For Bob A., and any other letter carriers out there...

[Bill Pressler]

...several of these were an eye-opener to me, even though my Dad worked for 27 years inside the Greenville, PA Post Office:

http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/13-things-your-mail-carrier-wont-tell-you/article187856.html?epid=69A4784E-939D-4589-984C-BCA65C535BEE

[BobPalma]

#11 might be negotiable, Bill. <GGG> BP

[Bob Andrews]

Thanks Bill, pretty neat! A few comments:

We are not allowed to exit our vehicle if a dog is present- even if the dog appears friendly, even if we know the dog outside of work. If we are bitten WE are in hot water.

2. True about red envelopes. Also dark blue.

3. All true. With Click-n-Ship you can print labels with prepaid postage, get free tracking, and have your package picked up, all no extra charge. Even the boxes are free.

4) Media Mail is a bargain. Just don't try to send any items that aren't Media at that rate.

. Really. Probably the least-believed fact of all!

6. True. And, they charge fuel surcharges, and sometimes extra for deviations from a route. The USPS goes everywhere every day, so there's never any extra fees.

7. Sorry, I don't. No time or interest in looking through people's mail. See #8.

8. All true. Relentless time pressure. Suits my style just fine, but those unaccustomed to pushing themselves have trouble here.

9. Not me. I learned early on that if you give some an inch they'll take a mile. I cannot afford paying for 3 or 4 stamps for a dozen people every week; yes, it got that bad.

10. True.

11. As Bob said Except Murphy's Law says it would only be some elderly man. No thanks

12. Got my own story on that (see below).

13. Not true. I can't go back and open bundles searching for your corset ads. See #8.

About 10 years ago I was delivering in a heavy Lake Effect snow storm. As I approached a box I recognized my elderly customer waiting at the box. She had a good inch of snow on her babushka and an icicle on her nose. I asked her what on Earth she was doing outside; she told me she had come out to check the mail and locked herself out. No car, no garage, no porch. On top of that she had left soup cooking on the stove!

I brushed her off and put her in the van and turned up the heat. I went all around the house looking for a way in. Everything was locked, with storm windows. I could see the pot burning on the stove, kitchen filled with smoke. I ended up prying the frame apart on the kitchen window and climbing in across the table to shut off the stove and unlock the door.

When I went out to bring her in she had been scared and crying. I helped her in and calmed her down, and she called a neighbor to come sit with her till her son and DIL got home. Of course, all were relieved.

Epilogue: I was scolded by the boss for being 20 minutes late (see #8 above). He decided against the Letter of Warning when the son called to say thanks. Very magnanimous

Thanks for posting this, Bill. I love my job and am proud of the work I do, in spite of too many malcontents. Like on the forum, malcontents find happy people to be an irritant. Like on the forum, I get that, and it doesn't bother me

[Bob Andrews]

Don't forget the other 11, from a link on the original page:

http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/11-more-things-your-mail-carrier-wont-tell-you/article187841.html

[aenthal]

Something else not on the list that the post office does is a form of mind-reading when people spell things wrong.
I once worked at a radio station which had the address of 3729 Cahuenga Blvd West. You pronounce that word Ka-WHEN-ga.
Management kept a wall of wrong spellings that had gotten through which ranged from Kaweng through things that none of us could identify as spelling OR sounding anything like the correct street name. (Most had actually been delivered because of the call letters of the station, not the street address, and obviously, we never knew about the ones that never got through).

It certainly gave us an appreciation of the humans who were sorting and delivering the mail because machines may have been able to sort the type-written correct ones, but only a human brain could have figured out the envelope addresses on our wall of fame.

[Warren Webb]

I live in a rural area now. Days after moving in I met my mail carrier. She requested if it was possible to move my mailbox to the other side of the driveway because it was hard due to the fact that on trash day, my next door neighbor (& me) put our trash cans in front of it making it hard for her. I moved it the next day & the result?? Now when I get my Turning Wheels or any other magazine, they are neatly placed in the box. Not folded or wrinkled, dog eared or damaged in any way! She is a gem!

[Sdude]

That was a great list and certainly consistant with most of the postal employees I worked with over a 35 year career.

One more thing about media mail. It is subject to postal inspection and as postmaster, I was instructed to check them from time to time to look for cheaters. (cannot contain any personal correspondence.) When we found cheaters, we wrapped the package back up with a letter inside explaining why they were charged postage due on the package.

