Ford to Supply Parts for U.S. Postal’s New Delivery Vehicles

[AzScorpion]

I can provide a little inside if you like....I just retired last week an can tell you it's a shit show pretty much every day.



Drive by any post office an if it's a busy area chances are there will be unused trucks parked there all day. Every office is short staffed. My friends tell me there are 5 more routes than people. There are 14 routes in that office. When I started it was 5 so it's a rapidly growing office. Now every carrier So now every carrier that doesn't go get a Dr note limiting them to 8 hours a day for medical reason gets to do their entire route an half of one the five that doesn't have anyone assigned to them that day. Starting at 7 am an working to 8 pm is the norm. Even management are physically delivering mail they are so short. The only reason you go into management is you're too lazy to deliver mail.



see the above. Management blamed the pandemic for not hiring people because you couldn't put them in a room together to train them so the answer is to run everyone into the ground. I think the run them into the ground is the new business model. I planned on working until I was 60 until about 6 years ago when the run them into the ground started. Get the older people to retire an replace them with cheaper people or don't replace them, just run the remaining people into the ground. if you're new plan on working 6 or 7 days a week for the first few YEARS. also plan on shoulder an knee surgeries. Part of the run them into the ground model is the GPS tracker you carry all day that gives an alert to management if you spend too much time at any location.

when I started 25 years ago you started as part time but at full pay an got full benefits after 90 days. Now you start as a non career no benefits employee making around $15-16 an hour. After 2 years you become career with benefits but stay part time until a full time position opens via a retirement. Part time means no set schedule NOT under 40 hours a week. You work as many or few hours as needed when needed. Counting my retirement my old office lost 6 carriers in the last year an a half an got one replacement new person. He quit after a week saying it was a lot harder than he expected.

I've been lucky as my mail lady is really great and efficient! She drives her own pickup and has everything boxed and sorted in the bed for her. She delivers everyday close on time like clockwork. Of course she's older and I dread the day she leaves as I'm sure someone younger will take over and it'll be a mess.

Sponsored

 

[D Fresh]

Get ready to wait another year for your Bronco Dave!


Seriously though, Ford is putting a lot on their plate right now.

 

[Chris M]

as far as vehicles go we had a few areostars an windstars for walking routes. They made a right hand drive delivery vehicle on the old explorer platform but it was too cramped to be effective. The work load evolved from thousands of paper magazines an letters an a few packages to hundreds of paper letters an magazines an hundreds of packages (large an small).

My mail lady's truck looks very much like this most days. I genuinely don't see how she does it.

 

[AzScorpion]

Get ready to wait another year for your Bronco Dave!


Seriously though, Ford is putting a lot on their plate right now.

Don't even go there Doug! ?

That's the first thing I thought of too. Between the Bronco, Lightning and Maverick and this they sure have a lot of commitments coming up.

 

[Langwilliams]

My mail lady's truck looks very much like this most days. I genuinely don't see how she does it.

The contract says you get 2 ten minute breaks on the clock an have a 30 minute lunch taken off the clock. Most people just run through the day to get done taking half a lunch an bathroom break when needed.

There are some $hi! carriers that milk the rules an use FMLA to avoid work but the only reason the mail gets delivered every day is because most carriers feel an obligation to their customers to get it done. Upper management gets bonuses for getting all the work done with fewer people when they are causing the problems.

 

[Langwilliams]

rant over

 

[Chris M]

rant over

Not really a rant if it's true.
Let's call this a "venting"...

Enjoy your retirement, brother.

 

[Mcssls]

Eternal backorder for them too

 

[bearrug]

It would be nice if they could get parts for my Ranger I have to wait 6 weeks for transmission parts

 

[dondonbabyraptor]

You know what's great seeing all this news, I am hyped to jump onto Ford stock, but it's way too late now. Should of done it a year back before all this great news, alas, that's how the stock market goes. The normies don't get to react to the news in relation to stocks Hoping for a 10-20% crash and then hop on around 12-13 dollars. I really expect Ford with all the push on EV trucks/cars and general government contracts like LEO/USPS to hit 20$+, sheesh. Get at it, Ford. Sorry I am on a Ford fanboy rant, but what makes me happiest is that the Ranger won the award for "Most American built truck(car too?)"

 

[wanted33]

I can provide a little inside if you like....I just retired last week an can tell you it's a shit show pretty much every day.



