USPS employee considering UPS

[ManInBrown]

I feel like UPS is the better place to work. I have a sister who is a mail carrier and she barely has a full weekend off. You might clock out earlier at the post office, but after you get enough seniority at UPS, it's easy street. I don't clock out at 8 or 9 at night anymore. But both have their ups and downs, so good luck to you.

Enough seniority? Easy street? You work in the Bog? Everyone here works till 7:45. Most don't get back till 8:30 or 9. If your on the 9.5 they just harass and pay the grievance.

 

[mporter012]

Yea, you're probably right. I was thinking UPS might be less bull , but it's probably all the same. Looks like I need to find a different job/field altogether.

You will regret switching. If you can't mentally handle usps then ups will destroy you.

 

[mporter012]

Why don't the unions step in a demand a better quality of life for people? People are wasting away the best years of their lives working like a mule until 10pm every night????? I've said the same about the post office What the hell is the point of 95k a year if you work until 9pm 350 days a year? It's the same at USPS. These guys make a ton of money to buy a ton of they rarely use because they have to work so much OT to pay the bills on all the they bought, that they never use. I think I have my answer here -

Also worth considering, I've rarely seen a mail carrier out past 5 pm. These current UPS drivers are working until 8,9,10 pm all across the country. It's the new UPS.

 

[mporter012]

Thanks Ron. I'm aware of that. You must know there are plenty of violations or there wouldn't be any grievances. Not to mention those without cajones to file. The mail carriers still get done earlier on a consistent basis. Even if you're on the list, you ain't getting done by 5 pm on any regular basis.

Mail Carriers get done early if they choose to, once they become a regular, which if pretty quick in most major cities right now (much slower in rural areas). That said, 25 year veterans still hardly get a weekend off. friend that lifestyle.

 

[mporter012]

I probably make $3/hr more now but it's seriously not worth it. Not even close. Not to me anyways. I have delivered to that postmaster and see letter carrier friends every day. I just act like I made a great decision and UPS is great, lol. If UPS was a 8 or 9 hour job and was done around 5:00 it would be a different world to me probably. But I often don't get home til 8:00 or 9:00 at night at UPS.

We've had 2 drivers quit within the last couple weeks. In my center I'm sure over 100 people have quit since I've been there...I'm including preloaders, supervisors etc. but that should tell you something. It's not a good place to work. That's my opinion anyways.

Yea... I'm glad I posted this thread before running our and applying!

 

[mporter012]

None of these people will quit ups either. So understand that along with all their complaining.

Similar at USPS! They all complain, but all bought houses and cars they shouldn't have bought, and now they are stuck forever.

 

[Boxjockey82]

Mail carriers are off earlier yet work Saturday, sunday and every holiday thanks to Amazon. On the rural carrier side they get dicked when it comes to route pay. They get a time study done and whatever time comes back is what they're paid on it everyday; they do get bonus but they also dont get paid for the time they go over. So if the route calls for 6 hours and they have a breakdown or are just moving slow and it takes them 8 hours they've just worked 2 hours for free.

 

[Brownslave688]

Mail carriers are off earlier yet work Saturday, sunday and every holiday thanks to Amazon. On the rural carrier side they get dicked when it comes to route pay. They get a time study done and whatever time comes back is what they're paid on it everyday; they do get bonus but they also dont get paid for the time they go over. So if the route calls for 6 hours and they have a breakdown or are just moving slow and it takes them 8 hours they've just worked 2 hours for free.

Ummm I don't think that's exactly how rural carriers are paid.


Once a year they do a piece study. And they get paid based off of how many pieces they have that week. There was a rural carrier on here complaining a few years ago about how that week always comes up way lighter


But yes rural carriers get screwed.

 

[The Driver]

Similar at USPS! They all complain, but all bought houses and cars they shouldn't have bought, and now they are stuck forever.

Live below your means and be frugal.
Don't be in debt.
Save and invest wisely.
Learn to be satisfied with what you already have.
Appreciate the simple things and find joy in what you do at work as much as possible.
File 9.5 and demand the pay.
Work safely and at a normal pace, per the methods.
People, places (experiences) and pets make most people happy. Not products.

These are the kinds of positive things I'm trying to foster in my life. Not easy to do.

 

[Boxjockey82]

Ummm I don't think that's exactly how rural carriers are paid.


