New Hire RCA Feeling Disenchanted

[InquiringMindsWantToKnow]

Hi everyone! I hope it is okay to drop in and pick your brains... I was recently hired as an enthusiastic RCA - I was very much looking forward to joining the rural team and driving through the country and getting regular exercise in the great outdoors on a part-time basis after recently relocating to the TX hill country for a new adventure and a much needed respite from my previous career.. but now that I have done some due diligence and ended up down various internet rabbit holes I am feeling very apprehensive about following through with taking the position. It seems like almost everyone agrees that RCAs are routinely overworked and undervalued. Give me your honest opinion - if you knew then what you know now, would you have run the other way and not taken the job? I absolutely do not want to work 70 hrs 7 days per week... I would prefer to only work 3 to 4 long days per week, but at a minimum I want to draw a hard line at 40 hrs 5 days per week (with the occasional overtime as might be expected around holiday season etc.). Do you think I can realistically observe my limits upfront and still be a respected employee - or even still remain employed for that matter?

 

[Dumbassclerksyndrome]

Welcome, all your answers are inevitably placed upon the size office you may be hired into, as well as, size and location of surrounding towns. Even if your office doesn’t work you, you can be made to travel within 50 miles to work. Also, a lot will be determined in next few months when the way are pay is based will be changed drastically. Older carriers choosing to retire earlier than expected and new hires just giving up. Depends on your own personal situation. Do you need/ have to work? Flip a coin on that one, because if you do get hired and find it’s not what you expected and don’t have to work, then you just learned life lessons on how USPS operates. It is not an easy job. Taxing mentally and physically, but riding around in the country side has its perks. Don’t trust management to say ”sure, you’ll only work one day a week to relieve Reg carrier” because they will bamboozle you right out the gate. If you do decide to take job, don’t fret, it’ll come to you. Don’t be threatened harassed or rushed. Just tell yourself I got this!! Good luck!

 

[hockey94]

You need to work at an office where you do not need to supply a vehicle for delivery.

If that is not option, I would most likely go in another field.

Good Luck !!

 

[TuckersDad]

I'm 3 months in and I've been mostly working 5 days a week. We do have another sub out on medical leave though, and I suspect when they return my hours will go down a bit. The other subs in my office want all the hours they can get, and I'm the junior one.

It all just really comes down to how understaffed your office is, if it's fully staffed you may not work very much. The problem with not working much, is that it takes a long time to learn the job.

 

[btdtret]

InquiringMindsWantToKnow -- " I was recently hired as an enthusiastic RCA.."

-- If you stay long enough, manglement will beat that enthusiasm out of you.

-- Also if you stay, get a shorter "handle", please!

" I absolutely do not want to work 70 hrs 7 days per week... I would prefer to only work 3 to 4 long days per week, but at a minimum I want to draw a hard line at 40 hrs 5 days per week (with the occasional overtime as might be expected around holiday season etc.)."

-- Without knowing your office statistics / situation, your preferences are of no concern to manglement. You have become a "cog" in the massive USPS ( dis- ) organization.

-- If in a really sub-short office, you may reach your 40-hour mark in 3 to 4 days! Likewise, 70+ hours, 7 days a week could the "norm" for such a post office.

-- You didn't mention how long you have been an RCA or the training you have received or how long you have had to work.

- In any case, you have gotten a look "behind the curtain" on how things are at the post office. If you don't like what you have seen, it could be time to walk ( run ) away. If the postal job is the only "game in town", might have to suck it up. If there are other post offices in the area, you could ask those PMs about their sub situation. There are requirements to be met to transfer. Search for "transfer" in the KNOWLEDGEBASE Section at the top left of the page.

-- In the past, we'd normally tell an new hire to give the postal job an honest several months before deciding to stay or leave, but not these days. You have stated your "standards", if the USPS can not meet them, search for employment else where.

-- Good luck whatever your decision may be.

