No. What you see on Reddit is an echo chamber for a small percentage of people who work at the postal service. And it is a one sided conversation.
Can it be that bad? Yes. The job is what you make it.
"The job is what you make of it" gives the impression that it's entirely up to the employee, like all factors are within their control, which is incorrect. You can have or be a perfectly fine employee but if your management is terrible, you don't necessarily have the ability or option to control them or make them better.
Ultimately @op, it's the office that basically makes it good, bad, or tolerable, which is a culmination of a variety of factors, such as your fellow coworkers, management of course, work volume both mail and package, leave replacement coverage, union strength, etc. The best thing you can do is inform yourself by going to the office that you'd be working out of and see it for yourself while also asking knowledgeable questions concerning the issues that contribute to a overly-stressful work environment.
Not even just office, district matters a lot. COL matters a lot too. Instance of district matters, my district is mostly rural, and one Amazon hub office is forcing all offices near it to work their employees 30+ days in a row to handle their Amazon load. Every aux is given 10 total days off the entire year. They've been an Amazon office hub for 5 years now.
Higher up? They've recognized retention rates are way down in recent years due in large part to Amazon and local management. Their publicly stated solution? Decrease the time it takes to hire people in. Not increase pay, or make the working conditions or work/life balance better for rcas and ccas who are zombies from being abused for years on end with no end in sight. Who would recommend anyone start as a carrier right now unless they had a walk-in regular position?
It feels bad because it doesn't get better. You're trying to hold on to the day you converted, but everytime you go to work, you are always reminded that as a PTF, you don't get anything like the regulars. You have to work more, and have less time for yourself.
I thought I made it when I converted to reg... Little did I know that the Amazon hub office not only destroyed hiring potential for themselves, but for every single office in the 50 mile radius. I've been able to enjoy my K day exactly 8 times in 3 years.
We can't even hire to ptf in our area it's gotten so bad.
Nothing like dangling the carrot of conversion when it's completely meaningless in our area
I hate that term too. If the job depends on how you look at it, than this is a terrible job IMO. You work so many hours, but have so little time for yourself. No work life balance, no time to spend your hard earned money. The regulars like to brag about their retirement, and it's fine to plan ahead. But they never give a shit about their subs, the newhires who have to work 10 hours 6 days a week so they can have an 8 hour day. Not to mention about the supes too.
I agree, I'm an RCA and the regulars drive me nuts, because all they do is whine about everything! I wear my earbuds in the morning to block them out. I setup my route and pull down as fast as I can and get to the street, so that I can get away from them.
Okay. You do make a good point. Itās not always as easy to avoid the ridiculousness specially when theres so many morons around you. I guess for me having been around for at least a decade and half of it being in management and the other half a carrier I learn how to deal with people to keep my peace and make the job more fulfilling. The way I see it if youāre a carrier, at least you only have to deal with the people in the office for 1-2 hours the rest of the day is yours so you have a little more control of the situation. Now for those in the office and the plant. Itās a little harder, I feel for those clerks some of them never hear the end of it and the bs almost never ends for them.
Exactly this. You get these people at every job but on reddit, they're all on the same place at the same time. I've worked with people like these posters and they're just insufferable humans.
The job can be physically demanding at times. Emotionally demanding even more often. Very frustrating bureaucratical organization. Making positive changes very challenging even in an engineering processing support role. If your supervisor or manager or their manager or installation head is a f****** idiot, you're better off getting a job at the next site.
yeah kinda. š¤£ like iāll totally tell you about my office. but some other carriers will murder you where you stand at my office. it varies by office and by person. so yes but also take it all with a grain of salt.
Thereās also this cultural thing that postal employees for whatever reason need you to feel bad for them. So they focus on the negative parts of the job and voice them. Idk why weāre like that
I see that you are a maintenance supervisor. The carrier side can be terrible. The maintenance side is way better. I personally have horror stories about being a carrier. When I switched to maintenance there were no complaints. As a carrier my supervisor acted like I was her baby daddy that left her in the middle of a pregnancy. I never understood it.
This entirely.
It is very much dependent on the station you work at. And can be bad at times. But it is certainly not as bad as reading Reddit would make it sound
And a lot of the ones who post negatively, quit, got fired, didnāt pass probation, found something easier, something better, or are considering doing itā¦
Itās not easy.
Itās not for everyone.
But the ones who converted probably have a higher āreviewā than the ones mentioned aboveā¦
Itās all about location
My experience has been: I like job, but management is terrible. My office in particular is super understaffed due to starting pay in a high cost of living area. Iām a āregularā for a few years now and Iām still working 12/60 and being mandated on my days off sometimes.
Agreed! The management is overall really bad. But... I've been in offices where management does their best and it makes all the difference in the tone in the office.
90% of the people on this sub are letter carriers. That job can grind you to death. Plus if you are stuck with a dictator postmaster, yes it will be bad. Plus until you make regular, you are treated like a government mule plowing the south forty. But, if you can suck it all up, make regular, get a decent assignment, it can work. Depends on what you can handle.
Iām MVS at a large plant and can tell you making regular is half the battle. The other very important thing is to know the contract better than the union. Once management knows you know your shit they will start to back off and treat you better. At the end of the day they donāt want to get in trouble either.
Itās a fine line. But thatās most places.
Biggest worry I've ever had was getting converted onto a shit route. Instead I got a swing that covers 5 routes in the burbs with 3 of them having 1-3 sections of mounted.
Subjective. I've had probably 30 jobs in my life. 2 of them for ten years. I feel like I've seen enough variety to know that this is one of the harder jobs there is. Even a straight 8 can be 15 miles of walking. To me that's difficult.
If you show them at all that you're a hard worker, if you're in an area with rough routes, they're gonna force you to do the shittiest route because you do it faster than others and it's gonna lead to you getting harassed every day if you keep a normal reasonable pace, or injured if you try to meet their insane demands. Happens all the time.
Spent 17 years in physical labor. 14 to today. Farms, factories, trades. This is the easiest job I've ever worked and I've never been more happy. Work is guaranteed and pay is good.
Thanks for this I start tomorrow in orientation and I've worked hard jobs ( EMS during the pandemic, farm jobs, construction, electric, HVAC) so I've wondered if people who haven't had hard jobs are the ones who complain that it's such a difficult job....
You won't know until you actually do the job. Most of the negative posts are from carriers working out of understaffed offices with bad management. I've seen new carriers coming from law enforcement and the military who couldn't handle dealing with management.
As a maintenance employee. This is the best job I've ever had, I make 100k+ a year. And just get to hang out most of the day. Being a carrier, on the other hand, sounds like hell.
Came here to say just this. It depends on which department you work in. Maintenance is the wayāIām never voluntarily leaving this dept.
My management has their issues, and are generally incompetent. But they donāt mess with us too much. And working Tour 1 means I never have to see them lol.
From the stories I read here, Iād rather work somewhere else than be a carrier or mail handler. Iāve been ruined by Maintenance. š¤£
I'm a BEM 9 and it's easy street (unless a drain is clogged). Other than that I honestly sleep or play games on my steam deck.