Not worth the embarrassment as the recipient was the one that had to pay the extra postage.

I liked your story about helping the lady on your route Bob. As a postmaster, I would have given you an award and put an article in the local newspaper. Do they really hassle rural carriers for time in your area? As long as they weren't a 2080 problem or getting back after the dispatch truck, I could care less how long my rural carriers took...

[Bob Andrews]

Jon, as you know, there are all types of supervisors; same as there are all types of subordinates. You sound like a pretty fair boss. My boss at the time was WAY out of his depth, insecure and overstressed. Knowing that, I shrugged him off. He was the one that taught me about considering the person behind the actions, and who to take seriously and who to laugh off. That concept applies everywhere in life, here included I honestly didn't care about recognition, I do things unto God. I wouldn't have said a word had he not been standing at the door looking at his watch all red-faced

I am a bit slower on the case, but nobody's faster than me on the road. I'm nowhere near 2080 and never have been, usually under 2000 depending on leave used. The boss I have now is a sharp cookie that started as a carrier- in fact she started as my sub, and was trained by me. She's great and treats me well, which I define as leaving me the **** alone unless I'm doing something wrong. She loves that I never need managing- I come in early, do it right, and never need babysitting. Sounds obvious, but as you know it's not exactly the norm Interestingly, she frequently laments ever leaving the craft for management... Today she has to report hours daily, and they freak when I go long; she never hassles me, because she knows that I always end up way under 2080, and that December and January are the heaviest volume combined with the worst weather. During the Summer I'm way under every day. I hit 22 years on Jan. 6, and no matter how many years I'm way under it's the same thing. Of course, being the senior in the office, if the POOM has anything to say correct it quickly

Hey, if my boss leaves or moves up, how 'bout coming out of retirement?<G>

[Sdude]

Hey, if my boss leaves or moves up, how 'bout coming out of retirement?<G>

Now THAT's funny!!!!! I don't miss it a bit. What I see from my freinds that are still in is that the idiots have taken over. The upper management didn't appreciate guys like me. (ones that knew what they were doing) They seem to prefer managers they can get to do their bidding without question. I retired as soon as I was eligible.

I like your humble comment about not needing recognition and that you wouldn't even have mentioned it. Spoken like a true hero. All the more reason to give you accolades and getting some positive press out of the thing. Lord knows you get slammed often enough in the media. I always took every opportunity to build public support. My last act as postmaster was to arrange a Hero's welcome for one of my carriers that just got back from a year in Iraq. He, like you, didn't feel worthy of all the fuss but his wife and kids (him too) enjoyed riding in the front of the parade. And I was very proud to drive him around. It was a beautiful moment and a great way to top off my career.

It amazes me that with all there is to concern oneself in running a post office, that one would waste any energy with a rural carrier that is not a 2080 problem or late returner. I used to have a carrier that you remind me of. He had the longest route in the office, 123 miles per day. He was slow getting out but he prepared his route with perfection. I know because I used to carry his route whenever I could. One Christmas season I was feeling sorry for him because he had no sub and was unable to get any time off for Christmas. I had him prepare his route on a Saturday and I came in and delivered it for him but he got paid for the whole day. I had a great time and his mail was perfectly prepared. I even did a lot of QC and found no miscased mail.

I really appreciated this guy because I never had to worry about him on the route. He was a great mechanic and occasionally changed out his disc brake pads out on the route if they began to squeel on him. He came back late one day and I found out it was because an out of town couple had broken down along his route and he stopped to fix their car. Sound familiar? That's why postal people are the best!

[BobPalma]

I like your humble comment about not needing recognition and that you wouldn't even have mentioned it. Spoken like a true hero. All the more reason to give you accolades and getting some positive press out of the thing. Lord knows you get slammed often enough in the media. I always took every opportunity to build public support. My last act as postmaster was to arrange a Hero's welcome for one of my carriers that just got back from a year in Iraq. He, like you, didn't feel worthy of all the fuss but his wife and kids (him too) enjoyed riding in the front of the parade. And I was very proud to drive him around. It was a beautiful moment and a great way to top off my career.

