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Rep. Lynch Asks Boston Managers
To Explain Subcontracting Policy

(10/01/08) Expressing concern about the outsourcing of maintenance and repair work on postal vehicles, U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) wrote to the USPS Boston District Manager on Sept. 22, [PDF] and asked for an explanation of USPS policy.

“It is my understanding that the vehicle maintenance work is currently being contracted out at an hourly rate which exceeds that of USPS” employees, he said. In addition, Lynch said he had seen documentation indicating that some of the work failed to adhere to maintenance guidelines and risked harm to the environment. [read more]

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Getting Credit for What We Do

(This article first appeared in the September/October 2008 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

Motor Vehicle members should be aware that the postal fleet is the largest in the country and that a penny increase in the price of gas costs the USPS about $8million per year. In many places, the price of gas is more than a dollar a gallon over what it was last year, which means that the total increase in fuel costs is between $800million and $1 billion, or more than 1 percent of Postal Service revenue for the increase alone.

This is troubling for all postal employees, but especially for MVS members. Just as you and I have probably changed our driving habits — consolidating our errands to drive a little less or even walking a little more — our employer is being forced to do the same thing. In this environment, it is hard to dispute that management should limit trips to those that are productive.

So we have a long struggle ahead. We must make sure that we get credit for all the loads that we carry, and we must inventory everything that is on the truck. If equipment does not have a bar code, it can be coded manually. Check with your local MVS craft directors and local expeditors — they can scan in mail and equipment manually. It is very important that Postal Vehicle Service gets credit for everything it hauls, whether it is unmarked skid pallets or containers that for whatever reason did not get scanned coming off the machines. They definitely need to be part of your tally, so be sure to get them in the system.

The Postal Service will look to consolidate runs because of the expense of operating large trucks. It is imperative for PVS drivers to get the credit for all work we perform.

On the Run

Be sure to make all of the stops on each run and be aware of the issue of empty equipment being brought back. In many areas, the Postal Service has cut the hours of operations and no trucks are running in the late mornings and early afternoons. If they can sweep out the equipment and make the morning dispatch and evening closeouts, managers are going to press hard to do so, and this will have an impact the number of full-time jobs that are available in PVS. If there is insufficient mail to transport, it will be very difficult to justify fulltime positions.

As we emphasize whenever we speak at union gatherings, we want you to declare everything that you haul; on the other hand, we do not want you to act in an unsafe or unlawful manner. We will not be thanked, ultimately, for pulling two containers out at the same time or for loading and unloading a truck in a manner that is not within the standard operating procedures or is a direct safety violation. Although the Postal Service will say you will be taken care of, just wait until you get hurt: It will then become totally your fault; it will be considered a self-inflicted injury because you knowingly flaunted the safety regulations.

The same can be said for speeding on the highways. There is no excuse for this. The USPS may applaud your effort at making good time, but if you get a ticket or you are involved in an accident, you can be disciplined based on how fast your truck was going: Remember, those little black boxes have a memory.

Our only saving grace is that if the Postal Service declares you to be at fault it opens up the possibility of civil litigation with whomever the accident involves. But it is still a no-win situation for postal employees. We must operate accident-free and in a safe and courteous manner, and we must fully document our trips so that PVS gets the credit for the job we do. This is critical because otherwise HCR contractors could end up being paid for work they did not perform.

When you cover for a contractor who did not show up for work, be sure that your MVS Craft director contacts the facility transportation manager so that the credit goes where it is due.

Subsidizing Contractors

Back in February, President William Burrus asked the USPS Office of Inspector General to look into contractors’ use of postal property. We gave the OIG examples of private vehicles being parked at USPS facilities free-of-charge, and asked members to alert us to similar abuses in the field. We appreciate the responses we received; they were duly forwarded to the OIG, but we have yet to receive a reply from the OIG.

The private use of public property gives contractors a decisive competitive advantage, and is just one area in which the Postal Service subsidizes HCRs. We feel that the practice should be put to a halt or at the very least contractors should be charged marketplace rental fees.

We do expect to hear from the OIG eventually, and we will distribute copies of any reports we receive. We can only hope that it will be fair and honest, although that has not been our experience in dealing with the administration presently housed at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, in Washington, DC.

Drug Test Rule Changes

The Department of Transportation has implemented drug-testing rule changes, possibly as a reaction to the results of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.

The GAO found that a lot of cheating was going on and attributed it to a lack of enforcement of rules. The most disturbing finding we saw in the GAO report is that owner-operators notified of their failure on a drug test were not given any mandatory time out of the driver’s seat. We’re hearing from the field that in many mom-and-pop operations, drivers test positive and never miss a day on the road.

However, on Aug. 25, 2008, the GAO will attempt to enforce the rules making it mandatory to observe specimen collection for return-to-duty and follow-up testing after a person has tested positive for drugs.

While this may seem to be an infringement on your privacy, it is our understanding that only those who have previously failed a drug test will be so tested. (We have yet to discuss this with the Postal Service, but it appears that management has taken a proactive step, at least in the Western Area, to make sure all medical personnel are aware of the new rules.)

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