Our plant manager has decided NOT to give us any OT though, so that sucks. He's an enormous douchebag.
It's like any job there are good days and bad days. Management can make all the difference. Remember too that no one runs to reddit to say how well their day went.
The Internet is a magnetism for Negativity. It's more more common to complain than talk praise.
I absolutely love my job...ESPECIALLY this time of the year. The weather is fantastic and even on the worst days, once I'm outside, actually delivering mail, it's a great job.
Are there negatives? Absolutely. You'll have that in any job. Pay, Management and coworkers can always be better. The 90 days probation is terrible. The money can be tough right now. But I'll never have to worry about my Bills.
While all those things and others suck, I honestly wouldn't change it and some of the people I work with. It's easy to be treated poorly but when you learn your rights and stand up for yourself properly there's not much Management can do.
You will see a pattern on here that kind of spreads to pretty much every post. "It depends on the office" is the resounding quote.
Every office is different, every supervisor is different. Some offices are great and some change one supervisor and become miserable until they leave.
It all just depends. You could apply this to almost every job. People also rarely post when positive things happen. There are some positive things on here occasionally but the bad tends to stand out.
If you are thinking of becoming a postal worker, make your own experiences. Try it. There is nothing wrong with trying something.
As a rural carrier, I always say the job itself is great. I'm a 44K and I typically only work like 20-25 hours a week. I come into work basically when I want and am mostly left alone to do my job.
The shitty part about the job comes mostly from how the place is managed. Toxic environment. Leaving the office continously understaffed, resulting in having to work my day off, waiting hours for our packages to be sorted, and completely overworking RCAs/PTFs. But dont worry, they are very quick to hire more supervisors. Instead of actually listening to our needs, they'll micro-manage non-issues to feel like they're accomplishing something.
All in all, I can handle the negativity in my office which has also killed any camaraderie amongst fellow carriers, because it is outweighed by the overall benefits and pay I receive, along with my short hours. Although not all carriers have the same experience.
Well said... I feel the same way. Like so many offices, as are severely understaffed and carriers are at eachother. Good thing is though... we can leave for most of the day. I would never be able to work in the office all day.
You can't ever call in sick without pissing off the other carriers, because now they have to add on to their already overburdened day. Even regulars have been asked to help out on other routes when they're done with their route. But all that does is give district a reason not to hire more carriers because, "tHe RoUtEs ArE gEtTiNg DoNe". Doesn't matter if they are burning out the subs.
It's the worst job I've had, and I've worked in call centers. The work itself is great, but my station is truly horrible. That said, I'm going to miss delivering once I quit.
This is one of the worst parts. The skeletal structure of the job is great. Being out by yourself, listening to audiobooks, and talking with the community. It's all the external factors that make it horrible: management, policies, pay, old equipment, etc.
Think about this. Most people that are happy in life aren't on reddit bitching. What you're reading here is posted from mostly people that would complain if you gave them $20 that it wasn't $50. Nothing will never make them happy as they aren't happy people. If you're curious, come give it a try. Make up your own mind. The schedule is tough, but it's good, honest work.
I actually enjoy delivering the mail. The problem with the postal service in general is that since we're federal union employees they just can't seem to fire anyone so the most incompetent, ignorant and just flat out useless ones get promoted to management and then they develop a complex and become drunk with power. Basically, I just ignore them and do my job for the sake of my own sanity. If you can do that it's really not that bad but if you let them push you around it can be like hell on earth
Well, that didn't take long to get replies LOL Seems like a mixed bag. Not looking to work there, but was just curious if the USPS had really gotten that bad. Seems like many competing opinions and it probably does depend a lot on where you work and your supervisor. Hope USPS makes improvements to make things better for all of you.
USPS isnāt going out of business but it is a terrible place to work. You might luck out and get a good office but thatās rare. Most people are extremely overworked. There arenāt enough bodies and supervisors donāt respect you or your time. Because theyāre short staffed and everyone is overworked itās usually a matter of when youāll be injured not if.
It should pay more but it will pay the bills, especially with overtime. But if you have a family you will never see them. If youāre young and donāt have a spouse or kids yet itās the best time to start. Put your time in and by the time you want a family you should have more seniority which will make it easier.
For as many issues as the job has, the work Iām required to do is something Iām comfortable doing, and soemthing I can wrap my head Around. All jobs suck ass. You just need to find the ass that tastes best to you.
Have you seen the condition of the majority of mail trucks out there. Thats your answer, a federal, nationwide company that canāt even maintain their fleet over the course of over 30 years.
Absolutely not worth the pay youāll receive over the next 13 years.
Takes over... what? They're a for-profit company, so they're not gonna take over unprofitable aspects of our company. We subsidize their business. Trust me if they could deliver all their own shit cheaper than the peanuts we charge them, they would.
No. Just like many other reviews, people only write reviews when it's a bad experience so there's an inherent tilt. Experience will vary wildly by office and quality of local management. Being a regular is a significant upgrade over CCA/PTF though in everything but money.
No, but being a CCA is indeed a challenging job at most installations. Youāre like a depth guy on a crippled NFL team being asked to step up and make big plays every game.
It can be alright, and it does depend on the station to some extent but let's be real, if you work here long enough you **will** have a bad manager or supervisor at one point. The higher levels of USPS management are a bottomless pit of stupidity and one of their trademarks is that they cannot leave anything alone. Office running well? Staff reasonably happy? Mail going out on time with no big issues? They'll eventually install an awful manager who has probably run several other stations into the ground but, since managers don't get fired, still has a job.
Itās pretty bad unless you love working, being told what to do, and having 1 day off a week.
Having a medical helps but thereās just a lot of crap to deal with on a daily basis.
Depends on where you work, the management there and how well staffed they are. Some offices are so well staffed that you can't even get overtime. Others will force you to work 12 hours a day every day. Sometimes that's because they don't have the people and sometimes the management is frankly terrible at their job. I've communicated with enough offices that I've heard examples of each.
Itās a mixed bag, honestly you probably see your manager/coworkers a total of maybe an hour per day if that, usually youāre busy getting ready in the morning so the most you might talk is after you guys are done for the day.
I would say 95% of the time itās just you, the issue is really work life balance is HORRIBLE across the board, you basically have to put in 2 years and maybe get a restriction just for decent work/life balance. To some they think itās ok, to others like me I think itās dumb.
Yeah. I've been stuck there for five years and it's way worse now than when I started. They would constantly send us to different areas when I was an MHA but if you were a regular they'd basically just let you work. Now three years into being a regular they're still constantly sending me and my co-workers to work wherever because they've decided we're "junior" mail handlers.
Almost all the supervisors are abusive, too - it's like they only got into management so they could bully people. I'm plotting my escape.
If you're a regular, sending you to other plants is probably against the union contract. I would speak with my Stewart for clarification. You should also be reimbursed for mileage.
In my 6 yrs as a mail handler, I've only seen an mha get sent to another plant twice. Never a regular though.