Once a year they do a piece study. And they get paid based off of how many pieces they have that week. There was a rural carrier on here complaining a few years ago about how that week always comes up way lighter


But yes rural carriers get screwed.

Which part do you think I'm wrong about? I deliver to the post office so i talk to a lot of these guys daily

 

[Brownslave688]

Which part do you think I'm wrong about? I deliver to the post office so i talk to a lot of these guys daily

i guess you're just calling it a time study and the lady that was on here said the pay was based off of volume of mail delivered.


I think we are both saying the same thing. Maybe it was just explained to us in different ways.

 

[TG43]

Mail carriers are off earlier yet work Saturday, sunday and every holiday thanks to Amazon. On the rural carrier side they get dicked when it comes to route pay. They get a time study done and whatever time comes back is what they're paid on it everyday; they do get bonus but they also dont get paid for the time they go over. So if the route calls for 6 hours and they have a breakdown or are just moving slow and it takes them 8 hours they've just worked 2 hours for free.

Good point on the Sundays, that's a new thing since I worked there, but I think it is VERY few guys that do Sundays and the lowest of seniority of course.

Something else I forgot, although they do work many Saturdays, here at least, they are on a revolving day off, not sure what they call it exactly. But regulars here work 5 days. So they'll have Monday off, then next Tuesday, then next Wednesday etc. So they get every 6th? Saturday off. And Friday-Saturday-Sunday every few weeks. Pretty decent.

The Rural carriers I see get done at freekin 2:30-3:00 for 11 months out of the year and get screwed out of an hour or 2 a day for a few weeks during Christmas time. Seems like a good deal to me.

 

[PASinterference]

Good point on the Sundays, that's a new thing since I worked there, but I think it is VERY few guys that do Sundays and the lowest of seniority of course.

Something else I forgot, although they do work many Saturdays, here at least, they are on a revolving day off, not sure what they call it exactly. But regulars here work 5 days. So they'll have Monday off, then next Tuesday, then next Wednesday etc. So they get every 6th? Saturday off. And Friday-Saturday-Sunday every few weeks. Pretty decent.

The Rural carriers I see get done at freekin 2:30-3:00 for 11 months out of the year and get screwed out of an hour or 2 a day for a few weeks during Christmas time. Seems like a good deal to me.

They get off early here too. 4:30 is a rough day during peak. All the while complaining about delivering our surepost.

 

[brokengroin]

Arlington/Alexandria center in VA has been hiring full time off the streets for the last few months - and still are since most can't seem to qualify

 

[Catatonic]

I was a letter carrier at USPS and now work for UPS.

More specifically....I was a a T.E. at USPS. The union royally screwed us by getting rid of that job title and changing it to C.C.A so they could cut $5.95/hr from us. I'm a cover driver at UPS now and make $25.21/hr.

With that said, UPS is 10 times harder and worse than USPS. Seriously. I'm not the type that likes to give advice because people are different (you might like UPS, I dunno) but I'm pretty adamant on this subject. lol. Delivering mail I remember thinking "damn the UPS guy has it easy, he just drives around mostly while I'm walking all these loops". Boy was I wrong. Getting in/out of that truck 180 times a day by itself is a lot of wear and tear on the body. Every day is overwhelming, these trucks don't go out half empty, or even full...they are WAY OVER full every fricken day pretty much.

It was a probably a mistake for me to leave USPS (although I'm not sure how I would have afforded my mortgage).

You would likely work Saturdays as a new UPS driver delivering next day air. If you have cover drivers their, it's likely you would work only a couple days a week then Saturday.

I know USPS has no OT list....no more than 8 hours or you can grieve it....UPS's "list" is ridiculous...it's 9.5. Here, that puts you clocking out at 7:15, not much time for a life. I remember clocking out almost every day at 4:30 for one summer at USPS, man it was awesome.

I could say a lot more but this is too long already. I encountered some harassment at USPS...the Postmaster stood behind me my first couple days as a CCA while I was casing mail...I didn't know the route...of course I was slow casing it. Then he drove by me multiple times on the road. But the harassment at UPS is WAY worse!

I probably make $3/hr more now but it's seriously not worth it. Not even close. Not to me anyways. I have delivered to that postmaster and see letter carrier friends every day. I just act like I made a great decision and UPS is great, lol. If UPS was a 8 or 9 hour job and was done around 5:00 it would be a different world to me probably. But I often don't get home til 8:00 or 9:00 at night at UPS.

