Postal Vehicle Operator Pilot Program to Create New Union Jobs in Oklahoma City, OK.

APWU and USPS leadership have signed a groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Postal Vehicle Operator (PVO) Position Pilot Program that will establish and fill a minimum of 125 PVO positions in the Oklahoma City, OK area. The region does not currently have APWU-represented Postal Vehicle Service (PVS) operators, and the work has previously been contracted out to private sector Highway Contract Routes (HCRs).

The MOU, signed on Nov. 30, 2022, establishes a new career bargaining unit position titled, Postal Vehicle Operator, Level 6 and assigns the Motor Vehicle Services (MVS) Craft the work of transporting bulk quantities of mail in vehicles that do not require a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL).

During the pilot, the Postal Service will make CDL training available for PVO employees who volunteer to be trained. Following successful completion of the training and receipt of a CDL, if a Motor Vehicle Operator and/or Tractor Trailor Operator position is established in the Oklahoma City installation, the CDL-required assignments shall be awarded, according to the provisions of Article 39 of the union contract.

“The Pilot MOU has the potential for the Postal Service to solve some of the challenges in recruiting, hiring, and retaining CDL Postal Vehicle Service (PVS) operators. The MVS Craft continues to extol the benefits of having transportation duties performed in house by Postal career operators instead of contractors. We look forward to working together and making this pilot a success,” said MVS Craft Director Michael Foster.

National postal management and APWU national officers agreed to the job description and qualification standards for the new position that will be in effect during the pilot and any additional sites where this concept is determined to be feasible for expansion. The pilot will run for six months after full-implementation, unless there is a mutual agreement to extend it.

“This pilot program is an exciting development with potential to bring much more work into our bargaining unit and to grow the APWU,” declared APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “I was pleased to have worked closely with MVS Director Foster to negotiate the MOU with management and appreciate management’s willingness to begin to address the union’s stance that much subcontracted work can, and should, be brought back ‘in house’ and be performed by unionized postal workers.”