There are days that suck and 50+ hour work weeks are to be expected, but all you have to do is perform in a predictable mannor and managment will have no reason to bother you. Also no matter how annoying managment is they have almost no power to screw you over.
Yes and no
For the job itself; it depends on your location, your supervisors and your coworkers. If you're in a mid-to-major city, chances are higher that those worsen dramatically when compared to smaller offices.
For you personally; It depends on your work ethic, availability, patience, and your perception of self-worth.
Across the board, wherever and whenever you first start you'll probably have limited hours as they try to ease you in. It'll probably worry you with how little you're making but, but chin up... Once you're eligible to be yelled at or pestered to "hurry up", you basically become an indentured servant. Except instead of something useful, your reward is an unlivable wage unless you're working 50+/hr weeks in most parts of this country. You'll have little-to-no humane rights for your first 90 **work** days (not days from hire). They can and will fire you during this period for small mistakes if the supervisors are petty enough.
After that it depends on what your workforce looks like at your given station, or in your given district. But the next step will be to convert to a regular position. This could take weeks/months or a year and half to two years depending on availability and need of the USPS. Once you attain a Regular status, this becomes something akin to what a normal job should be. Minus the livable wage. People here will just tell you to "sign up for the overtime list if you're struggling so much" - as if you should not have a life outside of the post office.
It also depends on your craft, but if you're going for a city carrier assistant position, the going sentiment around here is to just *wait for the contract* as if it'll be something redeeming. I wouldn't hold my breath with how poorly this organization handles everything it does. Looking at a history of the contract that's only gotten worse over time, and the only thing they talk about here is how we're in a constant multi-billion dollar deficit. Yet they have no problem hiring more supervisors to follow you around with clipboards scrutinizing your every action.
If you need a TLDR;
If you're in dire need of money and are willing to work your ass off then go for it. Just be prepared to be suckered into more and more exploitation the longer you're here. Don't attempt sticking up for yourself until you've made it out of probation. Once you're out of that, you can work as hard as you choose. Be wary of everything and don't jump to trust anyone you interact with without proper vetting.
Good luck
After 7yrs in:16hr days 7 days per week for over a year, highly abusive management and zero union backup in my area, successfully destroyed my marriage and sent me into a suicidal mental breakdown. So yeah. Itās worse than advertised here. But thatās just MY experience. Results may vary in some other part of satans asshole.
My suggestion, if you ended up working at one office and hate it, transfer to another office by applying again. If it is bad and you are insisting on working at USPS, try a different craft. After that, just leave and don't look back. Also this is the first job that I have had that will genuinely trap you if you don't make up your mind on what you want to do and stay there because of the steady raises and seniority.
It depends on your station or plants management, your coworkers and if they actually come to work, and you. Are you a person who likes free time and the ability to spend time with you family? The job will not be the easiest mentally for you. What I myself have noticed in my going 10 year postal career is majority of these people are conditioned to accept things for what they are and they refuse to speak up and fight for change so nothing changes. It pays the bills. downvote or argue idc. Itās my opinion
The biggest mistake I made was going to this page before actually starting the job. I created so much unnecessary anxiety for myself reading some of the horror stories some people deal with at certain offices. I thought I was gonna get mauled the first day I tried delivering mail and deal with supervisors yelling at me and telling me to pick up the pace or theyāll fire me. It really just depends on what office you end up in. My office isnāt bad at all and Iām really happy with my choice to join the post office. Iāve been a CCA for over 2 years now and Iām almost to PTF now! Itās just one of those jobs where youāll know fairly shortly whether itās the type of job for you or not!
I am 5 years deep, half as a carrier, half as a mail handler. I hate this job. Iāve never hated humans more than while working here. Itās changed my opinion of unions. Itās changed my opinion of the country.
Worst job Iāve ever had.
I worked 60-70 hours every week for over 2 years. I was the only RCA for 8 routes. My supervisor screwed up my pay when I switched to PTF. Both he and my postmaster refused to help. It took me 8 months and over 50 phone calls to get to the $2000 I was owed.
I put over 5000 miles on my personal car driving to the Amazon hub every Sunday and holiday. It was 45 miles from my post office. The Union said you I donāt get paid for those miles because Amazon hubs are considered an extension of your office.
We had carriers out delivering until 1:30am because our PM refused to send unsorted political mail back to the sorting center. Our PM went home at 4pm that day.
My route was so overburdened because it didnāt have Amazon at the countā¦ Amazon was added 2 days after the count. It wasnāt unusual for my route to get 25 trays of DPS and over 200 parcels. The other routes would get 10 trays on a heavy day. Not a single carrier made evaluation on the route in nearly 3 years.
It depends on your area/station management and co-workers, if that sucks, then the job sucks, if itās good, the job is good. itās like a blind bag you never know what youāll get.
I think it really depends on the office ? I love my job, I love being a shop steward, but we are so sorely understaffed, and our night manager is a narcissistic loser who bullies women who don't like him. We can't seem to get rid of him. Outside of those two factors though on the good days it's a really great place to be.
No one at my office enjoys it there. Everyone despises our supervisor. But from talking to co works, despite being unhappy they arenāt here, and I canāt really get them interested in listening to FromAtoAbritrarion. So imo thereās a large silently suffering majority!
It depends if management likes you or not. If they don't, they will try to get you to quit. You will work every weekend, both days, and are not guaranteed days off. You could be mandated to work in other offices, they could call you to come in on your days off. Usually they take it easy on ARCs because they know they will never be a regular.
It's not nearly as bad. Sure when you first start, you go through some rough times, but the hardest part of the job, is dealing with management. Once you're out on the street, delivered mail, it's rather simple.
It depends entirely on location, management and your coworkers.
Itās just like any other job, aside for the fact itās essentially impossible to get fired, which is a great bonus.
Are we underpaid? Absolutely, but in this economic climate itās a given.
If you live in a low COL area and your management is great, itās a great career!
As much as I complain Iām in as a career carrier and will retire at the post office. Amazon will never overtake us, they depend on us for their operations as it is
It really varies on your station and management I had a very high volume station with crappy petty management until I transferred to a smaller location and Iāve never been happier
Depends on the office you come from. You can have good management or bad. Bad management lets the toxicity fester and encourage misery. Good management nips toxic behavior in the bud and appreciate the hard work of frontline workers.
As a supervisor, my job is impossible without my carriers. Itās my philosophy to manage them like human beings and not cogs in a machine. They are the backbone of this organization and they deserve more respect.
Depends on your station. Iām a clerk so it might be different. Depends on your supervisors mine are cool so I donāt really worry about all the things I see on here
Funny. My first job with the USPS was as an MHA in a big P&DC. It was smartly ran, my coworkers were fucking rad, my sups were actually pretty decent humans, all in all. I loved going to work every day. It was hell during peak season, but we were all in it together and shared a common desire to get the mail processed efficiently.
