USPS OIG Advisory Alert: City Carrier Management and Compensation
In fiscal year (FY) 2013, the U.S. Postal Service paid $21.7 billion in carrier compensation — $15.5 billion for city carriers and $6.2 billion for rural carriers. Carriers represent about 48 percent of 491,000 career postal employees and are the largest personnel expense for the Postal Service. Compensation for city and rural carriers is determined very differently. City carriers are generally full-time employees and are guaranteed 40 hours per week, 8 hours per day.
Conversely, rural carriers are compensated based on a predetermined rate per route. That rate takes into account mail volume, daily miles traveled, number of mailboxes served, and fixed or variable time allowances. In addition, city carriers are paid overtime for work performed over 40 hours in a week, whereas rural carriers are typically paid overtime when they work more than 2,080 hours annually.
Carrier compensation has been discussed for many years, with studies on compensation costs conducted by the Postal Regulatory Commission dating back to 1992. Postal Service management is currently studying rural carrier time standards, which may impact the current rural carrier
compensation system. This study, estimated to be completed in May 2015, will also focus on ensuring delivery time frames are fair and reasonable tasks are assigned to carriers.
Our objective was to assess city carrier management and associated compensation. This report is a follow-up to our Postal Service Work Rules and Compensation Systems audit report, dated September 19, 2011.
What the OIG Found
The Postal Service implemented a number of tools to track and manage city carrier operations; however it remains challenging to supervise city carriers. Also, the Postal Service continues to experience excessive supervisory, overtime and grievance costs related to city carriers.
Specifically, supervisors have more activities to manage for city carriers compared to rural carriers, such as managing daily workhours and work load activity. In addition, for each 100 bargaining employees, supervisory costs for city carriers, including salary and benefits, were about $440,000 in FY 2013, compared to rural carrier supervisory costs of $220,000. In addition, the Postal Service paid about $1.2 million for city carrier overtime, per 100 bargaining employees; however, overtime for rural carriers was only $236,000 per 100 bargaining employees. Furthermore, management handled about (redacted) grievances with payouts totaling (redacted) for city carriers for every 100 bargaining employees, compared to (redacted) grievances totaling (redacted) each for every 100 rural carriers. These costs are evidence that it is more costly and difficult to supervise city carriers in every neighborhood.
Furthermore, compensation costs per delivery are significantly higher for city carriers than for rural carriers – in FY 2013, city carriers’ compensation costs averaged 58 cents per delivery point, while rural carriers’ averaged 49 cents. There are about 133 million delivery points nationwide.
In addition to the higher overall administrative and compensation costs associated with city carriers, there is little incentive for carriers to be more productive and finish routes faster because they are paid hourly. Because of changes in the Postal Service’s business environment, including an increase in the number of package deliveries and the adjustment of delivery routes, the Postal Service has an increasing need for
carrier efficiency.
Developing a compensation system for city carriers based on time standards for specific tasks rather than hours worked would allow management to reduce supervisory costs, grievance payouts, and administrative costs, while increasing overall efficiency. Paying city carriers hourly results into longer workhours; whereas, a different compensation system could incentivize higher productivity. Therefore, such changes could reduce compensation costs by at least $1.3 billion in FY 2015.
What the OIG Recommended
We recommended the chief human resources officer and executive vice president develop a city carrier compensation system based on time standards for specific tasks completed by a carrier.
In regard to our assessment of management tools, management indicated the report lacked an explanation of the relevance of the systems, reports, and tools to the subject matter. They stated it is unclear whether the 15 management tools used by rural delivery operations are a system or a report. Management also stated only DOIS is used on a daily basis and that DDM and eFlash are not maintained by the delivery supervisor or used daily.
USPS Response
Management expressed concern regarding the use of supervisory costs in supporting the OIG’s conclusion. They stated the OIG did not consider rural carriers supervised by postmasters. In addition, they stated all supervisory hours in city delivery are not attributed to management of city delivery routes. Rather, supervisor hours are also used to manage collections, parcel runs, and the vehicle fleet. Furthermore, management stated the OIG did not provide a formula for the supervisory costs; and therefore, they could not comment on the accuracy of the figures.
Regarding the analysis of overtime and grievance costs, management stated the OIG failed to account for the differences between overtime built into the evaluation of rural carrier routes and the city carrier routes, which do not include overtime. They also stated the OIG did not take into account the different sizes of the rural and city employee populations. As a result of the differing compensation systems, management indicated overtime opportunities for rural carriers are limited. Consequently, there will be higher number of disputes resulting in grievances related to overtime for city carriers. In addition, management indicated the OIG incorrectly referenced FLSA, Section 7(b)(2) as being applicable to city carriers.
For compensation costs, management stated the OIG did not consider the non-career workforce in determining labor costs. In addition, they stated the OIG assumes equivalent delivery processes for both city and rural carriers with the only difference being the compensation method. Management further stated they are currently engaged in a study to develop changes to the evaluated compensation system. As a result, they are deeply concerned that a report of this nature will negatively impact its ability to make change through that study.
