Blue Box scans

I have a couple of blue boxes that need to be scanned by a certain time, and after that time we are allowed an extra 15 minutes to do the scan. Many times I have to stop casing at the PO to drive to the blue box so I can scan it on time, then return to the PO to finish up and then get out on the route.

On some occasions management will volunteer to do the blue box scan for me to save me that time and trouble.

They always tell us we MUST do the scan by that time or district sends them an angry email.

However, when management does the scan for me, most times they do so well past the scheduled time and the extra 15 minutes.

This got me thinking, does district really get on them for a late scan OR does a late scan just affect management's bonus???

i don't have any blue boxes on my route, but from those that do, i've heard that the call from district will come if the scan is early. scanning later is not a problem. is there a truck being dispatched from your office that requires a scan from being on "exact" time? if you make the scan on time, and still have part of your route to deliver, do you bring back the mail so it can be taken away?

I did get a call when I scanned the box 2 minutes early at one time. The box also has a nearby CBU which is my first stop on the route. So any outgoing mail from the blue box travels another 5 hours with me before I get back to the PO for the truck. This fact further puzzled me as to why the scan had to be done in that 15 min window.

Ibpd16 -- "I have a couple of blue boxes that need to be scanned by a certain time, and after that time we are allowed an extra 15 minutes to do the scan. Many times I have to stop casing at the PO to drive to the blue box so I can scan it on time, then return to the PO to finish up and then get out on the route.

-- That is just so wrong!! Why a Blue Box need to be scanned in the morning? If you do happen to pick up mail from the box, the mail will just be sitting in the office until the afternoon dispatch truck. Do you have a early truck too?

-- Not to mention disrupting your work.

-- Do you get time and mileage for the trip? POV or LLV?

-- Maybe the Assistant District Representative can make some sense out of the situation and have the scan time changed until the afternoon.

-- Has any postal official done a count on the number of mail pieces picked up in the morning to see if the Blue Box is justified?

With the even flow of mail and Amazon parcels the length of my day can vary 2 to 3 hours; I am glad a do not have a blue box on my route.

They need to amend the blue box scan time to a time to your aprox daily arrival time while on the route.

All they need to do is submit a form to district of new time then print and slap new sticker times on BLUE BOX. It's ok to be late with this scan.

lbpd16 said:

I did get a call when I scanned the box 2 minutes early at one time. The box also has a nearby CBU which is my first stop on the route. So any outgoing mail from the blue box travels another 5 hours with me before I get back to the PO for the truck. This fact further puzzled me as to why the scan had to be done in that 15 min window.

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Scan the box early and that is a big deal, you found that out already, but late ?
Ok if you don't scan it before the office end of day scans, yeah I could see that being a problem, but a 15 minute window?
Sounds like your PM is enforcing some City Carrier BS on you.

I call BS on the 15 minute window, too. As long as the scan is made after the time listed on the box and before the office's All Clear, you should be fine. Is it possible they told you this when you first started just to make sure you didn't forget to do it? I doubt it would make sense to change the time on the box to later, either. On lighter days you could find yourself sitting there waiting to scan, or maybe even backtracking later if you're there way too early.

The scans are more important now than ever. The PO has stepped into the digital age. The posted times for the collection boxes guarantee the customer a time window where they know they have until posted time to get that mail out. It also works for logistics for multiple actions for movement of mail.

Boston65 said:

The scans are more important now than ever. The PO has stepped into the digital age. The posted times for the collection boxes guarantee the customer a time window where they know they have until posted time to get that mail out. It also works for logistics for multiple actions for movement of mail.

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Since the only thing scanned at the blue box is the boxes bar code, logistics wouldn't know if 1 letter or 1000 letters are crammed in that box for pick up.
As far as the customer goes, if a customer puts mail in a blue box before the posted collection time, do they really care if is in the box for a little longer, or in a carriers vehicle, as long as it gets in the mail stream that day.
This really sounds like a City Carrier directive, they have scans throughout their Routes that must be made within certain time windows.

I'm POV, I get mileage for making that extra run. For a couple weeks we kept track of the mail volume. Typically I had 20 pieces of mail. However, when I scan the box I also have to enter the number of mail pieces into the scanner. They were trying to get rid of the box but claimed district refuses to allow it. On the way back to town near the end of my route I pass by the same box in the afternoon. I wondered why I could not just scan it then. I was told once again that we have to scan it in that 15 minute window.

Seems like the consensus is that this is some BS. Instead of getting angry I just take longer running my route. If I don't make it until 6PM I made myself an 11 hour day.