Pay questions

[-Goofy-]

I'll be doing the drug test and getting my fingerprints done this week, so I haven't been hired on yet. But I have some questions about pay for RCAs.

Do the hours include the time in the morning for sorting the mail and loading the vehicles, or is the daily pay just for the route itself?

 

[oi veh.]

You will be putting the mail sorted by clerks in order for your route, loading your vehicle, delivering and unloading at the end of the day.

Good luck.

 

[Deer Smearer]

"E.
1. You work Saturday for 8 hours on an 9 hour route.
2. You work Monday for 8 hours on an 9 hour route.
3. You work Tuesday for 8 hours on an 9 hour route.
4. You work Thursday for 8 hours on an 9 hour route.
5. You work Friday for 8 hours on an 9 hour route.
You will get paid 40 hours."

Almost. On one of those days they would have to work 8 hours and 1 minute.

They have to exceed 40 hours actually worked to revert to pure hourly pay.

And yeah, many subs have learned about that one minute the hard way.

 

[Sandygirl]

I'll be doing the drug test and getting my fingerprints done this week, so I haven't been hired on yet. But I have some questions about pay for RCAs.

Do the hours include the time in the morning for sorting the mail and loading the vehicles, or is the daily pay just for the route itself?

$18.19 an hour and $.73 per mile right now

 

[-Goofy-]

Thanks folks. So the pre-trip sorting of the mail and loading of the vehicle is part of the evaluated route time if you're under 40 hours, but is considered on-the-clock time if you're over 40 hours?

 

[Skierstmoritz]

Fly in the ointment here. For the first 10 weeks, 5 pay periods, you are paid actual time. After that it's route evaluation til you hit 40 hrs worked, after that it's ot. Only exception is Amazon sunday/holiday or if u split routes then it's hourly. Also, as a newbie, don't expect to meet or beat route evaluation for a while. Good luck!

 

[Postal-xam@58]

I'll be doing the drug test and getting my fingerprints done this week, so I haven't been hired on yet. But I have some questions about pay for RCAs.

Do the hours include the time in the morning for sorting the mail and loading the vehicles, or is the daily pay just for the route itself?

Your time starts when you sign in on time sheets (4240), and ends when you sign out for the day. Casing the route you are on, pulling it down, loading your vehicle (personal -POV, or LLV-post office vehicle), delivering the mail. You will be picking up out going mail and returning to office, where you will be putting your out going mail in a buggy for clerks to finishing working. You will have mail you bring back, that you will need to put away ( such as forwards, certifieds, etc.) You may have evening mail , that you can case for next day, some offices allow it others don’t. You sign out on 4240. Once you sign out you are done for the day. That’s when your pay stops for the day. After you finish your training time, you will carry different size routes, 8.5, 9, 8.4, hrs. etc. That’s when you will begin to better understand RCA pay. You will get overtime when you go over 40 hrs. but with the evaluated system you can lose hrs. if you carry those routes under their evaluation and then (get sent out on another route or made to run another route once you have reached 40hrs). GOOD LUCK. ?

 

[-Goofy-]

Thanks for all of the information!

I'll be doing my drug test today. I received an e-mail from the postmaster saying I had to have a car with a bench seat. What's the recommended model of all wheel drive car with a bench seat?

 

[hockey94]

I used mid 90's buicks they are tough, but, they might be difficult to find. I am sure others on here can chime in. Good Luck !!! They are front wheel drive, I think.

 

[Postal-xam@58]

There are quite a few carriers that drive chevys from the 90s or earlier. Some of the new ones are driving vans. I don’t know how they stretch that far, but they will tell you how they do it.

 

[btdtret]

-Goofy- -- " I received an e-mail from the postmaster saying I had to have a car with a bench seat. "

-- While nice of the PM to inform you of the need for a POV, a bench seat is not a must. And such vehicles are hard to find these days.

-- Talk to POV users in your prospective office. See what they are using. If someone was able to get a LLV assigned to the route, they may have a vehicle / back-up vehicle available.

-- Numerous posters here have bucket-seat / split seat vehicles and they stuff pillows or other items / devices in between the bucket seats.

-- A shifter mounted on the console can be a deal breaker as most try to remove the console to better reach the pedals.

-- Mounting pedals and or steering wheel on the right hand side is an option, but can be expensive if you can find someone to do it.

