NRLCA Files National Step 4 Grievance on Whether Rural Carriers are Receiving the Correct Coverage Factor

[Postal Feller]

Well hopefully something actually comes of it though I won't hold my breath. It's getting to be too expensive to have this job between RRECs cutting my pay and my pov having issues (plus the damn gas prices.) Feels like we're being priced out of life on the earlier Table 2 steps

 

[ATCBigE]

Yours is a very revealing and interesting post, even after being gone 3 years. I have always thought that coverage % was the long pole in the manipulation tent.

Don't have the data of course or instinctive frame of reference feel through time to even ponder a guess myself, yet am curious to know even ballpark general, just what does an additional 5% even 10% add to an evaluation with all other factors being the same?

It depends on your number of stops and etc.

So example

Here is my time from 1st count

Curb 459 at 93% gave me 86.59 mins daily
CBU 93 at 93% gave me 9.32 mins daily

Last count

Curb 465 at 77% gave me 72.16 mins daily
CBU 94 at 68% gave me 6.88 mins daily


So I lost 14.43 mins daily and 2.44 mins daily on CBU. Mulitply that by 6 days.

I lost 86.58 mins a week on CURB and 14.64 mins a week on CBU

I have lost 101.22 mins a week (1 hour and 41 mins just on that ALONE)

 

[mail1000]

It depends on your number of stops and etc.

So example

Here is my time from 1st count

Curb 459 at 93% gave me 86.59 mins daily
CBU 93 at 93% gave me 9.32 mins daily

Last count

Curb 465 at 77% gave me 72.16 mins daily
CBU 94 at 68% gave me 6.88 mins daily


So I lost 14.43 mins daily and 2.44 mins daily on CBU. Mulitply that by 6 days.

I lost 86.58 mins a week on CURB and 14.64 mins a week on CBU

I have lost 101.22 mins a week (1 hour and 41 mins just on that ALONE)

This is so sad and so wrong-I am eagerly waiting how this plays out. IMO this coverage factor alone is killing the rural craft and will continue to do so unless something is done. I hope the outcome of this is positive news for us for once.

 

[Gotrope]

This is so sad and so wrong-I am eagerly waiting how this plays out. IMO this coverage factor alone is killing the rural craft and will continue to do so unless something is done. I hope the outcome of this is positive news for us for once.

I expect nothing to come of this for carriers. At best, a possible trade on another fixed factor. Perhaps, an additional 5 % buffer increase on route coverage. An infinitesimal increase in route time when adding 5% to existing coverage factor potentially impacted by 20% or more by unfair data collection program.
Using @ATCBigE above reference, just eyeballing numbers would give you an increase of maybe 3 minutes a day. Maybe. So, instead of down 1 hour 41 minutes...you are down 1 hour 23 minutes. Still a loss. Still a very small chance to affect evaluation gain.

I am thankful everyday for those who choose to continue to work for the American public. But, I'm not expecting people to really consider the job going forward. It's too fractured of a system to sustain itself going forward.

 

[DB.Cooper]

The NRLCA supposedly negotiated on the route coverage factor issue before RRECS was implemented.... So apparently they got befuddled and burned then, why would it be different now... I'm sure USPS will tell an arbitrator this is what NRLCA agreed to...

 

[neciat]

The NRLCA supposedly negotiated on the route coverage factor issue before RRECS was implemented.... So apparently they got befuddled and burned then, why would it be different now... I'm sure USPS will tell an arbitrator this is what NRLCA agreed to...

Well, according to what the union was telling us , they were STILL in negotiations with The USPS regarding coverage factor. As recent as the 2025 RRECS Guide, it is stated that negotiations were still ongoing. So, based upon that, this let's us know that both parties were well aware of this problem. This is a HUGE issue . As far as we know based upon what we are being told and not told, there was no settlement or resolution to coverage factor. I'm with @Gotrope , IF anything comes of this for the carriers, it won't be pennies on the dollar but pennies on the THOUSANDS of dollars.

 

[Dominator]

I'm with @Gotrope , IF anything comes of this for the carriers, it won't be pennies on the dollar but pennies on the THOUSANDS of dollars.

