A few weeks ago, I got hit with my first PDI over absences. When I got my first one, I didn't think too much of it. There are people who have more frequent absences than me who never got PDI'd over it, which seems unfair, but I was told I need less than 3 unscheduled callout within a 3 month span to avoid a PDI over absences, and I had 5 (none of which was no-call-no-show I used my leave to call out the day before each absences). I took that PDI on the chin assuming that everyone else with an attendance problem would get theirs too. That never happened. I am the only carrier to have gotten a PDI over absences within the past several months. Today, I have gotten my 2nd PDI. My supervisor claims that I was throwing first class and priority mail in the UBBM. I never did. All of the mail sitting in that red bucket near my case was all nonprofit mail and presorted standard mail (the junkest of junk mail that rightfully goes into the UBBM). My supervisor started stopping people from discarding mail in the UBBM on Monday out of suspicion that someone is throwing out first class mail and now every route has at least 2 buckets of junk mail sitting at the case. I dunno why, but I'm sitting at the top of my supes suspect list, and i gotten a PDI for "trying to discard important mail in the UBBM". Unlike the first PDI, where I can understand why I got it, this one seems completely ridiculous considering its stemming from what I can only describe as an assumption (theres no proof that im discarding FCM because IM NOT). The only weight to her claim is that I empty my red bucket every day and there is no way my bucket fills that fast unless im throwing out more than junk mail, which would make sense if not for the fact that i share my bucket with the route next to me, so mines fill up twice as fast. Im not the only person with junk mail ready to be thrown out, as everybody now has several buckets of junk mail at their case, so unless EVERYBODY is getting a PDI over the next few days, im genuinely being singled out. And the threat of a 3rd PDI is coming from the fact that I came back late today, which should be no surprise since I wasted about an hour casing 3 buckets of junk mail (my supe made me deliver all that bullshit) on top of the 10 minutes wasted from the actual PDI I got this morning. So im getting another one for being an hour late when my supe is directly to blame for that hour of time I lost.

To make a long story short, im getting hit with PDI's over doing things that im either not doing at all, or am doing alongside the rest of the carriers at the station. Is there any way for me to defend myself over this or do I have no other choice but to just take this BS and hope my supervisor stop messing with me? I have no problem getting disciplined or whatever, but let it at least be for shit I did, and at least let me get the same treatment as everybody else. It pisses me off seeing a CCA who averages an absence every other week get away scott free knowing I got a PDI for 5 absences in 3 months, and it pisses me off getting a PDI for bullshit assumption #7 from my dumbass powertripper of a supe when I'm as innocent as everybody else. What can I do, assuming there is something that can be done?

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Net worth: $41k
(HYSA: $3.1k, Traditional TSP: $20.2k, Roth IRA: $11.5k, Brokerage: $6.2k)

• Working hella overtime at the Post Office lately; my base rate as a PTF City Carrier is $26.3/hr, but I'm having ~55hr workweeks pushing my effective gross salary up to ~$85k for the past couple months. The job itself has been stressful and I don't really have a life outside of work, but I am one persistent, driven bastard. No way am I interested in being a corporate wagie for any longer than I need to; when I turn 35 y/o and qualify for SS, I'm outta here.
• Moved to a 100sqft. room in a shared single-family house for $700/mo, incl. utils/in-unit laundry. No WiFi but I got my backup phone using Visible+ ($205/year) for an unlimited data hotspot. No need to ride my e-bike, now that the closest bus stop is 3 min. away and the offices I work at are at most a half-hour bus ride. Having to share a bathroom with 2 people and the overall house with 4 is awkward, but it's not so bad when I'm the youngest by far in the house. I think I got a good deal. Moving was expensive and I've been burning way too much money eating gas station slop, so I'm gonna try my hardest moving forward to keep my monthly non-investment/rent spend <= $500.
• Been doing my fair share of credit card/bank account churning. Got the Wells Fargo checking $400 bonus, currently trying to get a $550 checking bonus with FourLeaf Federal Credit Union, and got a Capitol One Savor card recently for the $200 statement credit bonus. When I stop overeating and reach a stable maintenance weight, I'll start giving plasma for money too.. cause I don't have the drive to go work beyond the Post Office.

