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Unscanned Parcel Definition

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Old Fart

Well-known member
What finite hard copy documentation defines an unscanned parcel delivered to mailbox? We have a prompt for such on our MDD's. Yet management in our offices agree if it fits in the box, it's not an unscanned parcel. So this seems to say there is no such thing as an unscanned parcel! I don't need opinions, logic, but hard documentation that management must abide by.

Furthermore, these typically arrive in APC, OTR, or wire with other chunks and parcels from plant which must be thrown to route hampers by clerks. How do we get credit for those deliveries without an AAU or out for delivery scan?

The bulk of these are 3rd class charity mailings, such as Tunnel to Towers, VFW or Wounded Warrior, though there are other examples as well. One route on Saturday had 100 of these.

The union is vanilla on this. "Whatever you and management agree upon" isn't a good answer.

Thank you.
 
Solution
Request the unscan parcel credit. If you are denied the credit, immediately filed a grievance. Make the union and mgmt prove rrecs is accounting for those items in a column. The only definition the engineers provided was damaged barcodes or untraceable mail. However, they did not define those terms of untraceable mail.

Force the USPS to show you where those items are accounted for in informed visibility program. Btw, afaik, they aren't.
Keep track of numbers and document the mailing for arbitration.
Request the unscan parcel credit. If you are denied the credit, immediately filed a grievance. Make the union and mgmt prove rrecs is accounting for those items in a column. The only definition the engineers provided was damaged barcodes or untraceable mail. However, they did not define those terms of untraceable mail.

Force the USPS to show you where those items are accounted for in informed visibility program. Btw, afaik, they aren't.
Keep track of numbers and document the mailing for arbitration.
 
Solution
Management should be required to provide notice 3-S, the First Class Mail Shape-Based Pricing Template to every Rural Carrier. It is the tool that Clerks use to determine mailability and processing category.

We have 3 categories: Letters->Flats->Parcels. If the item is mailable and doesn't fit 1 category you move to the next processing category. This criteria is how we determine what we charge the customer and it is how I determine whether it is a parcel or not. Every office has one and if management wants to argue whether or not something is a parcel then they can see if it fits the criteria, slots and measurements on the template.

Another thing to watch for is small businesses using meters but they do not utilize the tracking barcodes included in the price. Some incorrectly calculate the postage too and send things as flats rather than parcels because they are simply ignorant and these are not caught by the clerks.

As mentioned the items taken from APCs, cages and cardboards are usually there because they are in the parcel processing category. The exception would be bundled flats but those are sorted according to whether they are carrier routes or 5 digit and they should not end up in your hampers.

The union needs to get coordinated on this and use the current published information to defend their carriers. There is no way we should allow a double standard here where they get away with charging customers for parcels but refusing to give credit to the carrier doing the work. We are coming up on 3 years of RRECS being implemented and we need the union to take an active role in sorting this out. So far it is just carriers willing to learn the knowledge for themselves and fight the good fight against management.
 
I just saw the activity guide was updated
(5-31-24) there are different definitions from what I remember. (It's been a long time since I looked at it.)

Unscannable has a different or enhanced definition from what I remember

"Use unscannable when an obvious parcel (not a letter or flat) is delivered and the barcode is missing or completely unreadable. includes smallparcels /boxes delivered to mailbox or parcel locker. DOES NOT INCLUDE. letters, flats, oversized letters/ flats or catalogs. Do not use if barcode is manually entered when delivered."
There are actually several of these definitions that seem tweeked from what I remember. Pretty sure I am not scanning some things appropriately by the way these now read. Oooops! Learned something new tonight gotta change how I scan on certain things to match these definitions.
 
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What finite hard copy documentation defines an unscanned parcel delivered to mailbox? We have a prompt for such on our MDD's. Yet management in our offices agree if it fits in the box, it's not an unscanned parcel. So this seems to say there is no such thing as an unscanned parcel! I don't need opinions, logic, but hard documentation that management must abide by.

Furthermore, these typically arrive in APC, OTR, or wire with other chunks and parcels from plant which must be thrown to route hampers by clerks. How do we get credit for those deliveries without an AAU or out for delivery scan?

The bulk of these are 3rd class charity mailings, such as Tunnel to Towers, VFW or Wounded Warrior, though there are other examples as well. One route on Saturday had 100 of these.

The union is vanilla on this. "Whatever you and management agree upon" isn't a good answer.

Thank you.
The Union isn’t vanilla on this. They’ve actually been pretty clear that just because it’s in your hamper does not mean it should get an unscan parcel scan.

Unscannable parcel is defined as a parcel where the barcode has been ripped off or can’t be manually entered in.

There’s also the obvious parcel that does not have a barcode on it. This is something that is not a flat or letter. Those are few and far between.

Unscannable parcels are not: license plates with no barcode, Uline bundles, phone books, flats mailed with a priority label but have no barcode, junk mail flats like dreamcatchers or pens or socks. It’s not anything in your hamper.

If you’re delivering these items to the door, use the door misc scan.

A parcel is defined as anything with a barcode, period. If it has a barcode, you get parcel credit.
 
The Union isn’t vanilla on this. They’ve actually been pretty clear that just because it’s in your hamper does not mean it should get an unscan parcel scan.

