Keep Sunday Operations?
We’ve all heard the bad news. Mail volume in fiscal year (FY) 2008 totaled 202.7 billion pieces, a decline of 9.5 billion pieces or 4.5 percent compared to the previous fiscal year. Mail volume has declined even further this year. At the end of the last quarter, mail volume was down more than 12 percent from the same period last year. Most recently, the Postal Service lost $2.4 billion in the third quarter of FY 2009 and projected a net loss of more than $7 billion for FY 2009.
As a panelist during the August 6 Senate subcommittee hearings on the Postal Service, Postmaster General Jack Potter once again focused on the need for 5-day delivery, greater flexibility, and the elimination of some network infrastructure. During the same hearings, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended urgent action to streamline the mail processing and retail networks as the Postal Service no longer has sufficient revenues to cover the cost of maintaining its large network of processing and retail facilities.
End Sunday Operations?
The reality of the current situation is that in many areas the Postal Service has an excess of equipment, staff, and facilities to process a declining volume of mail. Given the harsh economic conditions faced by the Postal Service today, looking at opportunities to cut costs by streamlining inefficient operations or eliminating unnecessary ones makes good business sense.
One area for consideration is the elimination of Sunday mail processing operations. In many Processing and Distribution Centers around the nation, mail processing activities are run on Saturday night and into Sunday just as they are the rest of the week.
With mail volume declining, should the Postal Service reduce mail processing operation to 6 days a week, rather than the traditional 7 days, and allow employees to have Sunday off?
This blog is hosted by the Network Operations directorate.
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Eliminate Sundays! There is not much to do anyway. Half of the time we get to go home early. Also, split days off wouldn’t be all that bad.
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you can not have split days off, it is not allowed in the contract!! people wake up, the reason the union negotiated the end of split days off was because of abusive managers like the ones in monmouth who had clerks with split days off like tues/fri on tour one. do you want to sign up for that? only if you are a loner or an idiot!
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Prior to total elimination of Sunday processing, effort must be made to identify those exceptions that may exist and how to accomodate them. Some plant operations may not be able to take up the slack with reduced staffing that is already in place, and some small SCF/plant operations may not yet have the capacity to handle the increased volume for even a day. While some of these smaller plants have benefitted from having new DIOSS equipment, etc., some still lack the AFC(s) needed to feed the operations and are still relying on 40+ year old Mark II techology.
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Its logical to eliminate a day of processing operations to limit carrier and box clerk overtime, specifically on Monday and Tuesdays following a holiday.
That being said, the USPS should be held accountable for layoffs resulting from a change from six to five days of delivery and processing. Espicially when there is a high level IOC manager whose contribution is to carry around a “magic eightball” toy. Add to this, his stopping an employee’s production to call upon the toy to answer any question they may have. The OIC of Santa Barbara (whoops that slipped) shakes up the toy and relays the answer to the worker who can’t wait for the answer. All the while the fire is being held to the feet of employees who make the operation run like a well tuned machine each and every day.
Just saying.
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I say the USPS had better understand that once you start down this road, the service to customers may suffer. The reality is we provide customer service and if the service declines we will lose even more business. Try it in certain places, and see what the effect is first. The airlines thought they could increase prices and cut on board services, they are all suffering. Be careful what you do USPS because in this climate people are look very closely at the service provided. BTW I do not leave any mail by the front door, I read my mail because it is important to me. Reconsider these FSS machines which do not properly work. It is time to reassess what we are buying. I was at a facility when the FSM 1000 came in and helped test it. The head contractor brought us all in doughnuts one day and told me he was thanking us but it did not matter the USPS was accepting the machine regardless of whether it worked or not. He also indicated his company was giving him a big bonus. I wonder how much of that was paid for by USPS customers???
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To tell you the absolute truth, why don’t you listen to Mike Savage above? I work in a technical field in the USPS, and I am forever answering questions that the Supervisors ask and then use either against the craft or for the sake of themselves. Why not look at cutting out the middle man and eliminate the excess of sooo many management personnel. Seriously, they are lazy, much of what they ask is easily excessible to research. It is a crock of bull.