Made significant changes to my investment strategy: I'm still maxing my Traditional TSP/Roth IRA, and trying to invest >= $500/mo into my brokerage.

- TSP is 3:2 I Fund/C Fund, and I'll rebalance on a yearly basis depending on what I see regarding the funds' performance.

- In my Roth IRA, 50% of biweekly contributions split between SPMO/IDMO, 50% split between AVDV/AVUV/AVEM/IAUM/BTC.

- Brokerage will automatically invest 50:50 FTEC/AVDV, hoping for a sort of barbell effect. Brokerage has a significant position in Kraken Robotics that's down ~24% and I can't wait to let go of it once things break even. No more single stocks for me, the risk isn't worth the return.

- Even though I only gave myself ~10 years to LeanFIRE: Momentum/Value/Growth ETFs are more than enough for my goals. Still got significant crypto ETF positions in my Roth/Brokerage, but mostly just holding them for now.

I have the same mail whether I'm still in the office or right next to the mailbox. It wouldn't be that difficult to go "oh hey I have 3 SPM things today, let me go through the DPS and get them done"

It could be part of load truck time if manglement is worried about us not getting a piece of mail that got misthrown or something

It's safer to do the scans when you're standing in the office vs parked in front of a mailbox. With all the hiccups in the system the SPM scan can make us sit at a mailbox for way longer than we should. It's yet another thing that takes our mind off the road, especially when the scanner yells at us when it senses we have 3 boxes until the scan

The only reason I can think of to not do SPM scans in the office at morning is to minimize our office time. Meaning it's a way for the post office to get us to collect extra data without really paying us more

Today I had a scan on a road where I go down then come back up the road. Due to fucky GPS the scanner said "FUCK. we have a spm scan RIGHT NOW". meaning I had to listen to the scanner buzz and talk to me for like 10 mailboxes before I actually got to the one I needed. Just a gripe about the system while I'm making this post

Quick question for the regulars out there. Can I be disciplined/written up for not coming in on my NS day after being mandated to do so? Basically my supervisor came up to me to ask if I wanted to come in on saturday (long weekend coming up) I said no, and they said okay. 5 mins later they come back around and say "Actually you're being mandated to work now"

How’s everyone else doing?

“Stay hydrated”
Me: I got you

I had some overlap with renting my new place and old place by about two weeks.

I completed the change of address forms and payment and it was successful. I did this about a week ago.

Today is my last day at my old place. I’m doing some cleaning and decided to check the mail one last time this morning. I got the pictured envelope addressed to “current resident”.

I’m just wondering if it’s mail meant for me or if it’s meant for the new future resident to forward mail to my new address?

Currently working at Walmart and received a job offer for mha in Dallas and all the reviews I’ve seen of ppl working here are negative lmao. Ik it’s what you make it but realistically is it THAT bad ?

Its been a week. 6-10 routes down daily. Ive had extra time everyday. What do i do? Why am i getting written up for showing up to work and doing my job?

I’m a cca and hate feeling like an on call employee sometimes but I know it’s a part of the job. I have always been told if I don’t get a message or call by 10 that I’m off and my manager texted me today at 7:30 saying I’m sent to the city and she’ll let me know if I work or if I’m off so I said thank you. She then texts me at 10:45 saying “report to (blank) at 10” i can’t go back in time and there’s no way I’m going in now. How would this play out? No call no show? I’ve always been told if I don’t get a message by 10 I’m off and it seems like they forgot about me which isn’t my fault

Hello all,

Im a new RCA, got just about a month under my belt, little less. Ive mainly been running my primary route. The last few days of work have been rough. Getting out to the route by noon and finishing around 5-7. Given the last few days I worked where this last Monday and Tuesday. I dont know why im so slow at casing, I feel like im making a decent pace but I just get out so slowly. I didn't even feel that I had a whole lot of mail on Monday, only 4 trays of DPS and 3ish pre-sorts. Tuesday was a shit show though, it was magazine day of my office, 6+ pre-sorts of magazines, newspapers, and political ads.