Very cool beans. Congrats on the thoughtfulness, Jon. That type of kindness goes a long way. His memory of it will never fade as he ages. BP

[JimsLeadCommander]

Dear Jon Stalnaker: I do not know you but, I very much like you. You seem to be a kind and decent man who cares about his employees.....and yes, there are other 'bosses' out there who also treat their people well but, I know too little about them to comment.
I certainly hope that you got a send off akin to "Mr. Hollands Opus" when you retired. If you didn't see that movie, rent it and you'll know what I mean.

[58PackardWagon]

I work for an air freight company. Started working for them in college and never left. Here I am 26 years later. Times have changed and Sept 11th brought on a whole new landscape. If we made a few changes would it fix a number of problems for everyone? Please let me know your thoughts if this idea would work? Shut down all postal aircraft. These are by far one of your largest expenses. Force all business done out of a residence to move via the postal service on the ground. The postal service would expand their ground fleet. Force all companies to move all regular letters via the mail and all hot letters via UPS, DHL or Fed-X. Also all air freight packages exiting a business address would be moved via one of the 4 all cargo carriers left; UPS, Fed-X, DHL or Schenker. I think that the postal service would be more profitable overnight, all cargo carriers would increase their profits and the product being move on all systems would be safer for everyone involved. Any thoughts?

[Bob Andrews]

Shut down all postal aircraft. These are by far one of your largest expenses.

The Postal Service does not own ANY aircraft. One of the PO's biggest problems today is that they are not allowed to own their own planes. If they could they would be able to design and adjust their own transportation schemes. As it is, all Postal volume requring air travel is at the mercy of the commercial carriers. The airlines sell their capacity how they see fit, then fill in with Post at their design. This causes massive, constant, labor-intensive logistics challenges. It amazes me things move as well as they do! Priority Mail was born of this problem- when commercial carriers have the ability to decide how much Post to take on a given flight and leave the rest sitting on a dock, the Priority stuff gets just what its name says- priority.

The Postal Service, like everything else, is running a huge deficit. They are in the unique position of being a business that is dictated by the government, yet receives NO taxpayer dollars- not one. So they have mandates from inept government, while trying to survive as a business. Due to the natural progress of the internet, mail volume is down; and non-government companies like UPS and FedEx are allowed to cherry-pick the most profitable products. Meantime, the USPS maintains universal delivery- every address, every day, without exception. UPS can tailor their delivery routes daily depending on deliveries, free of the unprofitable products like bulk and letter mail. To my mind, I am amazed the PO does as good as it does!

We just got a new Postmaster General. He already has talked to us about huge cuts in personnel and facilities. Locally we had two small offices shut down, one of them finishing today. The hue and cry from the public when it was announced was tremendous, with protest, petitions, and news coverage. Get ready for lots more. There will be more radical changes by a company caught between business competition, unrealistic unions, and overbearing, unpractical government mandates.

I cannot speak for every Postal employee, but I can tell you in our little part of the world we stand ready to do what we can. I did not wince at the $4K pay cut I took, since the times dictate it. It now looks like five-day delivery willl become a reality, in spite of the damage it will do to customer convenience, delivery standards, overall satisfaction, and employee morale. Locally two offices are having their delivery routes combined into other existing offices, with those offices being downsized to plaza storefronts with one person selling postage and products. Two long-time postmasters are being downgraded, and three good clerks will either be forced into longer commutes or laid off outright. One is my neighbor and dear friend, in the process of divorce, with a ten year old daughter and a house payment. She's a top-notch employee so will likely be retained, but is understandably terrified. For the rest of us, we keep the heat on 55, reuse plastic bags and rubber bands, keep half the lights off, and push hard to get our deliveries out to our customers every day. In the meantime, we pray for our management, and hold our breath about what's to come. While mail overall has been affected by modern times, there is no doubt it is still vital and needed in the world, and will be for many decades to come. We can only hope the ride is not too rough.

It's 1AM and I'm overtired, so forgive me if this is a bit rambling. Thanks for reading!

[nzstude]

If you want to see the future of postal services look down under at New Zealand. Being a small country we have had to make efficiencies and enconomise for some time now. There are very few stand alone Post Shops now. Many are franchised. Convience stores and stores that sell stationery will have a post counter. There is even a small bank that have post counters in their branches. Our banking system has also been reformed. The smallest coin is 10 cents, the smallest bank note is $5. Just about everybody uses electronic debit cards. I rarely have more than $10 cash on me. Most large stores will ask you if you want cash out when paying buy debit card as it costs them to handle and bank cash.