Unscannable parcel is defined as a parcel where the barcode has been ripped off or can’t be manually entered in.

There’s also the obvious parcel that does not have a barcode on it. This is something that is not a flat or letter. Those are few and far between.

Unscannable parcels are not: license plates with no barcode, Uline bundles, phone books, flats mailed with a priority label but have no barcode, junk mail flats like dreamcatchers or pens or socks. It’s not anything in your hamper.

If you’re delivering these items to the door, use the door misc scan.

A parcel is defined as anything with a barcode, period. If it has a barcode, you get parcel credit.
Where's the credit for these items we handle that are in the hamper and don't fall under your definition of a parcel? I'm waiting... Crickets!
 
Unscanned parcels are anything that does not fit in the case slot without damaging it or other mail. Good luck getting the list mentioned erroneously above in your case slots with other mail unless you have 8 inch slots. If Twinge girl has evidence contrary to my post, show it.
Nrlca headquarters does not support twins list. Many of the referenced items are parcels. File the grievance people. Tiny, case able items are hard to argue. Uline are hard to argue because Bridget gave up a grievance on it. Unless USPS can absolutely prove the item was credited elsewhere, file.
In no one's mind should a metal license plate be a flat.
 
Unscannable parcels are not: license plates with no barcode, Uline bundles, phone books, flats mailed with a priority label but have no barcode, junk mail flats like dreamcatchers or pens or socks. It’s not anything in your hamper.
What a crock of sh*t, why does the union exist when it doesnt defend carriers delivering OBVIOUS parcels.

And I have LITERALLY had management, upper management, AND distract representatives that arent affiliated with the joke of a union say the opposite of what you are saying.

The union is ACTIVELY trying to make its members get paid less.
 
The Union isn’t vanilla on this. They’ve actually been pretty clear that just because it’s in your hamper does not mean it should get an unscan parcel scan.

Unscannable parcel is defined as a parcel where the barcode has been ripped off or can’t be manually entered in.

There’s also the obvious parcel that does not have a barcode on it. This is something that is not a flat or letter. Those are few and far between.

Unscannable parcels are not: license plates with no barcode, Uline bundles, phone books, flats mailed with a priority label but have no barcode, junk mail flats like dreamcatchers or pens or socks. It’s not anything in your hamper.

If you’re delivering these items to the door, use the door misc scan.

A parcel is defined as anything with a barcode, period. If it has a barcode, you get parcel credit.

ULine can be an unscanparcel. O-Line books have coding on them on the right side of them.

IP means Irregular Parcel
FT means flat

That tells you what they paid for it. If they paid parcel rate it is a parcel.
 
The Union isn’t vanilla on this. They’ve actually been pretty clear that just because it’s in your hamper does not mean it should get an unscan parcel scan.

Unscannable parcel is defined as a parcel where the barcode has been ripped off or can’t be manually entered in.

There’s also the obvious parcel that does not have a barcode on it. This is something that is not a flat or letter. Those are few and far between.

Unscannable parcels are not: license plates with no barcode, Uline bundles, phone books, flats mailed with a priority label but have no barcode, junk mail flats like dreamcatchers or pens or socks. It’s not anything in your hamper.

If you’re delivering these items to the door, use the door misc scan.

A parcel is defined as anything with a barcode, period. If it has a barcode, you get parcel credit.

Didn't someone on here win a grievance on ulines as unscan parcels? Wasn't the IP on it signifying something like "irregular parcel"

@ATCBigE beat me to it
 
Didn't someone on here win a grievance on ulines as unscan parcels? Wasn't the IP on it signifying something like "irregular parcel"

@ATCBigE beat me to it
That was me .

 
That was me .

I give you credit for finding and I just keep sharing it.

I just didn't have time to quote it and out it on so I shorthanded what you said while watching new career training after being a regular for 2 years lol.
 
What a crock of sh*t, why does the union exist when it doesnt defend carriers delivering OBVIOUS parcels.

And I have LITERALLY had management, upper management, AND distract representatives that arent affiliated with the joke of a union say the opposite of what you are saying.

The union is ACTIVELY trying to make its members get paid less.
This is a single entity. They do not represent the union as a whole. Stewards are local or regional with assignments. Perhaps, this area has not gotten support to fight for things. At times, everyone makes mistakes. It's an opportunity to learn. Don't beat on the stewards - encourage them to get you an email response to your disputed opinion from nrlca staff.

Again, many grey areas for interpretation. You don't have to accept the answer. Go higher. Get it in writing.
 
That makes sense because ULINES frequently are over 3/4" thick which automatically moves them to the next processing category.
It depends upon equipment and thickness to win the argument. Some are thinner than others. I had a business route which 2 x a week got uline. One was 200 + thin versions , another 200+ thick, no way in Hades would they fit into case and many times not into cbu due to old mail or multiple books per day. I would argue for anything the needs separate handling or won't fit in a mailbox. The time to grasp those items from a secondary container is not huge but, it adds up.
 
ULine can be an unscanparcel. O-Line books have coding on them on the right side of them.

IP means Irregular Parcel
FT means flat

That tells you what they paid for it. If they paid parcel rate it is a parcel.
Unfortunately, mailing prices and standards don't apply to rrecs. It is 100% dependent upon what the carrier must do to deliver that piece.
 
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