(October 31, 2014) SANTA CLARA (KPIX 5) – The U.S. Postal Service goes by the creed “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds,” but one KPIX 5 viewer said that’s not the case in Santa Clara.
On the Circle Drive neighborhood in Santa Clara a former postal worker said mail stopped coming and she called to find out why.
“My neighbor said he did not receive mail and asked if we had received mail and we had not. There was nothing in our slot. That’s pretty unusual for a Monday,” said the resident identified only as Gail.
She says she was told the overtime clock had stopped her delivery.
“A supervisor handed me over to my carrier who informed me that the new policy in Santa Clara is no mail delivery after 6 p.m.,” she recalled.
The local Letter Carrier Union President says postmasters are under pressure to reduce costs, and that means curbing overtime.
And here in Fresno we’re starting at 9:00 am and casing mail till around 11 and coming back at 7:30 pm after working ten hours. Postmasters today are clueless on how to run their installation.
Yeah, those carriers have it tough these days what with all the carrier-routed and walk sequence mail. Rough job.
They say they are not aware of any reports anywhere else. This is not true. Due to carriers being shot and robbed in the dark, management allows us to stay out until their bosses tell them to bring us back. That time varies day to day. But last year we had weeks where the mail was laying around the next day and they had the temps come in early in the morning to deliver what was not delivered the night before. Some days routes got multiple deliveries.
“go slow, more dough” is a great oneliner. However, it applies more to how the mail finally gets to the mail carriers. Plant closings, reduction in clerks all transpire to have the mail arrive later and later to the carriers. Add in the (parcels are our salvation) large increase in time on the streets to deliver parcels and you get late deliveries. Oh, have I forgotten the policy to scan items “exactly” at the address? City carriers juggling mail and parcels and trying to do a scan is a thing to behold. Rural carriers trying to scan an item in bright sunlight contorting themselves to shade the label so it may scan. All these things add time. Now take an upper management playing martinet decreeing by fiat that “There will be NO overtime” leaving the local postmaster between a rock and a hard place. Wait for the Christmas rush. UPS and FEDEX are alreading contemplating dumping their excess onto USPS. Your carrier just wants to do a good job for his/her customers and friends. Please don’t blaim them for a situation completely out of their hands.
I guess they didn’t have election mail.
Carriers at my station are working 12 hours.
many carriers coming back after 7. CCA’s working till 8pm
It is the carrier motto “go slow, more dough” that is the problem.
Thank the Congress when Bush was the President.
It’s going to get worst, oh well.
Leadership [or lack their of] has cut far to much help and it will show up come time for Christmas delivers . I see later delivers at night and good help leaving the Postal system to retire early because of poor management and planing.