Mail volume plummeted 4.5 percent — or 9.5 billion pieces — in fiscal year (FY) 2008. Reduced mail volume allows the Postal Service to combine delivery routes to maximize efficiency and reduce workhours, overtime, and other expenses. The Postal Service is seizing this opportunity by consolidating more than 87,000 city delivery routes — which could affect as many as 50 million addresses nationwide. Consolidating routes means some customers will receive their mail at a different time — earlier or later in the day. It also means the customer could have a different letter carrier who will have to become familiar with a new delivery route.
Loading ...There were more than 211,000 city carriers delivering mail to 87 million residential and business city delivery points at the end of FY 2008. On average, each carrier’s route has 500 to 700 delivery points. A carrier’s day involves two types of work: sorting mail in the office and delivering mail on the street. In the past, carriers typically spent several hours each day at the post office sorting mail for their route into delivery order. Now, machines sort most letter mail into delivery order automatically, and fewer pieces of mail means it takes less time for carriers to sort mail at the post office. This leaves carriers more time “on the street” allowing them to reach more delivery points.
On the street, the length of time a carrier takes to deliver mail on a route depends on factors such as the number of delivery points and the distance between them as well as mail volume. For instance, a carrier can deliver 10 letters to an address almost as quickly as 1 letter. More than 400,000 new city delivery points were added in FY 2008. When adjusting routes, the Postal Service must consider both mail volume and delivery points — including new delivery points — to build a route with 8 hours of work.
The Postal Service also relies on carriers to help ensure addresses on their routes are accurate by reporting vacant and abandoned buildings. If a carrier has 30 delivery points on her route and a 20-delivery-point apartment complex is torn down, it will reduce the route to 10 delivery points. Approximately 20 delivery points could be added to the carrier’s route.
Do you think consolidating city delivery routes will have a positive effect on the Postal Service’s bottom line? Why or why not? Will it be difficult for carriers — particularly those who walk their routes — to spend more time on the street?
37 Comments
Leave a Reply
Route consolidations has always been a “tool’ used by the postal service to help manage cost. This tool has long been oppposed by the unions because less routes means less carriers, less carriers mean less members of the union. However, these route consolidations although very helpful in manageing costs, can be problematic regarding the amount of hours carriers spend on the street. The carriers workfore is getting a bit older and I’m wondering if this will have any effect on worker comp costs and sick leave because of additional street work load?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
sounds like delivery stop make the biggest diffenece, and they add 400,000 more,remember safty first, one life is is more important than 1 hour
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
If street supervision were truly done, or route supervsion, we probably would not be in the mess we’re in, and routes wouldn’t have gotten out of control.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Another “Consolidation” needed is Postmaster Consolidation!
MOST Postmasters do VERY LITTLE each day other than talk to their superiors on the phone and review the days “numbers” and paperwork. The idea of one Postmaster per zip code is outdated and a waste of salary & manpower. There are more “small” post offices than larger ones.
Postmasters should be assigned to oversee more than one office when possible. This is LONG OVERDUE!
I remember when I first started as a letter carrier (1986) in an office with 15 carriers, 15 clerks and 1 maintenance man. Our Postmaster spent most of the day in his office leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head. When he got bored he would come out on the floor and walk up behind employees and say “you’re not going fast enough.” The man had nothing to do 90 percent of the time and resorted to adgitating employees to amuse himself and break the monotony.
What a waste of money and manpower! When is the Postal Service going to give the Postmaster in an average office some WORK to go along with his responsiblity?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
IF THE POSTAL SERVICE COULD ADJUST ROUTES FAIRLY IT WOULD BE BENEFIT BUT THET DON’T IT IS A MORALE BUSTER WHEN VOLUMN DROPS ADD TO THE ROUTES WHEN VOLUME INCREASES DO NOTHING YOU CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
We’re taking a route out of our station in metro Wisconsin. Of oourse they are trying to do it with a computor program, and two supervisor’s who have never carried mail. Stay tuned.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
What happens when you cut all these routes and the mail volume all comes back.You pay overtime or you put it all back the way you had it.The postal system always ack without thinking things out.how much more can a carrier carry on the street with out getting hurt .then they will get writen up for that.I would love to see all managers have to to help out and deliver mail this would never happen.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The Post office needs to scrap IRAP and go back to full route inspections. This would save more money rather than combining offices.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I am a member of the adjustment team for our city. Things where going pretty smooth until the District got involved. They can’t seam to grasp that a new approach to adjusting routes can be done without their input. So after a lot of stalling on Districts part and NOT following instructions given to them by HQ we’ve finally implemented the IARAP and all is well!
Things to take note of:
Carriers DO NOT get credit for casing all their S-999 mail. Check it on the CPC (Carrier Piece Count)totals.
Supervisors are skimming time of routes in DOIS. Extra meeting time, Misc. Activity whatever they can come up with!
Supervisors are also skimming time off of TACS. Basically stealing time from the workers!!!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
More stops need to be made mounted. There are many suburban areas where the carrier walks door to door. They need to move these mailboxes to the curb where they can be done faster, safer, and with less injuries.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
One thing not taken into consideration here in the northeast is the weather. A 6.5 hour street time can be two or more hours longer in the winter when snow is deep, temperatures much colder, slippery surfaces, people not clearing the walks, etc.
My route had an extra .5 hour added in September 08, it mad the route hell in the winter.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
If the are Consolidating routes then the next step is reduce management.If you have less route’s and mail volume then you don’t need as much supervisor’s.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Why isn’t Headquarters looking an an evaluated system for city carriers? I guess maybe because it makes too much sense? It would certainly give the city carriers an incentive. The way it is now, the harder one works the more work is added to the route. Hardly a fair system.