We've had 2 drivers quit within the last couple weeks. In my center I'm sure over 100 people have quit since I've been there...I'm including preloaders, supervisors etc. but that should tell you something. It's not a good place to work. That's my opinion anyways.

Never mind ... you gave a great recount and you're prolly right, UPS is not worth a $3/hr differential.

 

[LeadBelly]

I was a letter carrier at USPS and now work for UPS.

More specifically....I was a a T.E. at USPS. The union royally screwed us by getting rid of that job title and changing it to C.C.A so they could cut $5.95/hr from us. I'm a cover driver at UPS now and make $25.21/hr.

With that said, UPS is 10 times harder and worse than USPS. Seriously. I'm not the type that likes to give advice because people are different (you might like UPS, I dunno) but I'm pretty adamant on this subject. lol. Delivering mail I remember thinking "damn the UPS guy has it easy, he just drives around mostly while I'm walking all these loops". Boy was I wrong. Getting in/out of that truck 180 times a day by itself is a lot of wear and tear on the body. Every day is overwhelming, these trucks don't go out half empty, or even full...they are WAY OVER full every fricken day pretty much.

It was a probably a mistake for me to leave USPS (although I'm not sure how I would have afforded my mortgage).

You would likely work Saturdays as a new UPS driver delivering next day air. If you have cover drivers their, it's likely you would work only a couple days a week then Saturday.

I know USPS has no OT list....no more than 8 hours or you can grieve it....UPS's "list" is ridiculous...it's 9.5. Here, that puts you clocking out at 7:15, not much time for a life. I remember clocking out almost every day at 4:30 for one summer at USPS, man it was awesome.

I could say a lot more but this is too long already. I encountered some harassment at USPS...the Postmaster stood behind me my first couple days as a CCA while I was casing mail...I didn't know the route...of course I was slow casing it. Then he drove by me multiple times on the road. But the harassment at UPS is WAY worse!

I probably make $3/hr more now but it's seriously not worth it. Not even close. Not to me anyways. I have delivered to that postmaster and see letter carrier friends every day. I just act like I made a great decision and UPS is great, lol. If UPS was a 8 or 9 hour job and was done around 5:00 it would be a different world to me probably. But I often don't get home til 8:00 or 9:00 at night at UPS.

We've had 2 drivers quit within the last couple weeks. In my center I'm sure over 100 people have quit since I've been there...I'm including preloaders, supervisors etc. but that should tell you something. It's not a good place to work. That's my opinion anyways.

Just an FYI. I'm going to make sure some people see this post. The way you put it is, beautiful, about how dysfunctional it is. Great post!!!!

 

[rod]

They get off early here too. 4:30 is a rough day during peak. All the while complaining about delivering our surepost.

Ummm I don't think that's exactly how rural carriers are paid.


Once a year they do a piece study. And they get paid based off of how many pieces they have that week. There was a rural carrier on here complaining a few years ago about how that week always comes up way lighter


But yes rural carriers get screwed.

As far as I know the rural carriers around here are private parties who bid on the routes. Once every 5 years the PO puts the routes up for bid. If you say you can deliver Rural Route 6 for a thousand a week and you are the low bidder -- you have a route. They all drive their own vehicles. I'm not sure if they get mileage pay or what. My mail lady likes to meet another carrier for lunch and sometimes they get into the pull tabs (so I've heard) and we don't get out mail until like 6 at night. Saturdays we have a different carrier and the mail is here by 2 p.m. Personally I don't care when it comes--all we get is junk mail anyway. They could go to 3 day a week mail service and it wouldn't bother me.

 

[Tenpoint88]

Why don't the unions step in a demand a better quality of life for people? People are wasting away the best years of their lives working like a mule until 10pm every night????? I've said the same about the post office What the hell is the point of 95k a year if you work until 9pm 350 days a year? It's the same at USPS. These guys make a ton of money to buy a ton of they rarely use because they have to work so much OT to pay the bills on all the they bought, that they never use. I think I have my answer here -

While I do agree, the union should step in and fight for the drivers more so that their quality of life would be better, I disagree with the mindset of buying so much nice stuff and never having time to use it. Why not instead of buying so much crap, invest it. Use all this money and hours to your benefit. Use that money to get an education so you can go get an easier job with around the same pay. Or start your own business. There's so many things to do in life, and it's much easier if you have the money to do so. Who cares if your retirement gets penalized? If you have enough money put away or invested, you can quit, and do what you love for the rest of your life.