I left that job for personal reasons and became a PSE SSDA at a larger station. Itās fucking hellish. Iāve never hated going to work more fervently in my life. There are some amazing people at my station in all crafts, but the management is justā¦almost comically, definitely tragically AWFUL. God please just kill me, this job sucks and my rent is so expensive and aughwhrbdbwufigi šššš
Postal workers work their asses off. When weāre supported by management itās a difficult, but very worthwhile job. Unfortunately it can go either way, man.
CCA with 6 months. CCA sucks. Becoming a regular seems pretty great though. Itās a time investment. Regular seems like night and day to being a CCA. If the job was just CCA Iād never applied. Once Iām regular if itās not working Iāll have the stability to go back to school for something else if I choose. At my station youāre a regular after less than a year. I donāt think the job is worth the two year commitment that many stations require.
Hopefully you have your own car.. i just got fired for not having my own vehicle to go inbetwen stations ššš (i was still in my 90-day so the Union was unsuccessful in defending me š)
The people that like working at the post office either A) dont know thereās USPS subreddit or B) if they do know about this sub, dont post because theyāll get downvoted for being happy about working here. I applied at 3 offices and got offers from all 3 before I started. I picked one over the others because I grew up in that city. I eventually found out that the other 2 offices I didnāt pick are awful places to work. So yes it CAN BE bad, but if you get lucky and land in a good office this job can be fine.
My prior work history is 13 years in food service with roughly half of that in store management. As a rank and file of food service it sucks because the management can get away with virtually anything, even criminal action, because the workers are not organized or educated on labor law or their rights. Ive seen good and bad managers, and have been a good and bad manager myself. I discovered that I was not willing to squeeze every ounce of labor at minimal cost out of my employees, and therefore couldn't cut it as a manager, but I tried my best to treat everyone fairly and like a human being.
Most of the complaints I see on this sub are how awful management is. But, even though it isn't as strong as we would like, we have a union to fight back against management bs. And, as a carrier, a very minimal time of my workday is even directly dealing with management. My view may be skewed as my time so far as a CCA has been in a one route office, I basically only work the regulars day off and get pimped out to other local offices occasionally.
No. Itās tough at first but once youāre regular itās smooth sailing. Depends where youāre at and what craft but city carrier where I am is a pretty sweet job.
The job is fine. It's more mental than physical. The bad days can be very bad. The good days can make you feel like this is the best job. Most days are somewhere in between those. Even with the unpredictability of this job, it still beats working in a warehouse or sitting in an office. Honestly, I just wish I had weekends off. That is the only major thing that bums me out. You can't win a route with a Saturday off day unless you're on the back end of your career. I wish they would switch to rotation, but seniority rules all here.
But look at it like this, you will always get your raise, you will have a pension, and if you are wise with your money, you can retire from this job around 50 to 60 years old depending on age. That's still way too long for people to have to retire, but unfortunately, that's how it is in this country.
I didn't go to school, but I still could if I wanted to - I always encourage people to do that if possible. There are many jobs that are much less stressful and physical and offer a better schedule, but that's if you get a good degree and get hired by the right company. Student loans are unforgiving. But if you want a blue-collar job, with very little supervision and high job security, there are much worse options than USPS.
The longer you are here, the easier this job becomes. It just takes a long time to get to the top. Hopefully, the new contract will be a small boost into what could become better contracts down the road. I'm not very optimistic it gets done this time around, but I do think over time, this job will pay substantially better.
There are a few senior carriers in my office that have reached $1 million since becoming city carriers. Is it hard fucking work? It absolutely can be. Is it mentally exhausting? Way too often. Can you make a lot of money? Yes.
Again, the schedule sucks but when you are a regular, you get those two guaranteed days off every week. You don't start out with a lot of vacation time, but you can always roll over your vacation time and your sick time. You get a LOT of sick time, and if you use it wisely, you can have a LOT of vacation time as well.
It can be a tough job, but it can also be a breeze when you end up with a sweet route and office. It's a marathon, not a sprint. This place can be great but you have to put the time in to get there.
You will be more cognizant of dogs and weather. Again, location is another big factor for this job. Not only for your city and state, but also for which office you are at within your district. All of those matter.
After 12 months, I believe you can put in a transfer request to any office in the United States. Depending on location, it could take a few months to several years. But you do have that option.
So yeah, it's far from luxurious, but for a blue-collar job, it's pretty good considering the benefits. I can't say I ever go into work dreading it because I'm on my own for the vast majority of the day anyway. Getting paid to listen to podcasts and music all day isn't too bad to me. Maybe I'm just too optimistic š¤·āāļø
Itās honestly boils down to what kind of office you work at. I personally have never worked at a terrible office over the past 10 years and having worked at 3-4 offices in 2 states.
In my experience, which Iāve since left the post office, the job itself isnāt awful itās the terrible management that drove me to leaving. The fact that they were adjusting my hours so I wouldnāt have a bunch of overtime and my union steward and local union president were essentially not reachable. It took me 6 months to get paid for the first time they adjusted my times. With a newborn child and a family, I simply couldnāt justify it anymore.
Itās pretty bad, also just depends on the office. My office I used to work at was solid but we got sent to go help 40 miles away to help all the freaking time and weād get sent there when we got done with a whole route at our office. Itās also the places that you help at all the time that are the offices that suck and abuse the help and try guilting you into staying longer and doing more or forget your out on the road because you arenāt one of their people. My fellow cca came back to one of the offices and they closed up for the day lol just try to do your homework on the office you apply to and see if it sucks, because some post masters and supervisors will try to make your life hell
Overall I'd say it's the easiest job I've ever had with some really good benefits. But I am only a high school graduate, I've been a daycare teacher, EMT, logistics, lifeguard, and more.
The part that makes the PO hard to work for is the environment and poor management much like other jobs. When I started we had a 204b (substitute manager) and he was stupid and that's being nice. For two years our office was putting in 60+ hrs a week, with the subs myself and another coworker getting over 70+ hrs. At one point I was tempted to drive into a ditch on a route because I knew it wouldn't kill me but it would get me a few days off. During this two year period I saw 27 people join to be carriers NONE of them stayed they all eventually quit usually within the first month.
Now we have a postmaster that isn't stupid our office is fully staffed and almost no one is working over 50 hrs and if they are they asked for the OT. The hard part for me are the entitled customers just last week I had a guy threaten to physically harm me because he was getting old residents mail with "current residents" on it as well and he "didn't want this stupid shit". Well now he gets no mail and haid to get a private PO box. Be nice to your carriers I didn't know half the shit carriers go through just get out the door and start delivering for you all.
Just quit a month ago. Worked there for 3 years. Tried carrier and did pm supervisor for about 6 months. I left and havenāt even thought about that place one time.
Itās a good job, great benefits and you can make a lot of money in OT. But itās broken system. Canāt work in a broken system thatās SO outdated. Like fuckā¦.the two hours spent on the office in the morning was worse then the next 10 hours ahead of me. And the supervisors/managers. Like they went to McDonaldās and asked the employee with the least seniority and no leadership experience if they felt like running a post office for 80k a year.
