Shadow day question
- Thread starter Proby
- Start date
Priority:You
Member
I've taken out shadow people when I was a sub.
Windindaface
Well-known member
I've also seen a shadow day done for a potential hire on another route.
Now that’s a new one. Did that sub pick one route over the other as primary?
uselesshasbeen
Well-known member
Happened with me in 2003. POV ride alongs can be problematic. Old postal jeeps are not the greatest vehicles to stick a passenger in to.
Windindaface
Well-known member
No. REG for the run was out and splitting was involved that day. They did their day, went back for more training. Took the $ and ran.
gotstamps
Well-known member
Shadow Day can be on any route with any Rural Carrier. Personally, I think it should be with the Regular & on the Route that the newbie will be assigned to.
Taking a shadow on an ”easy route“ (like an ALL apartment route) when they will actually be assigned to a POV curbside can make the sub feel as if they’ve been mislead. JS
Taking a shadow on an ”easy route“ (like an ALL apartment route) when they will actually be assigned to a POV curbside can make the sub feel as if they’ve been mislead. JS
muttleycrue
Well-known member
I would much rather meet up with a bear or moose on the road than the neighborhood old folks mailbox watch group when the weekly flyer is a day late.
Mud pits. Snow drifts. Icy steep grades. Fallen trees. These I can deal with.
Lots of people in a small area, not so much.
Back to the original subject. I was given the shadow day honors for the new RCA for another route in our office a few months ago. Look at it as more of a take your daughter/son to work day than actual training. Mainly to give the newby enough info to know whether to run far and run fast, or to stick it out. Doesn't have to be the same route but I agree that it should at least be a similar route.
Postal-xam@58
Well-known member
I totally think the shadow day should be the route you are supposed to be training on . Our boss has started training new subs on one route and then putting them on their official route . I know I would never have made it if I had been thrown all over the place, like is happening in our office. I needed all the time, (shadow day included) to get everything to click in my brain.???
Voglio-il mio
Well-known member
I disagree, when first starting it doesn't matter if you start on your primary route or not. In fact it is better to start on a smaller route with a Regular Carrier that has an efficient method of handling the mail doing the training. The most important factor in development is for a new RCA to have and develop good habits when handling the mail. Driving the route and learning the case is just an exercise in repetition and will come with time. It is much more important for a new RCA to develop confidence and a system for handling the mail before attempting a more challenging route.
Postal-xam@58
Well-known member
How are you supposed to learn the case if you’re working on another route? I get the idea of building good habits, but riding another route doesn’t get me familiar with the route I am supposed to deliver. I guess if you have a photographic memory or the memory like an elephant , ( they’re not supposed to forget anything) I guess it would work. My regular helped me tremendously and gave me tips on the customers and what was expected of me. She checked on me even on her days off. I have seen them hire suds and move them to one route to case and another to deliver. And then asked them why they are so slow. For pity sake , give them a fighting chance!!!!
Windindaface
Well-known member
@Postal-xam@58 … The shadow day is not for case learn process. It is a time for them to observe what this job entails.
It does not matter what route their shadow day is on. At some point if they commit they will be utilized on any route needing coverage.
Just saying an untrained RCA for a route yesterday was utilized to split. That RCA under pressure to be back, pulled the case backwards and worked it blind side up to finish.
It does not matter what route their shadow day is on. At some point if they commit they will be utilized on any route needing coverage.
Just saying an untrained RCA for a route yesterday was utilized to split. That RCA under pressure to be back, pulled the case backwards and worked it blind side up to finish.
Last edited:
gotstamps
Well-known member
You’re talking about training. Shadow Day is strictly observation of the job.
Shadowing an easy route doesn’t give the RCA a good view of what they will be doing on their Primary. It could save time & money for the newbie to see exactly what to expect instead of a route they might possibly work one day. Instead it’s very much like a card trick, show them a full CBU route, then assign them to a full curbside route. Or even LLV vs POV... let them see an LLV Route, then find out they’re on a POV route that needs a RHD.
Diana_of_Themyscira
Well-known member
I have a lot of questions :
So what EXACTLY should newbies learn on a Shadow Day?