Carriers make up almost half the workforce of the whole postal system..why wouldn’t our expenses be higher!!??…Also when it comes to the payment system, the city carriers and rural carriers will never be the same for the simple fact that we do are jobs differently!…the rurals deliver about 95% of their customers on mounted routes, throw in a few dismounts. City carriers CARRY about 95% of their routes, plus all the steps, plus lawns, plus being out in the open concerning any weather changes. City carrier jobs are more physical to boot!! …and God help us all if the idiots in Congress push thru a 5 day work week…it will be the beginning of the end for the Postal Service!!! Good Luck to you newbies and CCA’s…be strong in the union, it’s your only chance!
OIG didn’t do its homework on this one…..Rural carriers have streetside delivery, city has walking routes, ergo a higher cost per delivery point. Rural carriers often are in small enough offices that postmasters and carriers actually get along. City carriers are in larger offices with more layers of management trying to justify their jobs..City carriers are nitpicked and their only way to respond is by grievance…
Rurals want to go hourly because the evaluated system is rigged against them ( wonder why this engineering study has dropped off the radar…..is shows how bad the current system is rigged).
If going hourly means rurals get maimed and mauled each day like city, this rural carrier wants no part of it. Hats off to city carriers for sticking it out. If they want city to go evaluated, hold onto your wallets.
I move more mail than in less time than city side. On average when converting rural to city they make 1 1/2 city routes out of one rural. Not saying it is every office but it is a lot. City has a anti-incentive the faster you go the more they take from the lazy carrier and put on the hard worker
I don’t think city carriers REALLY understand rural carriers. I DO NOT GO HOME AT 2:30 in the afternoon. My route is underevaluated and I get royally screwed every mail count
You are one confused carrier. Just because some of the carriers do go home earlier; does not mean they aren’t doing as much as you. But they are doing their job faster.
Rural carrier carries all the mail and packages that is dropped near the case, each day. Look at the cut-backs, at the city carrier case. Rural carriers work efficiently without hiding under the trees and restaurants or taking a nap and cheating the system. 98% rural carriers work efficiently and go home early. So please, don’t write if you do not know how the rural craft works.
City carriers – rise up, get efficient and be accountable for what you do (not cheating the system)
Why would anyone in there right mind want to pay the city carriers like they do rural carriers? I watch most of our rural carriers on a daily basis come in at 7:30 or 8 am and go home any where from 11:30 to 2:30. A lot of them work 4 to 6 hours a day and are paid for a full day. If the rural carriers were set up like the city carriers and had to work all for a full days pay you would only need about 2/3 of the rural carrier work force. USPS is losing a lot of money paying these rural carrier employees to go home and watch tv or what ever there doing. Many of these carriers are making 60 some thousand a year which makes them making almost twice as much an hour as what a city carrier makes. When you figure by hours they actually work. This is where USPS is losing a bundle and to blind to see.
They should “evaluate” the 3 $75,000 a year managers who came in to perform Fire Extinguisher Inspections in our building. One to actually check the extinguisher, one to hold the clipboard, and one to supervise the other 2……………………………….
OIG. Does that stand for Office of Ignorant Goofballs? OIG states that supervisory costs are higher for city carriers. Yes they are because the Postal Service micro manages everything a city carrier does. Plus they have to hire many more supervisors to spy on city carriers on the street. Rural carriers are under paid and overworked thanks to their union. Of course the PO would like to pay city carriers the same way. Lastly grievance pay would be much lower if managers would follow the contract. Management seems to go out of their way to violate the contract. Then they are so surprised when they have to pay out large settlements. The OIG should investigate the willful violation of the contract by supervisors and other managers. Oh wait. The Office of Ignorant Goofballs would never do that. They would then make the head Goofballs look bad. The Postal Service never changes. They always promote those least qualified to lead and manage. That’s why it’s doing so bad. Not because of city carriers.
1. If city routes were evaluated like rurals none would come in above 7 hours, most under 6 hours.
2. No, repeat, NO residential delivery needs to be more than 3 days weekly.
they started studying this in 1992…… this is 2014. anyone really think anything is going to change? Rolando has no interest in saving the PO $ in any way so everyone just needs to deal with it. PO gives away overtime like its candy every year, and they always will.
Amazing how the idiots always want to cut craft
Cut the managers at my office and save $400,000
We have been waiting for two years to see when the powers that be cut the actual workforce of the postal service , and by Joe it looks like the office of idiots finally came up with an idea to keep more revenue inside the beltway ( HQ) …
Fast Freddy and his corrupt office of 40 hours (Monday -Friday ) Union slugs ,… Who by the way have received salary increases throughout the pre-funded fiasco (7%each year for the past 7years …. Why not reward the actually mules (carriers ) who do 10 hours of work in 8 hours and should receive a 7.5 % increase in salary when the next contract !!
Remember Freddy And crew with this shady election with only 1/4 of the letter carriers actually casting a ballot for your inept concept of agreeing with the CCA dibocle , remember the carriers who deal with incredible amounts of standard mail as well as parcels which fill up our undersized antique llv , push for the right thing for once and make it financially feasible for the craft which moves mail and pickups from more and more domestic sites …. Happy holidays every one and God bless all of you who still have integrity and show up to work every day !!