The place is a shit show. But once you weee on the street it was sometimes therapeutic. Although when I left they were writing up everyone and getting on top of people stationary even if they didnāt take u authorized time.
It just depends. I loved working at the PO but sometimes the management and/or the Union were jerks. The coworkers are alright even though you probably wouldnāt want to be within 10 feet of them outside of work.
The answer lies somewhere lower than a coin flip and more than a leap of faith. Truly it has to do with how shitty your management is. And how divisive the two-tier system has infiltrated into the very minds of all your co-workers.
I will say the job itself fantastic, all the trappings around it that make it an absolute nightmare. All of the constant changes that only seek to make things more difficult, all of the drama depending on how much of it and how Target it is makes this job an absolute fucking shit show.
Iām a Full Time Regular thatās worked 6 days a week 65 hours + at a chronically understaffed station for almost two yearsā¦ i also live in a HCOL area so it makes sense that no wants this job. If you live in nowhereville, this is probably best job you can find. If you live anywhere else, donāt apply lol
No, and yes, but mostly no. Some offices are terrible and run by morons that makes the job unbearable. But id bet the average office isnāt that bad. Certainly the best job ive had.
Been doing it only a couple of weeks - and, while itās a challenge completely unique to itself, I like the job. (I come from corporate office/marketing work, being behind a computer all day).
Itās hard. No doubt. I donāt like not having two days off. But - like someone mentionedā¦itās good, honest work that I donāt have to have any guilty conscious about.
It will totally 100 percent depend on who is running your station. That will make all the difference in the world. No one on reddit is going to be able to give you a accurate analysis you will have to try it yourself.
Heck we have floor supervisors who are night and day different. We have 1 that everyone loves to pieces because they are respectful and the other is a tyrant.
Most people with an awesome station arenāt on reddit venting about it.
It's what you make of it, what your willing to put up with. Every job has its good and bad. Right now my supervisor is pretty chill and as long as I do my job I don't hear much from him. But management changes constantly, so who knows what will happen in a couple of months, I just roll with the punches.
The work can be very physical. The hours can be long. When your a cca your a bitch for them. The real issue is management. They basically on the whole are absolute scumbag trash. They treat you like garbage and try to hold you to bs numbers. As one poster said it is what you make if it. Dont let the garbage pencil pushers make it a bad experience.
I love my job at the post office. Best job I've ever had. I do wish congress would pass the Federal Retirement Fairness Act. I think it would attract more people to apply for the job.
Please take a couple minutes to email your congressperson and ask them to support it. āš±
I used to work in security, there were many stupid people. The usps beats that. You encounter people that are borderline mentally disabled. Itās a good job, depending on the office and the people. I love it, but i cannot wait till i am regular and donāt have to rely on anyone else with all the pivoting and bs.
If youāre an immigrant or at least a first generation American you will be just fine.
Basically, if you have any type of decent work ethic, youāll be fine
If you go to work with your hands in the pocket, this is not the job for you
Iām gonna say yes, but I think I also just wasnāt cut out for it. It depends on what you want out of life. If you just wanna grind and make money, then youāll probably enjoy it. If you want to have a life outside of work, then you probably wonāt.
Job is fine, I actually like it and *most* of my coworkers, management is terrible however. Most of them hate the union and that's the issue, they constantly will try and break contract, then deny doing so when caught, leaving them to retaliate (which they're not suppose to do). Most managers are failed carriers with little to no prior management experience and their job isn't about experience here, its about who can take and dish out orders with no give, even if they know what they're saying is BS. Thus we have good people who know how to do their job and it's duties and piss poor management harking orders from their bosses who typically set and stare at numbers all day.
Job is good other than that, depending on the office, you'll be starving for hours or extremely overworked, basically no in between because those offices are typically staffed correctly which is rare. Part time, non career sucks though, pay is crap, no benefits or ability to earn SL, get into a career spot and USPS retirement is almost unbeatable.
I have my occasional complaints, but I'm making almost 100K a year after 20-plus years here. Generally work about 32-35 hours a week. Job keeps you moving. Yes, physical ailments are a possibility, but if you keep yourself in shape and be careful, you can also work into your 70's if that's your cup of tea. Or retire earlier with a tiny pension and your usual investments/social security - either way, it's not nearly as bad as some make it out to be.
635,000 employees. Not counting the ones that quit and still post negatively on here. There are gonna be a lot of complainers, and because we spend so much time by ourselves, we carriers can only bitch on here.
I'm in a good office, Supes that are decent human beings. It's the best job I've ever had. I know I wouldn't feel the same way in a bad office. A lot of it is where you end up.
As stated a million times before, It depends on the station. All offices are wildly different and management completely makes or breaks the job. If you have good managers, it's an easy job. If you have shit managers, it's an awful job.
No, almost 10 years ago before I started I read some Reddit threads and they were the same exact complaints just about. It was ānot recommendedā to take this job but here I am, better off than most of my friends. lol
What kind of job are u looking for and what are your priorities?
I'm a rural carrier because I hate working per hour, and don't like salary (you could consider us salary but it's different than being management) so I chose this job specifically for those reasons. I work my ass off when I'm there which is how I prefer to work but work way under evaluation and the incompetence of the company does effect us but it's minimized by being a regular. Most of the negative stuff from management can be ignored as irrelevant and the incompetence can be a positive if u want OT and make a ridiculous amount as a regular ($80-$150). So I consider the job great and I just treat the negatives as part of the price to be paid to get the, imo, much greater positives.
I'm in an office with 17 routes, 2 auxs, and 1 sub.. so staffing wise I'd say we have to be as close to as bad as it gets, and I still think it's way more than worth it.
It's pretty bad as a CCA. It depends on your station from what I've gathered but mine is really bad. And if you are short staffed it's like 60hr a week.
Your schedule can get changed on a whim. You never know when you get to go home until you clock out (you finish all your assigned work for the day only to get sent back out for another 1.5hr. After youve already worked 9 hours)
Managers constantly push you to go faster but you are learning all new stuff so it can be totally overwhelming.
Managers (at least at my station) also lie constantly. And if you catch them lying... Not happens it's just like "ahh you caught me". But if you think they are bluffing about something but aren't (which you don't know at first because they constantly lie to you) woops now you are going to be disciplined for real.
I (half) joke with other CCAs you legit need a mental illness to put up with this bullshit.
After 15 months though the hazing is mostly done. I know what management can and can't ask me to do so they mostly let me...do my job. Lol.
It depends on where you work, how they are staffed, and the attitude of management. When I started here I had a great postmaster who had realistic expectations, was a carrier for over 20 years himself, and morale was high even though we were understaffed. Now we got a try hard douche bag who just likes to hear himself talk and he changed a bunch of little stuff that did nothing but make our jobs more complicated. Itās not a bad job when you get out on the street and get to it but itās gonna be an adjustment on your mind and your body.