Drive by any post office an if it's a busy area chances are there will be unused trucks parked there all day. Every office is short staffed. My friends tell me there are 5 more routes than people. There are 14 routes in that office. When I started it was 5 so it's a rapidly growing office. Now every carrier So now every carrier that doesn't go get a Dr note limiting them to 8 hours a day for medical reason gets to do their entire route an half of one the five that doesn't have anyone assigned to them that day. Starting at 7 am an working to 8 pm is the norm. Even management are physically delivering mail they are so short. The only reason you go into management is you're too lazy to deliver mail.



see the above. Management blamed the pandemic for not hiring people because you couldn't put them in a room together to train them so the answer is to run everyone into the ground. I think the run them into the ground is the new business model. I planned on working until I was 60 until about 6 years ago when the run them into the ground started. Get the older people to retire an replace them with cheaper people or don't replace them, just run the remaining people into the ground. if you're new plan on working 6 or 7 days a week for the first few YEARS. also plan on shoulder an knee surgeries. Part of the run them into the ground model is the GPS tracker you carry all day that gives an alert to management if you spend too much time at any location.

when I started 25 years ago you started as part time but at full pay an got full benefits after 90 days. Now you start as a non career no benefits employee making around $15-16 an hour. After 2 years you become career with benefits but stay part time until a full time position opens via a retirement. Part time means no set schedule NOT under 40 hours a week. You work as many or few hours as needed when needed. Counting my retirement my old office lost 6 carriers in the last year an a half an got one replacement new person. He quit after a week saying it was a lot harder than he expected.

Now I see what's wrong Langley. Mike, our mail carrier and super nice guy, is all over the place. And, I understand the "beating a dead horse". If Mike is lucky enough to get a day off some other poor carriers has to pick up half of his route. There have been times our mail wasn't delivered until dark thirty. With a starting schedule, and that BS part time stuff I can see why they are posting help needed signs. That's very sad. Growing up if you were lucky enough to get a job at the Post Office you were set for life.

 

[Langwilliams]

Now I see what's wrong Langley. Mike, our mail carrier and super nice guy, is all over the place. And, I understand the "beating a dead horse". If Mike is lucky enough to get a day off some other poor carriers has to pick up half of his route. There have been times our mail wasn't delivered until dark thirty. With a starting schedule, and that BS part time stuff I can see why they are posting help needed signs. That's very sad. Growing up if you were lucky enough to get a job at the Post Office you were set for life.

It was a great job 10 or 12 years ago. You had some easy days an some hard days an it balanced out. Now the plan is every day has to be at least 110%. The Louisville Ky area did a mass hiring in 2017 (I think) an trained over 90 new carriers, with in 3 months 60 quit.

If you call an complain the bosses will tell you what they think you want to hear to get rid of the call. They'll gladly take complaint calls all day about poor service over getting calls from their boss complaining about the number of hours being used.

 

[Apples]

There is a very good reason the USPS is in the shape it is in.

I ordered some T-shirts from Carhartt. They were shipped from Hanson, KY the 18th. From there the package went to Evanston, IN, to Las Vegas, NV, to Irving, TX, to Ft. Worth, TX as of today. The USPS now says it will be delivered on July 1st! Good Lord, this package has traveled more in the last few days, than I have in the last few years!

No wonder to me they're broke!

 

[wanted33]

It was a great job 10 or 12 years ago. You had some easy days an some hard days an it balanced out. Now the plan is every day has to be at least 110%. The Louisville Ky area did a mass hiring in 2017 (I think) an trained over 90 new carriers, with in 3 months 60 quit.

If you call an complain the bosses will tell you what they think you want to hear to get rid of the call. They'll gladly take complaint calls all day about poor service over getting calls from their boss complaining about the number of hours being used.

I do understand. My neighbor worked sorting mail, and retired this year. I read his contract book several years ago, and that was the oddest contract I think I have ever seen. It looks like your International Union hasn't helped much either. I was a local BCT Union Official for quite a few years, and nearly fell out of my chair when I saw that it allowed work areas to wipe out everyone's job, and have the workers in that area rebid for those jobs. I would have been run out of town on a rail if I would have even mentioned something like that to my members.

 

[AdamHarris]

Posted this in another thread. My postman here is just begging for a decent delivery vehicle LOL. This Buick 3800 will run forever though.

Sponsored