4/6/2018 In October 2017, the Postal Service enabled a new feature on the Mobile Delivery Device (MDD) called Load Truck. This feature involves letter carriers scanning their packages as they load their vehicle and the MDD provides them with visual and audible information regarding the delivery sequence number of the package and a numbered section (1 through 6) of the vehicle in which the package should be placed. At the time this new feature was released, USPS also distributed a standup talk to delivery units which stated not all carriers will need to use the Load Truck feature. The standup talk stated, “Regular carriers and others familiar with the route layout will probably not need the feature.”
In addition to using the Load Truck feature of the MDD, the Postal Service envisioned carriers unfamiliar with routes using the Package Lookahead feature that was introduced to the MDD one year earlier. Through the MDD screen, Package Lookahead provides carriers with a manifest of all packages assigned to their route for the day, and as each package is delivered the manifest is updated to indicate it, thus providing which packages have yet to be delivered for the rest of the route.
Earlier this year the Postal Service switched gears from its previous messaging that only carriers unfamiliar with routes should use the Load Truck feature, and made it a mandatory daily routine for all city delivery letter carriers as they load their vehicles. Almost immediately, NALC headquarters and the 15 regional offices began receiving many questions from letter carriers and local union representatives regarding this change. Some reported their local managers told them they could not separate their parcels in delivery sequence as allowed by and provided for in section 322.31 of Handbook M-41, City Delivery Carriers Duties and Responsibilities. We also heard reports of managers not allowing letter carriers to reverse a letter in their letter separation, to indicate where they have a SPR too large to be cased, as provided for in section 225.22 of Handbook M-41. They were told to only use the Package Lookahead feature instead.
After receiving those reports, NALC has met several times with officials at USPS headquarters to determine their position on these issues. The Postal Service states the only directive being issued to the area and district levels is that all carriers should use the Load Truck feature by scanning each parcel and placing them into the numbered section of the truck indicated on the MDD. USPS plans to use the scan to improve customer visibility soon. That is it; all rules and regulations regarding loading and delivery of parcels must still be adhered to.
If a letter carrier is instructed to load or deliver their parcels in a manner inconsistent with the procedures outlined in Handbook M-41, he or she should follow those instructions but inform a local union representative for further.
Can we address the stupid “sample scan requests” while we’re at it?
So a Rural Carrier gets paid for 3 hours to case mail.
While a City Carrier is out walking for 2 and a half of those 3 hours.
Then the Rural gets to drive for 3 more hours and get paid for
9 hours of work.
City Carrier Inspection is like a prostate exam.
Give me a break Rural Carriers are jokes.
Rural Carriers are not jokes the USPS is and NALC is. The PO does not know how to run a business and they do not know how to deliver mail.
This all goes back to the count and all of the little “odds and ends” that carriers and Postmasters fight over. For the record…I’m a Rural Carrier. We had a Postmaster from another office do the drive, dismount and measurements. Then our Postmaster did the “in house” count. Everyday we had the opportunity to verify their work. We were also given a “disagreement” form in the event that our figures conflicted with theirs. The count has been over for a month and some of the carriers in my office are filing grievances about…mail that has been gone for a month!!?!! I’m O.K. with my count. This is a math thing. It is or it isn’t there. The box is occupied or vacant. It’s 2 miles or it isn’t. If your route takes an honest 9 hours everyday…then that’s what it takes…period…the end. Your Postmaster is the one that has to answer to management in regards to carrier time and money. Look at it this way…if you feel you do work that you didn’t get credit for on the count, it’s going to show up on your time. When your Postmaster asks why you don’t “make route time”, you may want to refer them back to all the things that you do in a day that they “decided” not to add to your count…that IS the answer to their question. I always invite my Postmaster to “Grab a jumpseat! Come on…I always offer snacks and beverages! It’ll be fun! It’s only 6 hours on bumpy roads (not counting the 3 hours I’m in my case and loading). You’ll love our customers! They’ll all 90 years old and pissed off as hell and your the target! 113 degrees out? Don’t worry! I’ve got LLV temperature water! New guy that moved in and is angry about the “old “mail that he’s getting? Don’t worry! Just stop what your doing and explain to him what “or occupant” means! New house just got built and the owner put his custom mailbox on a 10 inch post? Don’t worry! The USPS medical will pay for your shoulder surgery! 800+ boxes? Don’t worry! carpel tunnel surgery is only a $3000.00 deductible! In a scant 2 months..you’ll be back out on your route! So…everything having been said I had a very good “pre-count” meeting with my Postmasters. I said…let’s be honest. Let’s be fair. Let’s get an accurate count. My needs are few and simple. My screw me…I quit. I got a $6000.00 raise. Because…we were all honest.
How will they count the time for “Package not found” scan during a route insp?
This load truck feature is causing carriers to spend more time at the dock door in our office. Now the wait times to get to a dock door are much longer. Good plan.
Why don’t Rural Carriers have to “load truck”
Isn’t this scan for the customers.
Maybe someone should look into the Rural Carriers.
They seem to make good money for doing nothing.
How did I miss that job.
rurals have the option to do it; if they say yes they are paid more because they are flat rate. They get paid extra to do sample requests from scanner. City are paid by the hr. so u will get paid based on the longer time it will take; unless of course u can get this done in 8 hrs.
more stupid wasted time doing unnecessary things. let the carriers deliver their rts as they know best.
Good idea for new carriers on unfamiliar territory. Bad idea an insulting to seasoned carriers
just like management. Their thought is the more you do the less time it takes. They are so full of jelly donuts they can’t think ! Does management have the ability to understand that if they made working conditions easier they could increase productivity? If they would just put away their prick pills and stop enjoying pushing employees around more could be accomplished.
they still making the job harder then it needs to be and then they wonder why they lose money
How long does it take to scan a package????? 2 Seconds???? How many packages do you have????? 100 at the most???? That’s 200 seconds, a whopping 3+ minutes more. Stop being so resistant to change and stop complaining.
To “I’m a runner”. Really? Sectioning is not sequencing! I bet you are one that does not sequence parcels after you load. Current guidelines set forth in the M-39 & 41 specifically state “while loading parcels into vehicle carriers are to “arrange parcels in delivery of sequence”. Now how much time are “you” giving back! Change is not the operative word – consistency is!!!!!!!
carriers will stop complaining when something makes sense; like ideas that make it easier to get back in 8. Don’t run; u don’t do that when they walk u right?
I don’t care how long it takes. But, thanks for the management view on this. As if we didn’t already know it. You make us go slow for more dough.
Insanity rules as if we didn’t know it already!
This is funny that the PO spent $ on this. Yep! We are really broke!
It can take up to 20 min. And over to load your truck as you scan each parcel and place it in the # spot the more parcels you have the longer it takes. So other carriers now have to wait longer for a spot to open to load their truck
We only have 2 loading spots for twenty carriers,it takes more time to load up now