Can they help with the casing?
Learn how to deal with CBUs - how to lock/unlock, use the parcel locker, etc. ?
Learn how to use the scanner ?
Or does this happen on the Training Day?
Whom should the newbies be with on Shadow Day? Training Day?
Is there a manual for all of these?
I figure learning is best when the learner does more than look :
"Tell me and I will forget,
Show me and I may remember,
Involve me and I will understand."
So what EXACTLY should newbies learn on a Shadow Day?
Can they help with the casing?
Learn how to deal with CBUs - how to lock/unlock, use the parcel locker, etc. ?
Learn how to use the scanner ?
Or does this happen on the Training Day?
Whom should the newbies be with on Shadow Day? Training Day?
Is there a manual for all of these?
I figure learning is best when the learner does more than look :
"Tell me and I will forget,
Show me and I may remember,
Involve me and I will understand."
gotstamps
Well-known member
Shadow Day is simply a “Show & Tell”. It’s for the newbie to ”see” if this job is what they want to do. They are to watch what & how you do the job. They cannot deliver mail nor case anything. You can tell them what, how, & why you are doing whatever the task may be PLUS answer any questions that come up.
Doing is the best way to learn but if they are doing, then they aren’t paying attention to what you are doing.
Diana_of_Themyscira
Well-known member
So when do they get to learn things?
And who should teach them - Academy? Regular? OJI?
I'm a Reg and I don't know how and what to do on a Shadow Day. Who should tell the Regulars the DOs and DON'Ts?
gotstamps
Well-known member
Shadow Day is Show & Tell. They usually have attended Orientation for 3 days prior as an intro to the Post Office & all the jobs that are employed. Shadow is not mandatory but does well to weed out a few newbies. Then there is 3 Days of Academy (hands on) plus a day of LLV training if needed. When they’ve made it through that, the Regular Carrier or an OJI (if there is one) trains them on route where the real hands-on begins. They get a minimum of 24 hours with the Regular/Trainer but can go to 5 days if mgmt allows.
callofthewild
Well-known member
This could be relevant to this subject, PM was thinking out loud today and said "I wonder if I could give the new RCA a visitor badge and let the shadow day be unpaid?" First the newly hired RCA would need to agree to work unpaid, which is highly unlikely. But a good way to run them off before they start. And secondly the Regular Rural Carrier who would be ask to do this would have to have rocks for brains, I would be that Regular Rural Carrier and I told the PM "a person will need to be on the clock and fully protected against getting hurt to ride in my POV".
I don't know of another company on the planet who would ever ask a person to work for no pay, I understand it is a ride along ONLY and this person doesn't do any real rural carrier duties; but to ask someone to spend 9 hours of their precious time for free, are you kidding? PM wasn't kidding.
I don't know of another company on the planet who would ever ask a person to work for no pay, I understand it is a ride along ONLY and this person doesn't do any real rural carrier duties; but to ask someone to spend 9 hours of their precious time for free, are you kidding? PM wasn't kidding.
Diana_of_Themyscira
Well-known member
Thank you for the info !
I wish Management would be as informative as this forum.
I have no idea about all of these when my RCA (to-be) showed up yesterday. I was just told it's his Shadow Day.
Management can't blame us for doing the Shadow Day wrong when they do NOT tell us how to do it right, can they?
5 years ago, I had it differently as a sub :
1. with the Academy for 3 (or maybe 4 days)
2. with the driving instructor for LLV training (8 hours)
3. with the Regular (2 days, I think) - helped with casing, locking/unlocking CBUs, scanner features/options, taking packages to the door, etc
4. carried first part of the route
5. carried last part of the route.
I do not know when (and if) I get to be with the sub again, so I tried my best to teach him while I can.
I figure, he knowing more would give him confidence and the willingness to stay in this job.
I've always believed that one reason newbies leave is that they feel they're not trained enough.
I am saying this from my personal experience as one.
This is my way of helping with the POs problem on RCA retention.
Maybe my method is different BUT, hey, I would do as the PO says.
(sorry about my choppy sentences
)*I was a State University College Instructor for almost 20 years and spent a lot of years studying about the nature of teaching-learning. ?