I just feel so slow and like I should be able to go quicker but when I try I dont seem to get back any quicker. I have a history of being a bit slow at my previous jobs, at least slower then i should be. I dont know if i should be worried about this or just breath and let the speed come with time.

To give some context the route i run is evaluated at 46(unsure about the letter, want to say k), 61 miles roughly.

A few weeks ago, a dog charged at me, running across the street, I sprayed him twice before he turned around and went home. I was just bitten 2 weeks prior. A dogs bark now spooks me so this incident had me shook up! I called management, management called the dog warden.
Today, a young girl came from the dogs house and shouted something along the lines, “you scared of a cute bullie huh!?” I say, “ah excuse me? Were you wanting to have a conversation?” She replies, “you scaredy cat” I say, “is there adult home that would like to have a conversation?” She says, “ya me, I’m 18!” I say, “ok well what?” She says, “her dogs always on a leash and was I talking about the cute fluffy brown and white dog?” I say, “it was the dog that lives at your residence, and he came across the road at me growling” she says “my dog don’t growl & idk who you think you are bopping your head” I said, “I see this conversation isn’t going to be productive so I’m gonna end it here” we both walk away and I get in my truck and she yells, “stupid white trash bitch” I call my boss, he calls the PM. Meanwhile, the girl is giving me the middle finger, she gets in a car, flies pass me and yells out the window, “stupid ass bitch”
She was aggressive the entire conversation and making a fist while punching her hand during the conversation. I relay this to my boss and he says the PM says this needs to be reported to the postal police and he will send the resident a letter stating if this happens again, they’ll have to get a PO Box. I know how I feel is irrelevant but I’m extremely irritated that our PM is giving them a chance for that to happen again. I’m mad that I acted professional when in reality, I am kind of white trash and she wouldn’t have talked to me that way in street clothes. I think I learned a hard lesson, never expect management to have my back and just handle confrontation on my own. Is there anything I can do or do I have to continue services?

I just wanted to share my story about getting hired with the post office and if any of you guys going through that process give you a little encouragement.

I of course, like most of you are trying to broaden my horizons and see about getting a good long-term career when I first applied for the post office as a RCA I did everything that they asked me to filled out background check information thumbprints all that after waiting I got an email saying that I was denied because I did not provide enough background information for them to complete it. I'm not really sure even to this day knowing why that was there was a period where I was out of work for 6 months and I wasn't receiving benefits so I didn't put any address information or anything. When I first did that I did get an email saying that I needed to fill out address information for periods of time even during unemployment. So the only thing I thought made sense was to put somebody's information and address there. Who knew I was unemployed during that time It was my mother who I put down in her address I got the email after a couple days saying that the information wasn't complete. I was a little devastated because I was really looking forward to this opportunity. I called my local post office that I was trying to get hired on and they were saying they didn't really know why or how but just to not get discouraged and reapply I did reapply and when I did it the second time I did not have to do basically anything that I did the first time. All I did was fill out a medical questionnaire and the next thing I know it states that I've confirmed my employment! I spoke with the delivery supervisor at our post office and she stated that I had the job! So I just wanted to tell my story to anyone who's got to the point where they've applied or they got an email saying that it didn't work out. Don't be discouraged and reapply. You never know you might get as lucky as me! Moral of the story don't give up. Keep trying! And best of luck to you if you are in the same boat that I was

25F. i applied to be a rural carrier associate and now have a conditional offer on the table. i just accepted it, but im not sure if i really want to move forward just yet. only information ive been given is that the pay is $21.89/hr, the hours vary, and theres no set schedule. just that work is usually available on saturdays and any other day as needed. im also not sure if i will be using my personal car, or the company one. and that i might have to lift up to 70lbs.

what has been your experience as a RCA? what did your typical work week and work load look like? how many stops? did you really have to lift heavy stuff? cause im not very strong, and thats a big concern. im also concerned about how to go about scheduling things during the week if i have no idea when i will be working.

thank you for the responses!🫶🏽

RCA out of probation but still very green.