With evaluated routes you could eliminate Supervisors, grievances, have a more consistent delivery time and save on overtime.
Managers and carriers, when asked individually, like the idea. It’s the top leadership that seems to oppose the idea.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Kukini – Everything you, and others, say about converting city delivery to an evaluated system is true. You are also right when you say leadership opposes it – except it is leadership at the NALC, not at L’Enfant Plaza. The sad thing is that the rural carriers (NRLCA), who have taken it in the shorts with reduced pay due to volume declines, are “threatening” to get out of the evaluated system and go to FLSA 7A, just like the city carriers. What a backlash that would create!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Rich – good to see you are still around
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Is this REALLY the OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL? Well, I can save the USPS in a “New York Minute.” 24-years in the USPS, 4-years as a supervisor, 21-years as a City Letter carrier. CORE ROUTE! In any office, at least half the carriers are on the ODL list. (They desire overtime). Let’s use as an example a fictional office of 30-routes. (Most are slightly more or less). You take 10% of those routes (in this case 3), and classify them as “Vacant Core Routes.” Understand that you just eliminated 3 career positions. This means that you eliminated LEGACY COSTS for 3-positions. (You DO know what legacy costs are, right?). FAST FACT: A carrier on overtime earns NO ADDITIONAL BENEFITS. No additional pension, health benefits, uniform allotment, sick leave, annual leave, life insurance, NOTHING BUT THE MONEY. Aglance at any “Statement of Wages and Benefits” shows that a top step carrier earns $46/Hour in TOTAL compensation while on straight time. But on overtime that same carrier only get’s the money, roughly $37.50/ hour. SO IT IS CHEAPER to pay your regular workers overtime IN LIEU OF hiring more career workers and funding their pensions and everything else for 30+ years. (The USPS SAVES about $8/hour). Sooooo, what you do is take 10% of the routes in an office and classify them as “CORE ROUTES”, located in THE CORE of a city or town. These routes will be set up as 1-hour office and 6-hours street. (5 Pieces, 1-hour office and 4-ONE AND A HALF HOUR SPLITS). So for each core route, carriers on the ODL will bid by seniority to service a piece. THE SAME CARRIER, performing the SAME FUNCTION, everyday. Same carrier casing the core route. Same carrier delivering the same split. Customer gets good service. In the event that a piece of the core route is vacant, a PTF will service that section, but it’s only for a day. Nothing is different between a regular route and a core route as far as distribution is concerned for a core route. DPS is run the same. COA’s, Holds, Special Orders are entered by regular carriers. Because they know that they’ll get the same section everyday, more carriers will volunteer for this extra work. The USPS benefits because they eliminated 3 carreer positions and their legacy costs. The carrier benefits because he has the opportunity to earn more. The customer benefits because he has the same carrier everyday that’s accountable for that sectiom. THERE: I just reduced the carrier compliment by 10% to 15% and saved the USPS a Billion a year, and ALL ARE GLAD TO DO IT. If you folks would listen to your veteran workers you would learn a few tricks. Regards, Nick.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Not abd idea Nostra EXCEPT when you hav an office with only 1 or 2 on the ODL. We have 17 rts. In the summer and winter we only get 2 or 3 on the ODL.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Postal customers should have to have their mail box out to the street to help speed up deliveries. Door delivery should only be for person physically unable to walk to the box.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
As a carrier i have to take issue with your statement that a carrier can deliver ten letters almost as fast as ten. with dps what idiot can’t see that to finger ten letters takes ten times as long as to finger one letter.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Probably was in a Park & Loop state of mind. It takes me One Minute to walk from one Delivery Point to the next. I finger as I walk, How many pieces of mail can you finger in One Minute?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
They must have been in a Park & Loop state of mind. It takes me one minute to walk from one delivery point to the next. How many pieces of mail can you finger in one minute?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
hey nick. you carry 10 hrs a day and see how long you last. and what happens if “half the carriers” aren’t on the ODL????? like in my office. 14 routes. 2 carriers on the ODL!!!!!!!!!!!! forced ot. violations of article 8 costing $1000′s…..sorry nick not ALL ARE GLAD TO DO IT!!!!!!!!!!SOME OF US ARE EXHAUSTED AND OUR MORALE IS SHOT!!!!!!!!!!sorry to blow your big plan…..cut management….our postmaster makes $85 grand a yr. he comes in @ 830 carriers are on the street from 9 to 4 so he and our supervisor manage 2 window and 1 distribution clerk for 7 hrs….floating postmaster and hire sum carriers…..
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Service will definitely take a hit. Supervisors also need to worry about office times. Those of us who do our routes in time and are off the clock in 8 hours are the ones being punished. We get to watch carriers walk around and chit chat in the morning, then get help on the street and also come back on OT, all the while being told we need to do extra on the street. There is plenty of blame to go around. Lower mail volume is just a convenient excuse. Oh, and as a separate issue, I was sitting in the parking lot of a laundromat waiting for my clothes to dry. It is right across the street from a post office. I see a TE come out of the PO with a hit to deliver around the corner. Five minutes later, I see a lady walking around the corner heading for the PO with the TE right behind and they are basically shouting at each other about misdelivered mail. They both enter the PO still shouting and a minute later the TE comes out to continue his hit though he’s still shouting to himself about the customer. Like I said, service is gonna take a hit.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Evaluated city routes…..
Like or Dislike:
0 
0