I was one but I quit because the post office fucking sucks my fucking ass
Fuck the usps
I would have blown my own brains out if I woke up as a mailman when I was 40

>>2863324
Really, I cant say enough bad things about the post office. I could rant for four hours straight about that bullshit.

I was a regular even, with my own route.
I fucking hate the post office so fucking much I cant even put it in words.

>>2863324
>>2863325
Was it purely a management issue? I’ve been talking to my dad (hothead), who was a carrier ~1998-2003, and feel like if I could clear probation could hack it. He never knew how to pick his battles. Then again I’ve never been on the clock 12 hours a day for 20 days straight. It gets pretty fucking hot here

>>2863328
Not purely but they certainly contributed. What can I say?
Its an easy job, frankly, it just sucks ass. Management is horrendous 99% of the time and they will screw your ass to the wall over every little thing because they know the union will fight them on it and probably win. The union will throw you under the bus if it gets them a couple dollars.
The "good" routes (in truth there arent any, just some that suck less) will be locked down by greybeards with decades of seniority who would rather expire in their vehicle than retire, on top of getting paid more than you do. They also slack like crazy and you get to pick that up too.

If you manage to get out to the street though, this is generally the most tolerable part of the job, since youll be out on your own and wont be bothered so much. Management will never not be on your ass but you can ignore them once you have a little time in. I used to straight up not answer the phone when they called me and when they whined about it I just told them the post office didnt issue me a phone. They also track you through the scanner though, and it will send management an alert if you stop moving for more than a couple minutes. I used to hang mine from a rubber band chain in my vehicle so it would bounce around and I could take breaks without getting more shit. They will claim you get time for lunch and bathroom but in reality the route will usually be so full that if you actually take those, youll fall behind.

I could keep going but you get the idea. Its all like that. You have to be resilient, really. Ive seen multiple people break down crying in the middle of the day. Seen people quit after a few hours work. It sucks. If you can hack it though, its tolerable. Best you can hope for in a day, though, is a 'dirty' route with low volume. Means the route has a lot of extra time on it with not much to deliver. Thats rare though. Really rare. More likely you will get clean routes that are heavy as fuck.

Tbc

The best tip I can give you is try to to stay in the "goldilocks" zone. That means you dont deliver too slowly, but not too quickly either.

Also, it was my experience that management vastly preferred speed to being careful. I got way less shit for being sloppy and fast than for being careful and slow. I would say 75% speed and 25% care is about the right ratio. Its easy to do it right though, honestly.

Ask me anything else you want

>>2863359
Thanks man. If you’re still checking the thread. This is pretty much what I’ve heard from others. I’m probably going to go for it because I need the money. Were you typically on a different route every day? I’m most concerned about never getting a hold down if that’s the correct term, getting sent out to different stations, just doing pieces of different routes all the time

>>2863382
I was a regular, so I had my own route. It depends though, typically since you're new, its gonna be two years before you get a regular slot. I was a CCA for two years before I made reg. And then itll be the bottom of the barrel routes. Until that point you will be put wherever they want you, including different stations. You can, however, put in for a route if the regular is out for any amount of time and then youll do that route every day until theyre back. Thats subject to seniority too though, so if you and another plf put in for the same route and he has more seniority, he'll get it.

Honestly I preferred doing different ones every day. Meant when I got a shit route I almost never had to do it twice. Also meant more leeway since they wont expect you to be familiar with the route. Some guys preferred getting on one route asap though.

In my city, everyone that wasnt a regular got sent out almost on a daily basis because there was ALWAYS a station shitting itself (we have 13 offices here, you might not have so many). So we would finish all our own work, then have to drive to another office and finish theirs too. I was out until 11pm some nights. Probably wont be that bad for you.

Big tips
Wear sunscreen
Stay hydrated
Dont bother joining the union until youre past probation, they cant protect you until that point and itll be wasted dues
Also, put in a bit more hustle until probation is done, once you get there you can relax a bit

And if you make regular, be careful, thats when management will try to fuck you. Thats when theyll start threatening your pension, etc.

Most of all-
Dont care too much. Thats key. I dont mean like throw letters in the garbage or smash packages, I mean dont let the work affect you emotionally. If shit gets delivered, cool. If not, cool. No skin off your ass, you get it?

Tbc

Like I said though, pretend to care more until probation is done. They WILL drop you for little shit until that point.

After probation you are almost bullet proof. Union can get you out of nearly any fuck up you can imagine at that point.

And be nice to people's dogs. That helps. Those little creatures were the only bright part of my day out there.

>>2863323
Based iguanodon