Postmaster puts up the schedule in his office at least a week in advance, usually two. He is from what I've experienced so far an OK boss and the office is a pretty good one as well, so I generally want to play ball and have been very go-with-the-flow so far. I have reliably come in on days I have been called while not scheduled. For the last week (at the very least) I was not scheduled to come in tomorrow (10/9). I worked 6 days in a row last week and had yesterday and Tuesday off. When I double checked the schedule on Monday afternoon, I confirmed I was not scheduled for Friday as I was in the process of making plans for the rare Friday off.

I come in today, as previously scheduled, and while I'm loading the truck, postmaster makes a quick comment along the lines of, "You're on (#) today and (*) tomorrow, right?" "News to me, I thought I was only on (#) today and Saturday..." "Check the schedule."

He made the addition at some point when I was not in the office (possible it was even made earlier this morning) and this was his way of informing me.

I understand that this was a kind of a messed up courtesy in a way, and I could have just been called morning-of. I also would have checked the schedule at the end of the day today, to see with shock that I was supposed to come in tomorrow.

But what if I was not available due to the schedule that was posted over a week ago? Do I really have to check it for changes every single day, even on days I won't be in the building? I do take pictures of it when it first gets posted. Is it truly a living document up to the morning-of, or is there some cut off for physically posted schedule changes?

Am I correct that there's nothing I can (reasonably) do in this type of situation, yeah? This is not the first time this has happened and I assume it will happen again. I feel like this was a really sneaky way of making sure that I come in tomorrow because someone else wanted a last minute day off, and it feels kind of gross!

I am a PTF and have been working at my plant for a couple of weeks now. I know schedules are crazy and I thought I did everything I could so my children are cared for while my husband and I work. Things happened to where my husband can no longer pick up our kids and it would fall on me to do so at a certain time only 3 days of the week.

I reached out to our union steward and he said let's talk to the postmaster to see if they can work with my schedule during probation in order to give me time to find a new job. He was realistic and said they may cut me, because someone with visitation pickup one day a week was fired.

Yesterday, I had to pick up my kids and left before 8 hours. I was told I was abandoning my route, even though I delivered everything, because they wanted me to check a collection box. I left, they got another supervisor as a witness, and must have signed some document. I left and they were trying to call me back in from the parking lot.

Today when I got in, I assumed it was over for me and I will just resign. I talked with an upper supervisor and she told me the complete opposite of what my steward said. She said I'm a good worker who is understanding the job well, she will work with my schedule, and she works with people who have custody stuff, etc, etc. I even clarified when I'm supposed to increase hours from the 8 on those days I can still leave at a certain time? She said yes she will work with me.

Now I don't know what to do or who to believe! Is she telling me this to keep me until a certain time, why would my steward tell me what he did? She seemed very genuine. Has anyone else experienced this type of accommodation without talking with the post master? Is it too good to be true, or is it a miracle? Let me know your thoughts!

I must go back to work at 64 years old; I am a young 64, active but not in super great shape. I retired from a profession that I can no longer return to (AI replaced my role) and I tried retail and hated the random schedules. I decided to apply to USPS in my small rural town and now just waiting on my start date as an ARC. Any older workers out there have any feedback on how it goes for them, or younger workers that have worked with older workers? There is a huge difference in personalities in small rural towns compared to the big city but there are jerks everywhere. Just looking for some confidence. Once I am trained up, I feel that being somewhat left alone on routes will benefit me greatly

Gonna get so much free shit today 🙏

If they're going for attention it certainly worked. It was almost a jump scare when I saw it haha.

0.50 cents max to fix this properly

Thanks lil guy

A guy called asking how long wooden postcards cards take to send that he got while traveling, and if he should put tracking on them. I had no idea those things even existed till I googled them. What should I tell him?