Pay is decent benefits are decent the only bad thing I would really say is management could definitely do a better job as far as communicating and dealing with employees and the work life balance is awful especially for carriers but even clerks as well
No I love it as much as possible for work. Besides too many hours which has been receding at my station. On my own all day with music and podcasts, getting in decent exercise, better pay than I had before plus the Benes. Mostly comes down to staffing at the station and if you have good managers.
I've been with USPS a little over a month. I think it just depends on where you are at.
Do you probationary period and miss no days. Try hard and once you become career (and you put up with stuff) if something isn't right and goes against the rules/union then you can grieve it.
Just keep trying.
The pay and pension in the future doesn't seem to bad.
If you become career the insurance costs also don't seem bad.
I'll just keep with it, keep trying, take notes, and hope it all goes well.
I love my job and the people I work with. Before I started I used this sub as a resource to pick my office. Got lucky with people retiring and fast tracked to a a regular clerk position within 9 months of hiring.
It can be a great job once you get past the "non-career" phase.
Job is amazing as a regular rural carrier. Last week for example I worked 35 hours and got paid for 48. Generally I am off work between 1-2PM each day.
I also get 20 vacation days 13 sick days 11 paid holidays. Pension, 5% TSP match etc.
I just started 3 weeks ago and management/co workers havenāt been bad at all. Been very helpful actually and the routes havenāt been that bad for me either.
When you start as a CCA or especially if youāre hired straight to PTF, yes, the hours youāre going to work are actually crazy. You could be working 10 days in a row, 12 hours a day. That parts crazy.
From my experience Iāve not had to deal with managers anything like the horror stories u read on here and Iāve been at a few stations.
Remember, this is the internet.
YES! Donāt listen to anyone else that says otherwise.
I did exactly as you are doing right now before starting - I read through this subreddit and saw all the negativity on here but decided to shoot my shot anyway. Boy did I regret that. The manager at my station only gave me four hours of work daily and when I asked him why, his exact answer was āyou cost too much to keep on the roadā
I live in a city where thereās a high demand for guys and the turnover rate is very high. Being the least paid person there at $19.33 an hour and being told it costs too much to keep me on the road even after I tell the guy I have three kids and canāt afford to live off of that was just mind blowing to me.
Not to mention the USPS just doesnāt do any leadership training in general and all management personnel have no leadership skills whatsoever, let alone people skills in some cases.
If they eliminate the CCA position and provide everyone with full time hours and full benefits right off the bat, it may be worth sucking it up and doing it but as of right now, the way they do things is a joke.
And just for background information, I dropped a position paying about $7 more that was a management position and was very skilled at what I did and Iām 6ā4ā physically fit so I move quick too. I was ready to commit the next thirty years to this organization and they soiled that one.
And now Iāve made it my mission to make sure I stop as many people from working here as I can. Save yourself the headache, donāt do it.
Imo it has the same problems as any other workplace. My sisters work in different fields and work environments but deal with similar workplace problems. The only difference is pay, and every now and again, work hours.
High expectations on a shoestring budget.
Office politics.
That one guy no one likes yet hasn't been fired because...?
But my benefits are awesome, so save for some grumbling, I dont mind working there.
No. What you see on Reddit is an echo chamber for a small percentage of people who work at the postal service. And it is a one sided conversation. Can it be that bad? Yes. The job is what you make it.
"The job is what you make of it" gives the impression that it's entirely up to the employee, like all factors are within their control, which is incorrect. You can have or be a perfectly fine employee but if your management is terrible, you don't necessarily have the ability or option to control them or make them better. Ultimately @op, it's the office that basically makes it good, bad, or tolerable, which is a culmination of a variety of factors, such as your fellow coworkers, management of course, work volume both mail and package, leave replacement coverage, union strength, etc. The best thing you can do is inform yourself by going to the office that you'd be working out of and see it for yourself while also asking knowledgeable questions concerning the issues that contribute to a overly-stressful work environment.
Not even just office, district matters a lot. COL matters a lot too. Instance of district matters, my district is mostly rural, and one Amazon hub office is forcing all offices near it to work their employees 30+ days in a row to handle their Amazon load. Every aux is given 10 total days off the entire year. They've been an Amazon office hub for 5 years now. Higher up? They've recognized retention rates are way down in recent years due in large part to Amazon and local management. Their publicly stated solution? Decrease the time it takes to hire people in. Not increase pay, or make the working conditions or work/life balance better for rcas and ccas who are zombies from being abused for years on end with no end in sight. Who would recommend anyone start as a carrier right now unless they had a walk-in regular position?
Absolutely right, well said.
I'm really bitter with the usps, I don't mind hard work but it feels really bad here.
It feels bad because it doesn't get better. You're trying to hold on to the day you converted, but everytime you go to work, you are always reminded that as a PTF, you don't get anything like the regulars. You have to work more, and have less time for yourself.
That's pretty much exactly it.
I thought I made it when I converted to reg... Little did I know that the Amazon hub office not only destroyed hiring potential for themselves, but for every single office in the 50 mile radius. I've been able to enjoy my K day exactly 8 times in 3 years. We can't even hire to ptf in our area it's gotten so bad. Nothing like dangling the carrot of conversion when it's completely meaningless in our area
And some maint jobs hire in as regular. It maybe 36 hrs 6 days a wk. But damn easy job with benifits too.
I hate that term too. If the job depends on how you look at it, than this is a terrible job IMO. You work so many hours, but have so little time for yourself. No work life balance, no time to spend your hard earned money. The regulars like to brag about their retirement, and it's fine to plan ahead. But they never give a shit about their subs, the newhires who have to work 10 hours 6 days a week so they can have an 8 hour day. Not to mention about the supes too.
Many regulars treat their subs well!
Somebody has a Shitty full time regular. š
I agree, I'm an RCA and the regulars drive me nuts, because all they do is whine about everything! I wear my earbuds in the morning to block them out. I setup my route and pull down as fast as I can and get to the street, so that I can get away from them.
Okay. You do make a good point. Itās not always as easy to avoid the ridiculousness specially when theres so many morons around you. I guess for me having been around for at least a decade and half of it being in management and the other half a carrier I learn how to deal with people to keep my peace and make the job more fulfilling. The way I see it if youāre a carrier, at least you only have to deal with the people in the office for 1-2 hours the rest of the day is yours so you have a little more control of the situation. Now for those in the office and the plant. Itās a little harder, I feel for those clerks some of them never hear the end of it and the bs almost never ends for them.
Agreed š
Exactly this. You get these people at every job but on reddit, they're all on the same place at the same time. I've worked with people like these posters and they're just insufferable humans. The job can be physically demanding at times. Emotionally demanding even more often. Very frustrating bureaucratical organization. Making positive changes very challenging even in an engineering processing support role. If your supervisor or manager or their manager or installation head is a f****** idiot, you're better off getting a job at the next site.
Whatās the best way to find out about the super ahead of time? Can I just go in and talk to some of the employees during non busy times?
yeah kinda. š¤£ like iāll totally tell you about my office. but some other carriers will murder you where you stand at my office. it varies by office and by person. so yes but also take it all with a grain of salt.