Why not offer the city city carriers an early out?! …bringing CCA s in at a lower rate will surely help make up for the difference in what their paying out and alot of savings in the overtime….
The OIG are Postal Service Managers too. Maybe we should have them do a study on their own costs in the copious studies and findings they produce just to justify their jobs?
Here we go again. The City Carriers get blamed for all of the financial woes of the USPS, who do things as backwardly as any business that has ever existed has ever done them. They want to pay us like rural carriers? First of all, our job is a lot harder and a lot different from rural carriers; if they’re simply picking a different craft to rate our pay, why not the supervisors? Second of all, would that stop all of the silly route inspections that the USPS regularly imposes on the people who do all the work? If rural carriers are paid the same whether they work 6 hrs or 12 hrs, why does the USPS still inspect those routes? The only expense to that is paying the inspectors, who seem to make a living doing nothing except wearing a tie and walking around with clipboards and making sure that 30 seconds are deducted from a route if a carrier sneezes. Also, astoundingly, the OIG is blaming the city carriers for the number of grievances that the USPS has to handle and pay. It seems to me that if they would hire managers and supervisors who would follow the contract the city carriers wouldn’t have anything to complain about. The people on the outside have no idea (or they simply choose to ignore the fact) that the rules are constantly bent and broken by supervisors who are pushing carriers as hard as they can so they can make the numbers that will give them a big bonus. And don’t even start me on bonuses; the USPS, who complains that they have no money, regularly hand out bonuses to supervisors who make certain numbers (even thought they don’t carry a single piece of mail; they are collecting bonuses based on the work of other people) and to the postal bigshots locally and in Washington who are driving the USPS into the ground. Yes, the USPS needs to make major cuts…the problem is they’re cutting from the wrong end. Get rid of all the do-nothing suits and supervisors and inspectors and the USPS’s problems would disappear like the stain of breath on a mirror.
over 100,000 postal mismanagers sucking up payroll like a sponge, more layers than an onion, and these OIG clowns go after people who hump mail for a full 8 hours-more if on over time.
remember the women who was head of PO OIG before the current head, she was caught using over $125,000 dollars for her own personal use……..you can not take these scumbuckets seriously! lets investigate the current…..most likely stealing more money than the former criminal.
OIG is exactly right . The city pay structure is breaking the PO
lets get bloated government agencies like the OIG efficient before they point fingers at carriers that deliver tons mail and packages at a lower pay than UPS that only delivers packages!
One thing missing from this report is the comparison of work related accidents between city carriers and rurals. Rurals work in an unsafe manner to get done and go home early, while city carriers work safely due to the fact that they don’t have that “incentive” to work faster (unsafely). This report had a conclusion that they wanted to bend the research into reaching.
A better idea for city carriers would be to establish “8 hour routes”, and pay the carriers for eight hours if the carrier gets done anywhere from seven to nine hours on the day. No overtime on an individual route unless it eclipses nine hours. Most of the OT issues involving city carriers is over the marginal extra time a route sometimes takes to be completed. This is also true about disputes involving potential “downtime”. In a majority of cases, the amount of under time or overtime on any given route on any given day is 30 to 60 minutes. Pay for eight hours for the seven to nine hours needed, and the work environment would be much better and the post office would save money as well. Of course this potentially opens that door to “unsafe work practices” that many rurals practice, but most city carriers are disciplined enough to not fall into that habit. Those that would, are most likely already practicing these poor habits, anyway. Every station has a few that do just as every station has those “go slow for more dough” types.
Do you really think a new pay structure is going to make management play by the rules? No matter what plan is in effect, management will be pushing the carriers to go faster. If you can be done in 8 hours, they want you to be done in 7. If you can be done in 7 hours, they want you to be done in 6. Changing the structures isn’t going to change anything. The PO needs to make cuts…to the bigwigs in Washington, the supervisors and the do-nothing postal inspectors. They’re the ones making the most money and the ones who basically put on a suit and carry around a clipboard all day for a living. Instead they want to make cuts to the people who do the work. Typical postal management stupidity; cut off your nose to spite your face.
Lets see….cut the number of city carriers. Do not replace retired city carriers. Violate the contract often. Still can’t figure out what mis-management is doing wrong. How many mis-managers are on the payroll as opposed to craft employees percentage wise? I got it….hire more deadwood mis-managers.
Where is the OIG report on sexual abuse within the PO?
So the OIG fails again in another one of its BS reports.
That is what the Postsl Service is saying about the OIG report? Who ever they are?
A new pay system recommendation for city carriers that would remove the hourly wage would be the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel.
I’m seeing another man with better wheels Ken my dear
The only people that actually work in the Post Office account for 48% of expense.
When I started we had 89 carriers in my office and 5 stupervisors.
Now, 68 carriers and……5 stupervisors?
Rolando better get out before that next contract. He’s not up for that fight.
OIG just as dumb as the rest!
I’m sorry the only people that work in the Post Office are the carriers? ROFL You carriers would not last 1 week as a MailHandler!
Sure, Bob. That makes a lot of sense! You’re not the only one ROFLMAO!!!!
and the OIG should be paid like the Keystone Kops