 

[She mails rural]

It's hard work, long hours but it really depends on your office and management. I myself see subs asked to work alot but like today management let some leave early because we had such a hard week. So they try and look out for you when they can. I came in years ago and loved it, but honestly if I was coming in now I would have done quit. They added amazon which is tons more work and not enough employees for the volume we have now. I do believe that can't last forever though. I do believe they will start hiring after Oct 8th. So if I was you I'd set a out date for myself and try it. If when that date get here and you happy then all is good if not I don't blame you for leaving. Good luck and take care.

 

[InquiringMindsWantToKnow]

Thank you all so much for your feedback! It’s super helpful. I am going to sleep on it and make a decision over the weekend. To clarify as someone asked, I have not started training yet, I just accepted the offer today and completed the onboarding. I have a lot to think about and will write more tomorrow with some questions based on your feedback. Y’all are awesome

 

[ABCya]

Your instincts are rattling for a reason.......
That's the nicest I can say about this job for now. Lol

 

[Nevrgivup]

When your customers on your route appreciate you and really mean it, that makes a world of difference for me. I don’t get any appreciation from management. I do feel that I’m providing a service to my customers and to them their mail and packages are very important! That’s the only gratifying thing I can think of at this moment

 

[Worve]

Just be honest with your PM or whichever member of management you meet. If your above criteria is set In stone be ready to resign from day one. Personally as an RCA I don’t really recommend the job to anyone. It takes a certain detail orientated individual with a work ethic above and beyond. Not to mention stubborn as all heck.

In my case management isn’t bad at my office any issues usually get resolved by just talking to them. The biggest thing is I work longer hours and more days then any reg in my office. I can count on one hand the number of weeks I worked under 40 hrs in my 4 years as an RCA. Peak season is just insane 60+ hr work weeks is normal here and that was before losing several RCAs.

Bottom line it is your choice and you need to decide for yourself.

 

[Morty]

There's so many variables that you won't know about until you're in.

Just for reference in my area. I could drive 1 hour north, and no offices there have Amazon and plenty of subs. You have huge routes where carriers get done at 2pm on a heavy day. Or nearby you have offices that have vacant routes, no subs, and no one bidding on said vacant routes or ptf postings. And then the ones in-between the 2 extremes.

Go on your shadow day, it's there to show you if the job is something you'd like to pursue. Ask lots of questions. How many routes? How many available subs? How many carriers working? Amazon office? Sunday package delivery? Government vehicles?

 

[rural]

Hi everyone! I hope it is okay to drop in and pick your brains... I was recently hired as an enthusiastic RCA - I was very much looking forward to joining the rural team and driving through the country and getting regular exercise in the great outdoors on a part-time basis after recently relocating to the TX hill country for a new adventure and a much needed respite from my previous career.. but now that I have done some due diligence and ended up down various internet rabbit holes I am feeling very apprehensive about following through with taking the position. It seems like almost everyone agrees that RCAs are routinely overworked and undervalued. Give me your honest opinion - if you knew then what you know now, would you have run the other way and not taken the job? I absolutely do not want to work 70 hrs 7 days per week... I would prefer to only work 3 to 4 long days per week, but at a minimum I want to draw a hard line at 40 hrs 5 days per week (with the occasional overtime as might be expected around holiday season etc.). Do you think I can realistically observe my limits upfront and still be a respected employee - or even still remain employed for that matter?

Let's see if I have this correct. You asked/applied for a job, then you want to only work when you want to work, not what the employer is requesting. Huh, well I'm saying you sound like you want to be privileged..... but good luck finding that job, anywhere.

 

[ABCya]

Let's see if I have this correct. You asked/applied for a job, then you want to only work when you want to work, not what the employer is requesting. Huh, well I'm saying you sound like you want to be privileged..... but good luck finding that job, anywhere.

