POLL: New Contract VOTE!!!!

[Old Fart]

i may be misunderstanding something in this thread, but we are not, and never been, compensated for casing DPS.

it is street time only.

so, if you spend time casing it in order to save time on the street (or because you think it is safer), then that is where they got the ridiculous street speed of 86 ppm from...or 5 minutes a tray.

now, some of you may be able to case a tray in 5 minutes, but can you safely, following ALL regulations, deliver it in same?

asking for a friend.

The time casing DPS in the office is offset by fast delivery. If you take DPS to the street, most believe it takes as long or longer to sort and deliver those letters. So, it really doesn't matter a ton whether you sort them in the office or sort them in front of a mailbox, it takes TIME to do either job.

Put another way, it takes a half hour for an average carrier to sort a full tray of letters from DPS whether you do it in the office or on the street. Where is the credit for that? Wherever it's sorted?

 

[FrozenToes]

they don't care what you think, or how you sort and deliver your mail.

We have never been paid to case DPS. It's an option to do for free.
Why would the engineers measure something that isn't a paid job function?
If all carriers took it to the street, maybe the standards would be better. As most on here feel it takes longer on the street.
It's similar to a carrier's start time being pushed back. Instead of doing the route by the book and missing dispatch. Most will bust their rear end to get done.
To your post above. The 30 minutes for DPS does make a difference. If the carriers took it to the street. The street time would be 3 hours more per week. Not 0.

 

[kindheart]

Maybe the PO end game is to standardize all functions for comparing rural and city in negotiations. Will not matter which craft you are if a validated standard and process to achieve standard could be argued to be the same regardless of craft or age. APPLES TO APPLES.

 

[EthelAnne]

More importantly, are they considering hourly if rrecs is a death knell because our own craft sabotaged us? I won't be here for another contract but, I highly encourage you to discuss options if this beast fails. I'm willing to give it a shot but, if I see myself still shortchanged by USPS there needs to be an absolute line in the sand by nrlca. Cheating on data....hourly.

You know they're not considering hourly. I've said it before on this forum--if we go hourly that's the end of the NRLCA. There would be absolutely no justification for two separate unions representing workers performing the same work functions under the same work conditions. I'm as pro-NRLCA (and I'm not very pro-NRLCA, I'm really pro-union) as you'll find on this forum and I would support joining NALC in a heartbeat if we went hourly, not so much because NALC is perfect (read any city carrier forum and you'll see the same complaints there that we see here) but because they have so many more members and consequently so much more financial resources that they have been able to build a really solid union "infrastructure"--the local branches is just one example, but it includes their ability to support and communicate with membership. There is also greater diversity (and that's probably a dirty word on this forum) within NALC--since they're so much bigger, you don't have the same six people making decisions, you don't have the same six people playing musical chairs in the leadership roles. Take a look at their national officers--some of them look like they may have carried mail within the last decade. NALC national officers Take a look at the handful of people making decisions for us--https://www.nrlca.org/Content/NationalOfficersList
I've been a carrier for a bit and those are the same faces and same names, just swapping job titles back and forth.

 

[csparks]

The DPS thing is such a quandry because rural carriers operate in so many different ways, according to their route, vehicle, experience, etc.

I've been helping a new guy try to learn a POV route. He's in a single cab old Ford Ranger. Very difficult task. No good way to take DPS. Yet casing it all, then pulling it back down (to me) wastes oodles of time.

I take DPS with me, and am out of office and hour before the DPS casers. But, I drive a RHD Jeep Wrangler. Its night and day difference. The route is long, with distance enough between most boxes that working DPS on route doesn't slow me, and greatly improves my time.

Then, lots drive LLVs, and that, too, has a different dynamic. Crazy job to try and calculate our time/pay.

 

[ATCBigE]

This is why our current evaluated system is perfectly fine (Not saying everything is right with it, but with some tweaking it would be about as good as we can get).

Why mess with a decent system and now change it with system that was suppose to be around like 10 years ago?

Imagine this. So now all of a sudden they could collect all this data from last couple years to make a brand new system. So why was the union not fighting to get our current evaluation adjusted? There's no way mail & flats are down that much to adjust for the amount of packages we are delivering.

I think that is what is most infuriating with me about this union. Maybe RRECS will prove me wrong, but I really doubt it.

 

[ATCBigE]

The DPS thing is such a quandry because rural carriers operate in so many different ways, according to their route, vehicle, experience, etc.

I've been helping a new guy try to learn a POV route. He's in a single cab old Ford Ranger. Very difficult task. No good way to take DPS. Yet casing it all, then pulling it back down (to me) wastes oodles of time.

