New Year, Same Challenges

(This article appeared in the January/February 2026 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine)

There continues to be controversies, questions, and challenges concerning the Postal Vehicle Service (PVS) use of scanners. We are again publishing the Step 4 agreement on scanning to clarify the agreement made at the national level.

Do the scans accurately reflect what the operators are doing? Does your scanner show your trip began before you left the facility? Are the operators given sufficient time to load and scan? Have you been given sufficient training on the proper use of the scanners? These provisions of the agreement are necessary to ensure that PVS is receiving credit for work and has the time to perform the duties.

PVS Pivot: It Is Still Our Work

The Postal Service has developed a program where they can “pivot” or move our operators from their schedules, either partially or to a totally different assignment. APWU Motor Vehicle Service (MVS) national officers have attended meetings and received information on this program. A major concern is that these instructions or “pivots” are being issued by management, when these duties are clearly bargaining unit work performed by various MVS occupational groups.

When “pivoted” trips are investigated by the local union, an updated trips report may be requested as documentation to determine who pivoted the route and for what reason it was pivoted.

Another issue with the pivots, Article 39 of the national agreement has long established that full-time regular MVS Craft employees have the right to bid a preferred duty assignment.

Normally, the successful bidder shall work the duty assignment as posted. The Motor Vehicle Service Division continues to challenge these tactics and unachieved demands from negotiations, where the Postal Service continues to seek PVS assignments that only have starting, ending times, and non-scheduled off days. When you are informed that your schedule in the scanner has been changed with a different departure or your schedule has been “pivoted,” please notify your union and request a steward.

When we fight, we win.