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They haven’t done their homework on the effect it would have on processing clerks and mailhandlers. We already work weird hours, to give us Sunday off (which is actually Sat night) throws our schedule off, and that would only mean it would be worse because we’d end up with split days off. I go in at 11pm and get off at 7:30am, you can’t enjoy your night off with family because your sleep is all messed up. And it doesn’t actually help the PO and stations, because what we do is preparing for the next day, which is Monday. It only helps us be more organized and timely to have the mail to the carriers on time for Monday morning. If we had “Sunday” off, that would mean by the time we got into the plant and started running the mail, it would go out late and therefore the carriers would be in a situation of busting their chops trying to make their deliveries before dark. Which likely wouldn’t happen, because they are usually carrying their route and a swing from another, not to mention if they have a collection afterwards. There is no benefit to anyone to give the processing plants Sunday off. The only benefit would be that they would not have to pay the Sunday premium. Which I myself don’t mind working Sat night ( aka Sunday ) to get the Sunday premium, that’s basically my day of the week to catch my breath from all the racing the clock the rest of the week to get the mail out the door. Just because some areas of the country are seeing a lot of decline, not all processing plants are. We have increased our number of DPS runs, therefore we actually have more. And the more prepared you are going into Monday the better off everyone is.
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its all about you, right?
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I look at it as a whole, not about me. Maybe I’m one of the few that think of others.
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Listen to D Riley also. When Sundays disappear the USPS will surely give you split days. The idea behind keeping all of the Managers, is that when they finally streamline operations (streamline by definition = get rid of “all” FTR making 50K or >) they will need the managers to manage the contract workers. Simply contact many of the offices that have eliminated Sunday processing already. I attended an APWU seminar sometime ago, and it is already happening across the country. Weekends off? That’s a laugh!
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When are these blind fools going to see that management from the top down to the district level are the buffoons who have caused all these problems within the post office outside of the economic shortfalls!!!!
Leave the craft alone!!!!!
We have been doing our part time and time again!!!
TOO MANY CHIEFS!!!!!!
REMOVE POTTER!!!!! AND HIS CRONIES
RESTRUCTURE AND DOWNSIZE MANAGEMENT!!!!!
NO POSTMASTERS IN MANY CITIES USE SUPERVISORS TO REPORT TO ONE PM
STOP USING SUPERVISORS AS DATA ENTRY CLERKS ALL DAY LONG!!!!
USE CLERKS TO TO DATA ENTRY
LESS SUPERVISORS NEEDED
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I’ve worked in a number of small offices before becoming a rural carrier and the offices that have a full time clerk and a postmaster were overstaffed. The clerk in the office that I now work does everything (including postmaster functions) There is very little that the postmaster does. USPS does need to cut management positions.
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Now this guy is right. You have management taking inventory and data entry while working late to get the reports done. Then they’ll have clerk fighting over work among themselves or taking advantage of others by taking bid jobs where there’s really no work.
Why is Management counting the mail in the plant daily instead of a clerk counting what is coming in on a daily basis like other private places that I worked at. Spot check inventory is only done on a Yearly basis and split over 4 quarterly counts. They could use scanners like in Express and eliminate supervisor who do nothing but count. Also they are keying in on Employees payroll which used to be done by a clerk. They aren’t interested in being effective because they can piss away hours looking like they are accomplishing something.
The Plant Managers that allow this are a joke.
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The OIG is always looking for ways to eliminate craft positions. I can only believe by the posts submitted by anonymous, that this individual has now become a manager and is also looking for ways to eliminate and just plain screw the craft employees.
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Eliminate Saturday night into Sunday mail processing in conjunction with eliminating Saturday residential delivery saves lots of money in wages paid to clerks, carriers, and supervisors (who rake in 6th and 7th day overtime). Each retail unit should post the previous years annual wages paid to each supervisor by name throughout the district. Customers could view this supervisor wage data while waiting in line to buy a stamp and shake their head in disbelief as to why the majority of Americans who are out of work and never make a six figure income should be supporting such a gross disparity of income. President Obama should get involved and roll back supervisor’s wages inflated by 6th and 7th day overtime, Christmas bonus’s, and bloated base salaries. Eliminating Saturday night into Sunday mail processing also allows affected employees to attend church on Sunday without falling asleep and maybe learn from the preacher the effects of greed and how it harms society. Employee morals might improve along with morale.
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Due to the lack of mail on Sunday all work should be eliminated at the Processing Plants. Mail can be processed Saturday night along with collection mail and DPS’d on Monday morning Tour I for Monday delivery. People at my plant stood around or played cards for 8 hours with no mail to process most on overtime and Sunday premium pay. If you want to save the Postal Service all plants need to be shut down on Sunday. Holiday weekends were the biggest scandal of all, workers standing around for 3 days with barely any mail to process. Not one person except a guard should be in a plant for 24 hours on Sunday and for Holiday weekends, definitely no Sunday hours at all.