-- As "Postal-xam@58" noted a van may be a good idea due to the amount of parcels delivered these days.

-- Just be sure to notify your insurance company that you will be using the vehicle as a post office delivery vehicle. Some companies will drop you like the proverbial hot potato. National General, found in the NRLCA national magazine ( one of the regulars should have a copy ) is attuned to rural carrier insurance needs.

 

[Sprocket]

"E.
1. You work Saturday for 8 hours on an 9 hour route.
2. You work Monday for 8 hours on an 9 hour route.
3. You work Tuesday for 8 hours on an 9 hour route.
4. You work Thursday for 8 hours on an 9 hour route.
5. You work Friday for 8 hours on an 9 hour route.
You will get paid 40 hours."

Almost. On one of those days they would have to work 8 hours and 1 minute.

They have to exceed 40 hours actually worked to revert to pure hourly pay.

And yeah, many subs have learned about that one minute the hard way.

Yep

 

[Voglio-il mio]

Thanks for all of the information!

I'll be doing my drug test today. I received an e-mail from the postmaster saying I had to have a car with a bench seat. What's the recommended model of all wheel drive car with a bench seat?

oh yah what kind of drugs will you be testing?

 

[Voglio-il mio]

I used mid 90's buicks they are tough, but, they might be difficult to find. I am sure others on here can chime in. Good Luck !!! They are front wheel drive, I think.

Honda CRV's are a popular route vehicle in my area!

 

[-Goofy-]

oh yah what kind of drugs will you be testing?

Jenkem

 

[stillfirstclass]

Thanks for all of the information!

I'll be doing my drug test today. I received an e-mail from the postmaster saying I had to have a car with a bench seat. What's the recommended model of all wheel drive car with a bench seat?

anyone you can find

 

[-Goofy-]

I went and did the interview with the postmaster today and, in my town, the job really is just one day a week, so I'll just be going with a sub-$1000 pimpmobile with a bench. I was hoping my town would be 65-75 hours like so many I had been reading about. It might end up working out well around my ebaying at least.

 

[Sprocket]

They can only guarantee you the ONE day a week, but you usually end up working more as you learn more routes.
With Christmas packages coming in, you may be asked to help deliver packages on any/all routes many days. Our RCA's are already do that in our office.
After you are trained and settled into your office, if you don't get enough hours you can ask to be loaned to another office in need of help.
If your office has Sunday Amazon you can/will be working on Sunday delivering packages.
If your office does NOT have Sunday Amazon you can check around for an office within 50 miles that does and be loaned to them on Sunday.
There are many opportunities to gain hours, but first concentrate on training in your office to be proficient on your assigned route.
Your PAID training is about 3 weeks all together. Orientation, driver's training, RC Academy, in office On the Job training with the Regular carrier.
Hopefully your Regular will take off a few days after training to let you run the route by yourself to get better at it.
It is tough at first, but hang in there is gets easier the more you do it.

Your PAID training is about 3 weeks all together.


I believe it is 5 pay periods 10 weeks you get paid actual time worked or evaluation, whatever is higher.

 

[gotstamps]

Your PAID training is about 3 weeks all together.


I believe it is 5 pay periods 10 weeks you get paid actual time worked or evaluation, whatever is higher.

Actual training is approximately 3 weeks total. The 5 Pay Periods you speak of is how a new sub is paid in the beginning.

 

[csparks]

Thanks for all of the information!

I'll be doing my drug test today. I received an e-mail from the postmaster saying I had to have a car with a bench seat. What's the recommended model of all wheel drive car with a bench seat?

This is one of the tough bits. You either have to find something where you can:
Sit in the middle, drive and reach out the passenger side
Have a right hand drive kit installed on an existing vehicle
locate an increasingly hard to find RHD Jeep Wrangler (or old Cherokee), which will be expensive.

The obvious starting place is option 1, but it is tough to find a newer vehicle with a bench-type seat. Older ones may not be reliable. A mail route puts a lot of stress on brakes, transmission, etc. Knowing or learning some basic maintenance is very useful. These problems, low RCA pay, plus the incredible, unreasonable amount of Amazon boxes being dumped on rural carriers is creating something of a crisis trying to keep RCAs.

Someone will likely post this, but something like 60% of RCAs quit within months.