I understood the individual to be an rca, then mgmt wants more from the individual rather than the schedule provided.
I don't interpret the person as expecting to be treated as "privileged". I see a human being that expected to work what they were hired to work. But this job is never that simple. It's a selling of our soul.
This job is never what we signed up for. It's ever changing and never truly in our favor. In 19 yrs I've seen it drop to us being at the bottom of the chain and being treated like desperate rejects instead of intellectual human beings. This job has conditioned so many to think we're doing good to get crumbs and no time off when we could go elsewhere for steak and have time for a personal life. Those of us who see it are plotting our escape. He new ones who sense something wrong need to pay attention to that little voice and run now. And ignore the insults on their way out.

 

[rural]

I understood the individual to be an rca, then mgmt wants more from the individual rather than the schedule provided.
I don't interpret the person as expecting to be treated as "privileged". I see a human being that expected to work what they were hired to work. But this job is never that simple. It's a selling of our soul.
This job is never what we signed up for. It's ever changing and never truly in our favor. In 19 yrs I've seen it drop to us being at the bottom of the chain and being treated like desperate rejects instead of intellectual human beings. This job has conditioned so many to think we're doing good to get crumbs and no time off when we could go elsewhere for steak and have time for a personal life. Those of us who see it are plotting our escape. He new ones who sense something wrong need to pay attention to that little voice and run now. And ignore the insults on their way out.

But yet you've stuck around for 19 years......

 

[hunchback]

Thank you all so much for your feedback! It’s super helpful. I am going to sleep on it and make a decision over the weekend. To clarify as someone asked, I have not started training yet, I just accepted the offer today and completed the onboarding. I have a lot to think about and will write more tomorrow with some questions based on your feedback. Y’all are awesome

This is what you want to know about this job, but don't know the right questions to even ask.
1. You cannot be told when you will work, how often, how late and on how much notice.
2. You cannot be told how much you will make per hour you work.
The first few pay periods you are paid by the hour, after that if you aren't FULLY PROFICIENT, you will work more than you are being paid for making the per hour rate they quote you a joke.

3. If you are required to provide a vehicle to deliver out of, the reimbursement will not cover your costs.
And the time you spend on repairs and maintenance will not be paid time, dropping your hourly rate further.
So summarizing,
You are considering a job you don't know what it will pay, when you will work and how long untill it will be until you can be a carrier employee.

 

[ABCya]

But yet you've stuck around for 19 years......

I'm responsibly planning my departure for a few months from now.
I came to terms with the disheartening reality of this job a few years ago. Any responsible adult will not leave one career without planning for the next.
I don't criticize other's for staying or for leaving.
This forum is for all with advice or opinions to share them.
Unlike some, I don't criticize or judge my fellow carriers on here.
I do however voice my disgust for the life sucking postal service that treat us as sub human, and in the recent tears the union that abandoned us.

 

[csparks]

Thats the big problem with the whole RCA position. It could be very close to what the job description implies: relief when a specific carrier is off work.

Yet, it most cases that has been tossed out, and an RCA is part of a tiny bullpen to fill in-sometimes daily- for a large pool of carriers rotating off.

I applied based on the first example, and was glad to find my office was staffed well enough for about 3-4 years that I basically was a 1 route sub. We've since had some shuffling around at times.

So, I can understand the OP's position. Its all about finding the right office, which generally is going to be in a very rural town without much going on to draw job competition.

 

[She mails rural]

I thought we were talking about a cca? Idk

 

[EthelAnne]

So, I can understand the OP's position. Its all about finding the right office, which generally is going to be in a very rural town without much going on to draw job competition.

I think it’s always been this way-finding the right office that works for you. When I started as an RCA I didn’t want to work a lot of hours, so I was happy in my little office, working Saturdays and covering my primary’s vacation. For other RCAs, that doesn’t work. They want hours and they need to find an office that has them.

I can say that in my office, 99% of the RCAs who quit do so because of a lack of hours. We talk a lot here about RCAs working a zillion hours every week and being abused, but I still think the bigger problem with RCA retention is lack of work.

 

[She mails rural]

Well crap maybe we can re-sign your office to my office rotat evey 6 montgs my rcas need a break yours need hours. Perfect solution