What is the deal with Surepost?

Maple Grove MN Driver

Cocaine Mang!
Had a pile of stuff delivered today via UPS that also had SurePost labels on them.
My address is within 1.5 miles of the post office. Does that determine if UPS or USPS delivers them?
 

PASinterference

Yes, I know I'm working late.
2 or more surepost pkgs to same address and it's delivered by ups. Or if it's a ups pkg and a surepost , both delivered by ups. A few other scenarios but those are the most common.
 

Been In Brown Too Long

Ex-Package Donkey
And, the system can see if that same address has a package coming tomorrow, and they'll hold that surepost package until tomorrow to be delivered with a UPS ground package. They don't want to pay the Post Office to deliver the Surepost package if you're going there anyway. All of those surepost packages aren't delivered until the day after brought to the post office, so it doesn't change the commit date at all by holding it for the following day.
 

gman042

Been around the block a few times
And, the system can see if that same address has a package coming tomorrow, and they'll hold that surepost package until tomorrow to be delivered with a UPS ground package. They don't want to pay the Post Office to deliver the Surepost package if you're going there anyway. All of those surepost packages aren't delivered until the day after brought to the post office, so it doesn't change the commit date at all by holding it for the following day.

The system does not "see" that well
As I have continually found surepost package going to the same addresses or proximity stops that i am or have gone to already
and I deliver them to the post office.
it is a grievable offense of the contract and I have talked to management about it but they say it is above their pay grade.
 

Chnandler Bong

Well-Known Member
I've been told they simply run out of time on the sort to do it correctly and end up sending everything to the PO towards the end of the shift. It usually doesn't bother me...but when we're continually sent out with less than 8 hours (prior to Thanksgiving) it makes me scratch my head. Then I start to actually pay attention to what I'm dropping off and it makes no sense. Some of that residential stuff can be delivered at over 30 stops per hour. You can't tell me that we don't make money off of the stops in dense areas like that. Why are we giving them so much of the work? I can understand rural stops...but the other stuff???
 

FrigidFTSup

Resident Suit
I've been told they simply run out of time on the sort to do it correctly and end up sending everything to the PO towards the end of the shift. It usually doesn't bother me...but when we're continually sent out with less than 8 hours (prior to Thanksgiving) it makes me scratch my head. Then I start to actually pay attention to what I'm dropping off and it makes no sense. Some of that residential stuff can be delivered at over 30 stops per hour. You can't tell me that we don't make money off of the stops in dense areas like that. Why are we giving them so much of the work? I can understand rural stops...but the other stuff???
They can shut off contanerization, not whether or not it goes to the PO
 

MyTripisCut

Never bought my own handtruck
They can shut off contanerization, not whether or not it goes to the PO

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Been In Brown Too Long

Ex-Package Donkey
The system does not "see" that well
As I have continually found surepost package going to the same addresses or proximity stops that i am or have gone to already
and I deliver them to the post office.
it is a grievable offense of the contract and I have talked to management about it but they say it is above their pay grade.
It's that same old thing like stop counts, system has a hard time with apt numbers and suites. Also, the addresses have to be input identically. Proximity has nothing to do with it, has to be exact, doesn't care if you're right next door. System also doesn't see anything hand written like ASDs and such. Also, anything that comes out of the trailers producing a blank PAL label is not seen by the system in advance, until someone on the sort hand inputs it. If a surepost was sent to the post office package car before one of those manually entered PALs comes through the sort, there's no way they'll go dig that surepost package out of the post office route, or do a cut within the same car. No time for that.

As far as deciding, or intentionally sending packages to the post office, it doesn't happen. The computer automatically determines what goes to the post office. The only override is the clerk can actually change a surepost package to force UPS to deliver it, even without a second package for the same stop. It doesn't work the other way around.

Here's where if a package violates contractually what a surepost package can be comes into play. If it's over the weight or size that a surepost package should be, they should be bringing those pieces to the clerk to be redirected from USPS to UPS driver delivery. Buuuut, as we all know, preloaders can barely get the trucks loaded properly, asking them to keep an eye out for surepost violations is hardly a reality.

I clerked my last few years before retirement. Dealt with this daily. My building was one of the few that used high seniority drivers as clerks, full time, still earning driver's wages. We called em retirement jobs.
 
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