Management wants me to get a bigger vehicle, or remove Business Pickup from my route.

[dunshine]

Hello, I made a post about this recently, asking the “what if’s” of this situation, but now manglement is starting to get serious about it so I really want to know what my rights are here.

There is a business pickup on my route that frequently runs sales. sometimes they’ll only have 20 packages, but when they run these sales they’ll have 180+ packages to pick up, that are rather large. On those days, I have to do multiple trips to be able to pick them all up and bring them back to the post office.

Since we just had Friday off for Juneteenth, this business basically had a 3 day weekend worth of catching up on orders since they don’t get picked up on Saturday or Sunday either, and this time Friday. Returning to work this monday it took me 6 trips to finally clear their garage of packages.

Well now manglement has approached me and told me that I now need to get a bigger vehicle. For reference, my route is only a 41H. I have a RHD 2door Jeep Wrangler. I can fit my normal mail volume in my vehicle. Mondays i get 120 packages, every other day it barely ever goes over 50 packages. I bring back 250+ outgoing packages a day on average. I told manglement no way, i’m not switching out a fully converted RHD just to get a big SUV. and i’m not paying for a new vehicle, i honestly think it’s insane im even using my own.

Well now they want to take the collection from me completely! I’m fine with getting aux help with it if they don’t want to pay me for second trips, but i certainly don’t want to give up territory when my route is already a 41H which is practically the bottom of the barrel.

What are my options here? I know that they can just send city to collect it, but how would i get credit if they don’t have RRECs? they can’t use carrierPO. I came back to the office today and only picked up 15 of their packages so i had room for the rest of my pickups, and told them there is still 180 packages sitting back at the business that need to be picked up, and since im “no longer authorized to do second trips” that i can’t do it. I’m not sure who they’ve ended up sending. but i was just sent home.

 

[btdtret]

dunshine -- "Well now manglement has approached me and told me that I now need to get a bigger vehicle. What are my options here?"

-- For starters, you could cite Section 141.2 of the PO-603: Your personal vehicle must be large enough to accommodate the NORMAL mail volume and constructed to protect the mail from loss or damage. ( does not really address whether the "normal mail volume" is what you deliver or what you pick up )

-- Get a copy of Step 4 ( V-2 ). If a member of the NRLCA, you should find it inside their web site. If not a member, ask someone in the office that is a member to get it, or ask your office steward, or if none, ask your Assistant District Representative ( aka ADR ).

-- "Cherry picking" from V-2 which addresses Excessive Additional Trips and steps the carrier AND manglement may consider/take.

- The parties agree that the above provision indicates that a rural carrier, who is required to furnish a personal vehicle, should provide a vehicle of sufficient size that will NORMALLY carry all of the mail for the route.

- If management authorizes an additional trip, utilizes a leave replacement, curtails mail or takes other actions due to the size of the carrier's personal vehicle on more than 12 days in any six month period, management MAY require the rural carrier to provide a larger vehicle that will significantly reduce additional trips or MAY adjust the route AT THE OPTION OF THE CARRIER.

- If the carrier chooses to provide a larger vehicle, such vehicle must be provided within 60 days of being notified of excessive trips ( or show proof of purchase ). Additional trips during the Christmas overtime period WILL NOT COUNT toward the more than 12 days.

- Should the carrier be unable to provide a larger vehicle, management will consider assigning an Employer provided vehicle to the route if available, and if the Employer provided vehicle will significantly reduce the additional trips, prior to adjusting the route.

-- The above should give you some "ammo" in dealing with manglement. Be sure to request a list of the 12 days you needed to make additional trips!

-- Advise your ADR of manglement's intentions regarding a larger vehicle.

-- Manglement could remove the business in order to reduce additional trips.

-- Whenever you take time off, how does the carrier covering your route handle the incoming parcels?

-- Going off the "deep end" items:

- If rural routes with an employer provided vehicle are making excessive additional trips, politely inform manglement that you will get a larger vehicle -- as soon as those employer vehicle routes get a larger vehicle.

- If employer vehicles are available, but manglement won't consider putting one on your route, you might grieve and cite Section 142.3 of the PO-603: The USPS supplies ALL additional necessary EQUIPMENT, supplies, and forms.

-- After rereading your post, face the possibility of losing the offending business. In the mean time, get your ADR involved.

 

[dunshine]

-- Whenever you take time off, how does the carrier covering your route handle the incoming parcels?

My route is never ran as a whole. It’s usually split 3 ways. Someone runs my residential, someone runs my businesses, and then one other person runs my pickups.

This is if my route is even finished on days i’m off. Other times, they’ll only run my residential and leave all businesses for when I come back, and some of my businesses are lucky if they even get a pick up.

 

[gotstamps]

The vehicle size provisions speak to carrying the mail for the route, not collections.
If your route volume fits into your vehicle daily then your vehicle is adequate.

Contact your Steward about filing a grievance. The “adequate size” requirement pertains to delivery, not parcel collections.

 

[Rt2mailman]

You are not an overburdened route, so they can NOT cut (adjust) your route. Your rhd Jeep is considered to be of adequate size for rural routes by our union and upper Usps management.
Even if some one else picks up for you, you must grieve if management doesn't require them (city or rca) to record the pick ups correctly. Rcas must switch to your route number, as city carriers also have to do, plus they must switch to RURAL carrier.
Your vehicle only has to be big enough to hold the average day of mail, not exceptional day's worth of mail. This is found in the po 603 (rules an regulations for rural carriers, required to be at every rural carrier case).