I thought being a mailman was going to be my sweet, dream job... Easy life, driving around through the country side.... Well... it is... but it is way harder than people think.
I am generally scheduled 3 days a week... however... I cannot leave town, go on vacation, or otherwise not be available if they need me because somebody called in sick. You will be tied to a location in which you can get to work if they call you.
Freedom gone. My biggest factor for disliking this job is stress. I actually like running around in the country side on my own... but the stress factor is a big one.
Running mail is a race. Gotta finish before the outgoing truck leaves... gotta make time... evaluated time... Gotta case in time even though you have never been on that route... need help? Too bad. Gotta make your leave time or they will give you crap.
My biggest complaint is management will not help you to succeed. It is truly sink or swim. Which, I think is unfortunate.
Currently... It is advertised that I make $17.40 an hour.. pretty sweet..eh?
Well... there is this thing called 'evaluated time'. My Saturday route is 'evaluated' to take 8.6 hours, total. In reality, my start time is at 730am and my finish time is around around 5 to 6pm... It does not equal out to 17.40 an hour, I average around 13 bucks an hour... That said.... the carrier I sub for does it in the allotted time but she has been doing the same route for 20 years. Obviously... she has it down. You will get faster... but it takes time... a lot of time. Until then... it's the bottom of the rung for you... for a very long time.
And here is what kills me.... your stellar management team at USPS will expect you to do the same time within a month or so. That's pretty hard to do. It is doable... depending on your 'package load'. This is really what yanks my chain... Evaluated time says you should complete the route within a given amount of time... 100 packages or 400 packages... it doesn't matter. Get it done or they will crap on you. Some way... some how.. It's about numbers... not reality.
Packages are what really slow you down. Mailbox to mailbox is one thing and it can be mastered fairly quickly, however the in and out, truck to door, house to house is a real time consumer. Guess what...? They don't care.
You will learn a new term called 'casing'. This is the hardest thing. Imagine taking 600 to 700 small slots, each with an address and being handed a few thousand random pieces of mail and told to file them... in less than 3 hours... not to mention all the packages you might have. Now imagine you have never run this route before... too bad... get it done. It is very hard. Not every one can do this and succeed.
You will be harassed. You will be spoken to in a less than positive way.... You don't matter.
It's all about numbers and time, and it comes from the top management. It trickles down to crap on you. From a management perspective.... it's about promotion and self-preservation. Where does that leave you? ... Yep, getting abused.
I could go on and on... just know this... if you have a thick skin and can ignore the constant condescension and un-predictable work schedule... then the USPS is for you. If you have a crazy gift of memorization... USPS is for you.
I won't even get into the fact that full-time (career) employment ... ie... benefits... can take at least 5 to 10 years. Hear that again.... Benefits take many, many years to achieve.
Oh... did I mention... your trucks and scanners are 1980's tech and complete crap? LLV's are death traps. Enjoy your new job as a government slave. I am.