TheMailman302 -- "OK! I submitted an ART 30.2 for a sub in March. My sub came in last week, while I was on vacation, rode with another carrier on her route. Now the PM has put him on another route that did not submit a ART 30.2 and my rt has been vacant for longer than his. Is there an expiration on the ART 30.2?"
-- Not quite sure where an "expiration on the ART 30.2" comes in. Moving on...
-- Yes, regular carriers do have the right to request that a leave replacement be assigned to their route. That is done by submitting the 120-Day Notice. There is no guarantee manglement will be able to hire a replacement. If the route does not get a sub within the 120-Day period, file a grievance ( not that it will change anything, but does create a paper trail ). File another 120-Day Notice, round-date it and keep a copy.
-- The "tricky" part is any RCA belongs to the USPS, not the regular rural carrier. PM's do the assigning of RCA's to routes.
-- That the PM put the new RCA on another route while you were on vacation could be due to the PM didn't want to wait to start the training of the RCA. Don't believe there is anything in writing regarding the next hiree going to the route that has been without a sub the longest. ( probably would be considered the "polite or right" thing to do, but the USPS is not known for either. )
-- Contact your Assistant District Representative, but don't count on the ADR being able to get the latest sub assigned to your route.
" They did make a PTF position a while ago, so does this negate my priority to getting a sub before others that did not submit an ART 30.2?"
-- The PTF position is created when there are at least 2 K routes without a sub in an office. PTF's can only be assigned to K routes. If your route is not a K route, it won't be part of a PTF's "string". What is the classification of your route?