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The Postal Service does not run like a private business. There are some Plants and BMC’s which have mail volumne for seven days. Too many times service or hours are cut and twice the savings are spent when the work shifts to another location in overtime. In order not to create a larger mess someone has to be smart enough to have a plan which will work in all areas with no Sunday delivery.
There are problems at all levels of the USPS and no sympathy for Postal workers who are not losing jobs when so many others are. Cut the excess and act like a business.
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TIME FOR SOME COMMON SENSE TO TAKE OVER.
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It is a no brainer. Stop Sunday premium, duh.
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I’m already retire from the PO. I say why not give an $50,000 incentive for PO workers to to retire that are still taking up space. Once you clear the PO of 80% of the regular workers with the $50,000 incentive, just hire people from the outside the streets and pay them $10 to $12 an hour with NO benefits. There will be a million people line up ready to work since there’s no jobs out there. This will guarantee the PO will make it in the long run. That’s what they did with Safeway grocery stores.
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Amen, Brother. Sign me up.
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hey ANONYMOUS to bad you’re retired w/ pension and health; it’s costing the p.o. $. in fact, why don’t you give up your pension and benefits and HELP the p.o.save money! then the fat @ the top can get fatter. p.s. do you have a brain?
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Tell me why USPS workers need a union?
Unions clearly cost us all money by forcing the USPS to overpay what unskilled labor workers are truly worth. I say let the market determine how much a USPS employee will accept as fair compensation for a good days work along with the rest of the employers of the world. Disband the union and I bet we could keep at least the same level of service at a much cheaper price and better quality!
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TO LOU THE MANAGER, I WOULDN’T GIVE YOU TEN CENTS TO GET LOST OR FOR YOUR STUPID OPINION, YOU JUST STAY HERE AND SUFFER LIKE THE REST OF US! NOW THAT THINGS ARE GETTING HARD FOR MANAGEMENT AND THEY ARE BEING HELD RESPOSIBLE NOW THEY WANT TO FLEE! GET OFF YOUR CHAIR AND GO COUNT ALL THE MAIL FOR THE THREE TOUR MDO AND BE PREPARED FOR HER OR HIS NEXT CALL IN FIFTEEN MINUTES, LATER SUCKER!!
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This really isnt that hard, is it?
Eliminate a day of service (16 1/2% of our work) and save only 3% of our costs????
Makes no sense. We have too much equipment to process the mail, but we’re taking away needed cases and collection boxes, and BUYING FSS machines that the OIG say dont work???
Are we trying to destroy the Service or save it?
If the OIG watched any supervisor for a week, they’d see that they only do 2-3 hours of “work” per day. Any Supervisor in a level 20 or above office. But watch them like you watch a Carrier on an inspection…. 85% of them wouldn’t last a week…
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I agree that mail processing can be reduced from 7 days to 6 days; HOWEVER, the number of supervisors will need to be reduced-RIF’s-not placing excessed supervisors into craft positions.
In addition, the postal service needs to return to promoting the best qualified employees-not this insane “best meets the needs of the postal service”crap where “office politics-race and gender”are primary factors for promotion. We need to be diverse; but we must promote the best people.
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HOW CUTE???
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You’ll be creating a dominoe effect. As it stands now, mail is being processed 7 days a week all year round. You eliminate 1 day and all that mail will start backing up with not enough employees to process it because of the elimination of not just Sunday, but the job cuts that the Post Office has enforced, and all those that took the early out, the elimination of tours, but not one mention of management losing their jobs. If everyone who works for the Postal Service was truly concerned about saving the Postal Service money, it would be to drop down 1 level from 6 to 5. Have management do the same with their positions. How much will that save the Postal Service?
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we lost 12 routes in our office this past myrapbut we are getting 2 more supervisors WHY?
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The premise for the question is wrong.
” In many Processing and Distribution Centers around the nation, mail processing activities are run on Saturday night and into Sunday just as they are the rest of the week.”
This isn’t true at all. Most P&DC’s run lighter crews and stage mail for the next day to eliminate huge runs on Sunday into Monday, much the same way a “c” pass is done on holiday weekends.Extra clerks are shuffled through 030 or other manual operations to clear out mail. Yes its a lighter day… and there are fewer people here.
Elimination?…How about just learning how to do a staffing package instead.
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