I take DPS with me, and am out of office and hour before the DPS casers. But, I drive a RHD Jeep Wrangler. Its night and day difference. The route is long, with distance enough between most boxes that working DPS on route doesn't slow me, and greatly improves my time.

Then, lots drive LLVs, and that, too, has a different dynamic. Crazy job to try and calculate our time/pay.

This is why we have to a system that we have now. Everyone does mail so different.

Some case DPS.
Some don't.
Some pull flats down into their DPS.
Some case part of DPS.

Everyone does this so different.

Some bundle mail.
Some tray mail.
Some put in tubs.

They get to point where they micromanage us they will be telling us what to do.

 

[kindheart]

Here's something to think about..... What if the PO has RCA's load large parcels and DPS trays into LLV routes before regular carriers report for work? Actual time reduction in evaluation? RCA's can be made to use load feature because they are hourly. The PO is trying to standardize set up in the back of LLV's.

When the regular clocked in all that would need to be cased is raw mail and SPR's and pull to street.

Takes the casing option away from LLV carriers because it is already loaded in vehicle.

 

[Windindaface]

Does current training academy mention DPS case option?

 

[Gotrope]

Does current training academy mention DPS case option?

The materials cover casing mail in general. We tell them it is their choice. However, because we have a shared facility, shared vehicle and shared trainng mail...they are only taught city style in the vehicle. In the office we have them taco and vertical case. They get to do both. In our are it works out since they carry routes. As in whatever routes are down. City/rural, driving, walking - it's all the same.

 

[TheDude]

My decision to case DPS or not is almost always dependent on factors other than myself. Late trucks and weather are the two biggest factors.

 

[Worve]

Does current training academy mention DPS case option?

Over 3 years now ago was taught city style, casing everything vertical and taco in academy. Pulling down wise was shown straps, rubber banding, helicopter into tubs or trays. Our instructor was very thorough and very adamant we do what works for us but never to be afraid of trying new things. Our last rca was just shown city style without much other info. They are struggling big time and still can’t complete a route after over a year.

 

[po on wheels]

That is something peeps seem to want to avoid talking about... it was an arbitrator who "awarded" us Table 2... doh... and they wanna go back for more???

I would beg to differ. It was the NRLCA that failed to represent its membership that awarded us Table 2. That will show those uppity ingrates. Rollin’ On

 

[po on wheels]

I guess everybody believes some arbitrator is gonna give us some big @$$ pay raise..... yeah, maybe they'll offer up $25k exit bonuses for retirees too... let's dream big....

Well, if you really believe an arbitrator is going to give you the same thing why no t vote no. One can at least then show dissatisfaction with the NRLCA’s lack of competency. But I can understand that your situation is different if you’re retiring soon. And that does make self interest more important. Rollin’ On

 

[DB.Cooper]

I would beg to differ. It was the NRLCA that failed to represent its membership that awarded us Table 2. That will show those uppity ingrates. Rollin’ On

And, we could get a repeat performance in 2022.. did you listen to the Ronmonster video????

 

[Crab Rice]

With regards to casing, as stated, everyone is different and does what they want. But when all things are relatively equal, the carriers who get out the earliest and then return to the office first have some things in common.

1. RHD Jeep
2. Take DPS to the street
3. Case small, flat packages

I worked in many offices before going full time years ago and observed and tried about every way of doing this job. My philosophy is to get done as soon as I can so I can spend time with my family. I can measure routes with similar volumes by looking at the time they hit the street (casing time) and then looking at the actual mileage and drive times. Without a doubt, you save no time overall by casing DPS. Working 2-3 bundles is easy when you practice.

 

[hacksaaw]

Problem can be finding space for multiple bundles in the jeep. Pulling from 3 and finding space to store all the additional trays is a pain, when your barely fitting crap in already. Casing the dps is part of trying to make the day on the road easier and faster.

 

[Crab Rice]

Problem can be finding space for multiple bundles in the jeep. Pulling from 3 and finding space to store all the additional trays is a pain, when your barely fitting crap in already. Casing the dps is part of trying to make the day on the road easier and faster.

I pulled my passenger seat and built a plywood shelf. Did this for two different Jeeps I have owned. It makes tray storage easy and access to parcels easier as well.

 

[Crab Rice]

Yes...agreed. I am getting a new sub and I have always taught them to case dps.
I don't want to do that this time. I want to teach this person how to juggle bundles in the ffv. I am nervous it will go horribly. Do you train subs to take dps to the street, if so, any pointers?

I train subs to case DPS until they "know the case." Then I ask them to take it to the street and learn the two-bundle method. It's hard enough to be new and start off with two bundles in my opinion.

 

[DB.Cooper]

The actual official ballots should be showing up in our mailboxes pretty soon... js... if it passes on the mid-March tally, we could he looking at THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN BACKPAY AND COLAS!!!!