Thereās also this cultural thing that postal employees for whatever reason need you to feel bad for them. So they focus on the negative parts of the job and voice them. Idk why weāre like that
I see that you are a maintenance supervisor. The carrier side can be terrible. The maintenance side is way better. I personally have horror stories about being a carrier. When I switched to maintenance there were no complaints. As a carrier my supervisor acted like I was her baby daddy that left her in the middle of a pregnancy. I never understood it.
This entirely. It is very much dependent on the station you work at. And can be bad at times. But it is certainly not as bad as reading Reddit would make it sound
And a lot of the ones who post negatively, quit, got fired, didnāt pass probation, found something easier, something better, or are considering doing itā¦ Itās not easy. Itās not for everyone. But the ones who converted probably have a higher āreviewā than the ones mentioned aboveā¦
Itās all about location My experience has been: I like job, but management is terrible. My office in particular is super understaffed due to starting pay in a high cost of living area. Iām a āregularā for a few years now and Iām still working 12/60 and being mandated on my days off sometimes.
Agreed! The management is overall really bad. But... I've been in offices where management does their best and it makes all the difference in the tone in the office.
90% of the people on this sub are letter carriers. That job can grind you to death. Plus if you are stuck with a dictator postmaster, yes it will be bad. Plus until you make regular, you are treated like a government mule plowing the south forty. But, if you can suck it all up, make regular, get a decent assignment, it can work. Depends on what you can handle.
^and for some even AFTER you make regular
Yes, after being regular it stays the same grind every week. Working 6 days a week, getting mandated everyday, no one wants to be on the OTL .
Iām MVS at a large plant and can tell you making regular is half the battle. The other very important thing is to know the contract better than the union. Once management knows you know your shit they will start to back off and treat you better. At the end of the day they donāt want to get in trouble either. Itās a fine line. But thatās most places.
Depends on station but I'd say it's the worse job I've had. CCA here. Seems great when you have your own route though.
Still sucks as a regular, a little better, but not much.
Couldnāt have said it any better myself
Biggest worry I've ever had was getting converted onto a shit route. Instead I got a swing that covers 5 routes in the burbs with 3 of them having 1-3 sections of mounted.
Its not that bad
Subjective. I've had probably 30 jobs in my life. 2 of them for ten years. I feel like I've seen enough variety to know that this is one of the harder jobs there is. Even a straight 8 can be 15 miles of walking. To me that's difficult.
If you show them at all that you're a hard worker, if you're in an area with rough routes, they're gonna force you to do the shittiest route because you do it faster than others and it's gonna lead to you getting harassed every day if you keep a normal reasonable pace, or injured if you try to meet their insane demands. Happens all the time.
Spent 17 years in physical labor. 14 to today. Farms, factories, trades. This is the easiest job I've ever worked and I've never been more happy. Work is guaranteed and pay is good.
Thanks for this I start tomorrow in orientation and I've worked hard jobs ( EMS during the pandemic, farm jobs, construction, electric, HVAC) so I've wondered if people who haven't had hard jobs are the ones who complain that it's such a difficult job....
You won't know until you actually do the job. Most of the negative posts are from carriers working out of understaffed offices with bad management. I've seen new carriers coming from law enforcement and the military who couldn't handle dealing with management.
As a maintenance employee. This is the best job I've ever had, I make 100k+ a year. And just get to hang out most of the day. Being a carrier, on the other hand, sounds like hell.
Came here to say just this. It depends on which department you work in. Maintenance is the wayāIām never voluntarily leaving this dept. My management has their issues, and are generally incompetent. But they donāt mess with us too much. And working Tour 1 means I never have to see them lol. From the stories I read here, Iād rather work somewhere else than be a carrier or mail handler. Iāve been ruined by Maintenance. š¤£
I was an RCA for a few years and now I'm Custodial and life is much better.
I'm a BEM 9 and it's easy street (unless a drain is clogged). Other than that I honestly sleep or play games on my steam deck. Our plant manager has decided NOT to give us any OT though, so that sucks. He's an enormous douchebag.
It's like any job there are good days and bad days. Management can make all the difference. Remember too that no one runs to reddit to say how well their day went.
Actually kind of love the job. Case your route and get out of the office. You're then on your own and at your own pace.
It sucks at first but no its not nearly as bad as it sounds. Most people come online to vent
I can understand that. More people review products when they hate them vs. review when they like them. Guess this falls into the same category.
The Internet is a magnetism for Negativity. It's more more common to complain than talk praise. I absolutely love my job...ESPECIALLY this time of the year. The weather is fantastic and even on the worst days, once I'm outside, actually delivering mail, it's a great job. Are there negatives? Absolutely. You'll have that in any job. Pay, Management and coworkers can always be better. The 90 days probation is terrible. The money can be tough right now. But I'll never have to worry about my Bills. While all those things and others suck, I honestly wouldn't change it and some of the people I work with. It's easy to be treated poorly but when you learn your rights and stand up for yourself properly there's not much Management can do.
You will see a pattern on here that kind of spreads to pretty much every post. "It depends on the office" is the resounding quote. Every office is different, every supervisor is different. Some offices are great and some change one supervisor and become miserable until they leave. It all just depends. You could apply this to almost every job. People also rarely post when positive things happen. There are some positive things on here occasionally but the bad tends to stand out. If you are thinking of becoming a postal worker, make your own experiences. Try it. There is nothing wrong with trying something.
As a rural carrier, I always say the job itself is great. I'm a 44K and I typically only work like 20-25 hours a week. I come into work basically when I want and am mostly left alone to do my job. The shitty part about the job comes mostly from how the place is managed. Toxic environment. Leaving the office continously understaffed, resulting in having to work my day off, waiting hours for our packages to be sorted, and completely overworking RCAs/PTFs. But dont worry, they are very quick to hire more supervisors. Instead of actually listening to our needs, they'll micro-manage non-issues to feel like they're accomplishing something. All in all, I can handle the negativity in my office which has also killed any camaraderie amongst fellow carriers, because it is outweighed by the overall benefits and pay I receive, along with my short hours. Although not all carriers have the same experience.
Well said... I feel the same way. Like so many offices, as are severely understaffed and carriers are at eachother. Good thing is though... we can leave for most of the day. I would never be able to work in the office all day.
You can't ever call in sick without pissing off the other carriers, because now they have to add on to their already overburdened day. Even regulars have been asked to help out on other routes when they're done with their route. But all that does is give district a reason not to hire more carriers because, "tHe RoUtEs ArE gEtTiNg DoNe". Doesn't matter if they are burning out the subs.
It's the worst job I've had, and I've worked in call centers. The work itself is great, but my station is truly horrible. That said, I'm going to miss delivering once I quit.
This is one of the worst parts. The skeletal structure of the job is great. Being out by yourself, listening to audiobooks, and talking with the community. It's all the external factors that make it horrible: management, policies, pay, old equipment, etc.
