(source: senioronlinesafety.com)

Value and Need of the USPS

"If the Postal Service were the private sector, it would be the 3rd-largest employer in the US. Walmart (2.3m) and Amazon (798,000) are the only private sector employers with more employees. If the Postal Service were listed on the Fortune 500, it would be listed at 43rd largest company as of 2019." - National Letter Carrier Union, Branch 43, Queen City, News & Views newsletter. There are about 640,000 postal employees.

The newsletter goes on to point out the decreased volume of mail (30-40% lower), the shortage of funds (also caused by a lot less advertising mail), and how important it is to virtually every American and business in the US. We have delivered tens of millions of postcards from the CDC about SARS-CoV-2, as well as voting info, ballots, virus test samples, medications and supplements, stimulus and tax return checks, and a lot more.

On top of that, we offer free shipping supplies that we'll deliver to your door, and we'll pick up the package when it's ready. If you buy a postage label online at usps.gov, you won't even need to buy postage at the Post Office - you'll have prepaid it!

CoViD-19 Lockdowns Cause Downturn

For myself, I'm a new carrier on probation. I must work Sundays, delivering packages for Amazon and UPS, but my start time has been delayed Mon-Sat and I almost never work 8 hours in a day. In fact, in the past few weeks, I've probably averaged closer to 5 hours a day and, in the past 2 weeks, I have gone from the normal 6-day week to 5. To be fair, the union and the USPS signed an MOU in April that requires that start times be staggered so that no more than 10 people will start work, but it alternates who each week. This doesn't apply to myself and the other new carrier - we start even later, except on Sunday. Also, my union steward informed me that she even took a vacation because the mail volume was so low.

Please Help

Would you please consider tapping your members of the Senate and Congress and asking them to find a solution(s) to help the USPS continue to be funded? I am not aware of what the best options are, but this could include renegotiating contracts with companies that ship some of their packages through us (like Amazon, FedEx and UPS) and revising other money-losing services/agreements; offering new services (I would encourage everyone to let the USPS know what you think that might be, such as payday loan service); improving existing services (e.g.) including not getting wet mail, more smiles and greetings from employees); measures to cut back on excess spending and unneeded expenses; and other changes. I do not think that privatization would necessarily be in the best interest of the American people and businesses (except the businesses that got the job).

About Our Main Vehicle

Please note that we drive custom vehicles called the Grumman Long-Life Vehicle (LLV) that were made in the 1980s and 90s, I believe. These vehicles were designed to last 24-30 years, so that means they've been in service for a bit too long. Strangely, I do like driving the LLV as long as there is no precipitation and the temperatures is in the 70s or lower.

(source: Wikipedia)
There are lots of challenges to using them:

• bad traction when it rains or snows, or when there's ice
• no ABS (a braking system that pulsates the brakes so that the tires are less likely to slide)
• a high profile that makes it easier to tip due to a turn or high wind than many other vehicle types
• no A/C and they become much hotter than the outside air even when the temperature is moderate outside
  • poor air circulation contributes to this
  • just one fan mounted on the passenger (left) side of the windshield (on a swivel)
  • it is impractical to keep the other window open because of the mail tray between the driver's seat and the window, it is a manual crank window, and we cannot go on walking routes without first closing the window(s), and closing the passenger window eats up too much time that is supposed to be devoted to delivering mail because we have to walk around the vehicle (potentially dealing with traffic), unlock and open the door, crank the window closed, and close and lock the door, doing the reverse when we come back to the LLV

• the defoggers for the windshield have limited efficiency, which means that the fan must be pointed at one of the two sides, but that results in the other side fogging up, which also makes it difficult to see the all-important mirrors on one side or the other
• many have malfunctioning speedometers that are only replaced when they cease to function (they can be off by anywhere between 1-15 MPH, and I've seen some in which the needle constantly fluctuates)
• some dashboard instrumentation may not have functioning lights
• some have an inaccurate gas gauge
• sometimes they catch on fire, which is often because the windshield wiper fluid container is above the fuse box
  
  (source:: postaltimes.com)

There are other problems, such as repairs that are considered non-essential and are thus not done, even if they have an impact on safety. For example, many LLVs shunt a lot of heat from the engine into the cabin, even when the heat is turned off. When the temperature gets into the high 70s, this starts to make the vehicle even hotter than other LLVs without this problem, increasing the risks of dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. One LLV I drove had this problem, plus mirrors that would be shifted backwards by the wind of driving over 40 MPH, the horn was difficult to activate, and the turn signals wouldn't turn off after a turn. I assume that some of these issues were addressed, because fixing the mirrors is just a matter of tightening nuts. This is not to suggest that the USPS ignores safety issues, however. Ultimately, though, it is the responsibility of the carrier to ensure one's own safety, but we cannot gainsay the order of our supervisor.

There is an effort to find replacements for these aging, lumbering LLVs, as well as replacing the scanners (which I think are decades old), too. None of these much-needed changes will happen without help, though.