To Postal Workers, No Mail Is ‘Junk’

To Chickenpants... thanks for your explanation. Everyone is entitled to a lunch break, but this may be his afternoon break. Thanks.

Your letter carrier probably parks for 30 minutes after he finishes his route for his lunch break and afternoon break. He does this because people are standing around waiting for their mail, and he tries to get it there on time. He is entitled to a lunch break. And, like me, if he goes back into the station, he is loaded up with more mail to deliver on another route and he'll end up on over-time. And even though some people want over-time, some don't. And if your letter carrier chooses to read a book rather than eat, than is his choice. When I did stop to eat, I had people coming up to me asking questions so that I couldn't finish my lunch, so alot of carriers try to park in a remote location. Also, the lunch times and breaks are recorded in a machine that is included in the route time -- when volume is up -- more time is allowed for street delivery. When volume is down for the day, help is expected from employees or they can use their vacation time and go home early.

I don't think so.... he stops and takes a lunch break just before he starts our neighborhood... then delivers all of the neighborhood and at the end, he just sits there for a long time.... and you don't have to be sarcastic. It was an honest question!

Let's see....fire someone on light duty....fire employees with more than 30 years.....sounds like alot of discrimination and alot of union involvement and paperwork. It is like any other job, hard-working individuals carry the load. I worked hard because I like to work hard. It made the day go by faster and I took pride in my work. Too many people stand around watching what others are or aren't doing, and should just do their job instead of complaining. Everything you do is being watched -- even on the street, you are being observed. Some people just work faster than others. Most routes have approximately 1000 stops -- including residential and business -- it can be one letter or trays and trays of letters. I have received a wrong piece of mail from time to time, but per the volume, the incidence is very low. Apply for a job there as a part-time employee. You will be so tired when you get home, you won't have a life.

Maybe junk mail isn't such a bad thing. In Canada there's a company that pays to take junk mail off of your hands and recycle it. I'm not sure if such a business exists stateside but it would be a good way to turn your "trash" into cash and keep the post office from privatizing, which would be a nightmare not only for the workers, but for the rest of us. You think sending mail is expensive now.

Maybe junk mail isn't such a bad thing. In Canada there's a company that pays to take junk mail off of your hands and recycle it. I'm not sure if such a business exists stateside but it would be a good way to turn your "trash" into cash and keep the post office from privatizing, which would be a nightmare not only for the workers, but for the rest of us. You think sending mail is expensive now.

Maybe junk mail isn't such a bad thing. In Canada there's a company that pays to take junk mail off of your hands and recycle it. I'm not sure if such a business exists stateside but it would be a good way to turn your "trash" into cash and keep the post office from privatizing, which would be a nightmare not only for the workers, but for the rest of us. You think sending mail is expensive now.

Maybe junk mail isn't such a bad thing. In Canada there's a company that pays to take junk mail off of your hands and recycle it. I'm not sure if such a business exists stateside but it would be a good way to turn your "trash" into cash and keep the post office from privatizing, which would be a nightmare not only for the workers, but for the rest of us. You think sending mail is expensive now.

Maybe junk mail isn't such a bad thing. In Canada there's a company that pays to take junk mail off of your hands and recycle it. I'm not sure if such a business exists stateside but it would be a good way to turn your "trash" into cash and keep the post office from privatizing, which would be a nightmare not only for the workers, but for the rest of us. You think sending mail is expensive now.

Maybe junk mail isn't such a bad thing. In Canada there's a company that pays to take junk mail off of your hands and recycle it. I'm not sure if such a business exists stateside but it would be a good way to turn your "trash" into cash and keep the post office from privatizing, which would be a nightmare not only for the workers, but for the rest of us. You think sending mail is expensive now, it could get far worse. f.y.i. the post office generates it's own revenue and doesn't use tax dollars to pay its employees.

Maybe junk mail isn't such a bad thing. In Canada there's a company that pays to take junk mail off of your hands and recycle it. I'm not sure if such a business exists stateside but it would be a good way to turn your "trash" into cash and keep the post office from privatizing, which would be a nightmare not only for the workers, but for the rest of us. You think sending mail is expensive now, it could get far worse. f.y.i. the post office generates it's own revenue and doesn't use tax dollars to pay its employees.

"Junk" would well characterize the post office's service based on countless frustrating experiences. Just try to track a lost package or a make a claim. My small business pays significant premiums to ship via UPS, FedEx, etc. when we would otherwise ship USPS, except for their lousy operation. Their situation is self-inflicted and one more example of decades of government incompetence.

I am a postal worker, and yes we have been hit hard by the current economic down turn, but I truly don't believe that this is the reason for the demise of the postal service as we know it , I have been employed by the Postal Service for 17yrs and have seen the system go from sugar to @#$% and all due to the mis-management of those that are at the top. We the postal workers that care can hardly get the job done due to not having the resources to do the job. At every turn you can find not enough personnel or equipment to do the job. All of this is in my honest opinion due to incompetent leadership. It's the same as every other company out there incompetent people in places of authority and those same people only looking out for thier wallets, to hell with the worker.
This doctrine has become the new postal motto, it's no longer rain nor sleet nor snow, but I want mo mo mo.
You have people in top positions in the postal service that could not manage to get themselves out of a wet paper bag but these same people hold the lives of 400,000 or better people in thier hands and thier down right dumb decisions are killing the Postal Service. If they would let those of us that have been doing this and consider it our profession do our jobs. We could in all likelyhood survive. But of course they wou't because when the buisiness goes *** up they will receive a big bonus as severance pay. but all we will receive is our walking papers. Probably in the last mail delivery that the postal service is involved in.

There's a company in Canada that pays to take Junk mail off of your hands and recycles it. I wonder if we have similar businesses stateside. Theoretically, you could turn your trash "junk mail" into cash and keep the post office from being privatized, which would horrendous.

The Post Office is an amazing entity and does a remarkable job with the amount of mail that flows through the system. If the union mentality was gone and the employees actually gave 8 hours work for 8 hours of pay then there would be an actual business model that could be restructured to adapt to the eb and flow of the mail volume. But as long as the antiquated union structure is in place they will run it in the ground. The bad part is that the union wont move the masses towards being an efficient partner in the business so the more they waste manhours the faster the profitability is decreasing. I guess the union members will wake up when they are unemployeed and the mail system is privatized.

I have a good idea as well. Why don't we have the post office downsize like any other business. They could also cut down residential mail delivery to every other day. Think of the savings that would generate in man hours, fuel costs and mainenance. I worked for the post office part time and during christmas rush regular employess played softball with roll of wrapping paper and a tape ball while we worked the mail. Then they cried to the union about not getting enough overtime.

The post office should adopt a rule that allows you to check a box on any junk class mail that will return the mail to sender at the sender's expense. That would make money for the post office, and it would discourage companies from sending out too much junk mail, and it would result in less wasted paper because eventually the companies would send out less junk mail.

The post office should adopt a rule that allows you to check a box on any junk class mail that will return the mail to sender at the sender's expense. That would make money for the post office, and it would discourage companies from sending out too much junk mail, and it would result in less wasted paper because eventually the companies would send out less junk mail.