost 20,000 a year. That’s a lot of lost flats her evaluation is missing. At the least they should be counted during the MMS. Which really is all I was saying, although maybe not clearly.

 

[neciat]

Here is what I believe. (not saying it’s a fact). Flats don’t factor into coverage % one bit. The guide is updated as of 2025, and that paragraph is still there. They still have not negotiated coverage factor. I believe they are only using DPS for coverage factor and flats are a piece count and the only time flats affect coverage is if they can be scanned WSS or you stop at a box long enough to deliver a flat alone and GPS registers the stop. (and even that isn’t locked in stone)

I'm with you. I never believed flats , other than a WSS flat mailing that we entered into the scanner, contributed to our coverage factor. And I never understood as to why , from day one of the premature RRECS implementation, the two parties were STILL in negotiation on the coverage factor issue when in order for a mailer to receive discount(s) , the mailing(s) had to meet certain saturation percentages . Generally, it is 90% of residential deliveries or 75% of business and residential deliveries. These percentages are in The DMM. There is also zone pricing / coverage where YOUR route may not have met the 90 / 75 but as long as the other routes in your zip zone combined ( yours included ) met the threshold, the discount(s) applied. So, the "two parties" already have a baseline / standard set by The DMM from which to derive a coverage factor. The 19% bump to which @UNSUPERVISED was incorrectly informed by his / her DR is for the piece count on flats that ARE RECORDED and NOT flats that aren't recorded such as the newspapers we are discussing. The 19% was added because the engineers found that , all too often , the numbers submitted by the mailers were incorrect. But, at least, there was a number present to be counted / included for each route and 19% is to be added to the originally submitted number(s). We DO NOT add 19% to ZERO. These flats that are not being recorded also negatively impact other aspects of our evaluations such as "reload" and "mark ups" which, in turn, negatively impact the overall evaluation.

 

[U caught my attention]

coverage factor is not fair.
My route has one post with two or several boxes grouped. Whole developmnt set up as such. The route does get credit for servicing all boxes when I stop at one.
Cheers to the bonus credit to my assigned route; however, I know it is not fair to my coworkers that are assigned routes without this type of mail box set up.
My coworkers assigned route has many more cbu. Route coverage only gets dps consideration. How is that fair my grouping gets bonus points and his grouping gets penalized.

 

[ATCBigE]

All I remember hearing was RRECS is so great. We will implement and fix later. Fix later meaning never.

 

[neciat]

All I remember hearing was RRECS is so great. We will implement and fix later. Fix later meaning never.

I know. How can anything be "great" when it needs "fixed" ?

 

[Casca]

The 19% bump to which @UNSUPERVISED was incorrectly informed by his / her DR is for the piece count on flats that ARE RECORDED and NOT flats that aren't recorded such as the newspapers we are discussing. The 19% was added because the engineers found that , all too often , the numbers submitted by the mailers were incorrect. But, at least, there was a number present to be counted / included for each route and 19% is to be added to the originally submitted number(s). We DO NOT add 19% to ZERO. These flats that are not being recorded also negatively impact other aspects of our evaluations such as "reload" and "mark ups" which, in turn, negatively impact the overall evaluation.

Exactly. I remember early on we were told the whole reason for the 19% bump was to correct the mailers “count” of their own product. Local dropped flats were never the reason. It takes a crap load of flats on a route to cover OP’s 20,000 dropped flats. (almost 2000 a week). Some (most) routes dont even get half that in a week.