The Future Of the Letter Carrier
They are controlling Rural Carrier start times, why? My best guess is they wish to lower the daily hours it takes to do our routes to lower the time standards. I’m sure somewhere they have been mandated to create a new “BUMP�? to prove we don’t deserve the pay we receive now. They also wish to control Christmas overtime.
It seems ludicrous that they would interfere with a rural route as long as that route is not exceeding 2080 hours per year. Older carriers who use more annual leave will in no way come near a 2080 problem.
Folks, they already have us at higher time standards than the city routes, (I.E. we have to case 10 flats per minute vs. city’s 8 flats per minute.) We have to work 20% faster and harder than our city counterparts and we are paid less per hour for the trouble.
City Craft:
8 Flats per minute.
480 Flats per hour.
4.8 feet per hour, (depending on density of flats per foot.)
City can negotiate daily volumes and cut mail or hand off a swing.
Rural Craft:
10 flats per minute.
600 flats per hours.
6 feet per hour, (depending on density of flats per foot.)
Rural Regulars have a clean case policy, (all mail goes daily.)
Uneven mail flow.
City gets penalty overtime, (aka double time,) where our overtime is built right in.
They are trying to milk the rural craft of everything possible while giving the city craft every benefit. We have momentum working in our favor, that is to say, we would like to finish our routes and go home, not having the clock hanging over our head, if we get done early we can go home. I’m sure there are some managers who look at that and wonder why they cannot use us when we are done on our routes, to carry a swing on another overburdened route.
Our route evaluations are determined by a count in the lowest revenue month of the year if you check the Postal Financial pages. This translates into the lowest mail volume, lowest parcels, lowest special class mails and lowest ad month of the year.
I was jokingly =) telling a fellow carrier that the next step in the evolution of the Post Office would be to drop the daily mail load in front of each carriers house the same way that the paper company does. I have no doubt this is in the future of the P.O. when blended flats become a reality. 