...but since pennies are no longer minted, we'll round to the nearest nothing!

 

[ATCBigE]

I expect nothing to come of this for carriers. At best, a possible trade on another fixed factor. Perhaps, an additional 5 % buffer increase on route coverage. An infinitesimal increase in route time when adding 5% to existing coverage factor potentially impacted by 20% or more by unfair data collection program.
Using @ATCBigE above reference, just eyeballing numbers would give you an increase of maybe 3 minutes a day. Maybe. So, instead of down 1 hour 41 minutes...you are down 1 hour 23 minutes. Still a loss. Still a very small chance to affect evaluation gain.

I am thankful everyday for those who choose to continue to work for the American public. But, I'm not expecting people to really consider the job going forward. It's too fractured of a system to sustain itself going forward.

Well, according to what the union was telling us , they were STILL in negotiations with The USPS regarding coverage factor. As recent as the 2025 RRECS Guide, it is stated that negotiations were still ongoing. So, based upon that, this let's us know that both parties were well aware of this problem. This is a HUGE issue . As far as we know based upon what we are being told and not told, there was no settlement or resolution to coverage factor. I'm with @Gotrope , IF anything comes of this for the carriers, it won't be pennies on the dollar but pennies on the THOUSANDS of dollars.

100% agree with @Gotrope and @neciat

I fully expect nothing out of this. I literally expect a 3% or 5% increase in buffer to cover and they call it good because here's why.

#1 They admit it is wrong
#2 It should pay the least amount of carriers backpay
#2b So a carrier like myself would see most likely zero backpay because the boost in coverage won't boost me to next hour. I would have to look at all of sheets, but I am about 99% I won't get an extra dime for it.
#3 This is what is wrong with the whole implement and fix later. Allows time for USPS to try to solve problem with very little penalty (THINK about the RCA PTO where our union GAVE THEM 6 months and they still failed to get it done and got penalized a lousy 4 hours at $20 an hour to pay to RCA. I mean at that point RCA should have gotten way more. The program is literally already there.

The whole point of this is that nothing will ever change even though there has been shown to be major flaws with the coverage factor and other issues. Give another example. Speed bump aren't in RRECS. Give another one. You have curbside mailbox for nursing home, yet when you have certified or big package, you have to buzz in, find person to sign, and type code to get it. 8127 TIME I got told. No it shouldn't be. It should be factored in on my route on mapping, but issues like this are so easy to overlook but won't ever get fixed.

 

[ATCBigE]

...but since pennies are no longer minted, we'll round to the nearest nothing!

No you just make the penalty minimum to where person won't go into the next hour. You admit you were wrong but sorry didn't change your pay so NO SHOW ME DA MONEY

 

[neciat]

...but since pennies are no longer minted, we'll round to the nearest nothing!

I love it !!! Even though I walked right into that one , I can see that occurring.

 

[Postal Feller]

I expect nothing to come of this for carriers. At best, a possible trade on another fixed factor. Perhaps, an additional 5 % buffer increase on route coverage. An infinitesimal increase in route time when adding 5% to existing coverage factor potentially impacted by 20% or more by unfair data collection program.
Using @ATCBigE above reference, just eyeballing numbers would give you an increase of maybe 3 minutes a day. Maybe. So, instead of down 1 hour 41 minutes...you are down 1 hour 23 minutes. Still a loss. Still a very small chance to affect evaluation gain.

I am thankful everyday for those who choose to continue to work for the American public. But, I'm not expecting people to really consider the job going forward. It's too fractured of a system to sustain itself going forward.

It's gotten to the point that I might have to look for work elsewhere. I can only afford to maintain a single pov on my pay even with ema and it's starting to have more frequent issues. Prices are so ridiculous right now that I can't afford a backup and it's practically impossible for us to keep an Rca though we somehow have one right now. To top it all off they seem keen to cut our pay anywhere they can. I'm only a bit more than year and a half in as reg and was hoping to at least hit the 5 year mark but it's just not feeling sustainable. I really like the job but I can't be losing money to do it