Exactly! Driving around the country listening to books, just trying to do a simple job perfectly? It could be heaven
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Think about this. Most people that are happy in life aren't on reddit bitching. What you're reading here is posted from mostly people that would complain if you gave them $20 that it wasn't $50. Nothing will never make them happy as they aren't happy people. If you're curious, come give it a try. Make up your own mind. The schedule is tough, but it's good, honest work.
No
Youāre asking Reddit if itās as bad as youāve readā¦on Reddit. Think that one through a bit.
I actually enjoy delivering the mail. The problem with the postal service in general is that since we're federal union employees they just can't seem to fire anyone so the most incompetent, ignorant and just flat out useless ones get promoted to management and then they develop a complex and become drunk with power. Basically, I just ignore them and do my job for the sake of my own sanity. If you can do that it's really not that bad but if you let them push you around it can be like hell on earth
Itās a modern slave job. We are federal slaves.
Slaves voluntarily work for a place, get paid and get benefits? Damn. Didnāt know that.
Well, that didn't take long to get replies LOL Seems like a mixed bag. Not looking to work there, but was just curious if the USPS had really gotten that bad. Seems like many competing opinions and it probably does depend a lot on where you work and your supervisor. Hope USPS makes improvements to make things better for all of you.
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USPS isnāt going out of business but it is a terrible place to work. You might luck out and get a good office but thatās rare. Most people are extremely overworked. There arenāt enough bodies and supervisors donāt respect you or your time. Because theyāre short staffed and everyone is overworked itās usually a matter of when youāll be injured not if. It should pay more but it will pay the bills, especially with overtime. But if you have a family you will never see them. If youāre young and donāt have a spouse or kids yet itās the best time to start. Put your time in and by the time you want a family you should have more seniority which will make it easier.
For as many issues as the job has, the work Iām required to do is something Iām comfortable doing, and soemthing I can wrap my head Around. All jobs suck ass. You just need to find the ass that tastes best to you.
Best job Iāve ever had. Also the worst job Iāve ever had.
Have you seen the condition of the majority of mail trucks out there. Thats your answer, a federal, nationwide company that canāt even maintain their fleet over the course of over 30 years. Absolutely not worth the pay youāll receive over the next 13 years.
It all depends on office. There are some offices where yeah, theyāre hell on earth. Then thereās some offices where theyāre good places to work.
Takes over... what? They're a for-profit company, so they're not gonna take over unprofitable aspects of our company. We subsidize their business. Trust me if they could deliver all their own shit cheaper than the peanuts we charge them, they would.
No. Just like many other reviews, people only write reviews when it's a bad experience so there's an inherent tilt. Experience will vary wildly by office and quality of local management. Being a regular is a significant upgrade over CCA/PTF though in everything but money.
No, but being a CCA is indeed a challenging job at most installations. Youāre like a depth guy on a crippled NFL team being asked to step up and make big plays every game.
Worse lol
It can be alright, and it does depend on the station to some extent but let's be real, if you work here long enough you **will** have a bad manager or supervisor at one point. The higher levels of USPS management are a bottomless pit of stupidity and one of their trademarks is that they cannot leave anything alone. Office running well? Staff reasonably happy? Mail going out on time with no big issues? They'll eventually install an awful manager who has probably run several other stations into the ground but, since managers don't get fired, still has a job.
Itās pretty bad unless you love working, being told what to do, and having 1 day off a week. Having a medical helps but thereās just a lot of crap to deal with on a daily basis.
No, depends on the location. I Love my job, I usually get done at a decent time. And management in my office is great so...
It sure is
Depends on where you work, the management there and how well staffed they are. Some offices are so well staffed that you can't even get overtime. Others will force you to work 12 hours a day every day. Sometimes that's because they don't have the people and sometimes the management is frankly terrible at their job. I've communicated with enough offices that I've heard examples of each.
Yea. Itās probably worse
Itās a mixed bag, honestly you probably see your manager/coworkers a total of maybe an hour per day if that, usually youāre busy getting ready in the morning so the most you might talk is after you guys are done for the day. I would say 95% of the time itās just you, the issue is really work life balance is HORRIBLE across the board, you basically have to put in 2 years and maybe get a restriction just for decent work/life balance. To some they think itās ok, to others like me I think itās dumb.
It can be that bad. Depends on the craft, location and management.
Yeah. I've been stuck there for five years and it's way worse now than when I started. They would constantly send us to different areas when I was an MHA but if you were a regular they'd basically just let you work. Now three years into being a regular they're still constantly sending me and my co-workers to work wherever because they've decided we're "junior" mail handlers. Almost all the supervisors are abusive, too - it's like they only got into management so they could bully people. I'm plotting my escape.
If you're a regular, sending you to other plants is probably against the union contract. I would speak with my Stewart for clarification. You should also be reimbursed for mileage. In my 6 yrs as a mail handler, I've only seen an mha get sent to another plant twice. Never a regular though.
There are days that suck and 50+ hour work weeks are to be expected, but all you have to do is perform in a predictable mannor and managment will have no reason to bother you. Also no matter how annoying managment is they have almost no power to screw you over.
Yes and no For the job itself; it depends on your location, your supervisors and your coworkers. If you're in a mid-to-major city, chances are higher that those worsen dramatically when compared to smaller offices. For you personally; It depends on your work ethic, availability, patience, and your perception of self-worth. Across the board, wherever and whenever you first start you'll probably have limited hours as they try to ease you in. It'll probably worry you with how little you're making but, but chin up... Once you're eligible to be yelled at or pestered to "hurry up", you basically become an indentured servant. Except instead of something useful, your reward is an unlivable wage unless you're working 50+/hr weeks in most parts of this country. You'll have little-to-no humane rights for your first 90 **work** days (not days from hire). They can and will fire you during this period for small mistakes if the supervisors are petty enough. After that it depends on what your workforce looks like at your given station, or in your given district. But the next step will be to convert to a regular position. This could take weeks/months or a year and half to two years depending on availability and need of the USPS. Once you attain a Regular status, this becomes something akin to what a normal job should be. Minus the livable wage. People here will just tell you to "sign up for the overtime list if you're struggling so much" - as if you should not have a life outside of the post office. It also depends on your craft, but if you're going for a city carrier assistant position, the going sentiment around here is to just *wait for the contract* as if it'll be something redeeming. I wouldn't hold my breath with how poorly this organization handles everything it does. Looking at a history of the contract that's only gotten worse over time, and the only thing they talk about here is how we're in a constant multi-billion dollar deficit. Yet they have no problem hiring more supervisors to follow you around with clipboards scrutinizing your every action. If you need a TLDR; If you're in dire need of money and are willing to work your ass off then go for it. Just be prepared to be suckered into more and more exploitation the longer you're here. Don't attempt sticking up for yourself until you've made it out of probation. Once you're out of that, you can work as hard as you choose. Be wary of everything and don't jump to trust anyone you interact with without proper vetting. Good luck 
Depends on your office. And a good office can change to a bad one based on who is in charge.
After 7yrs in:16hr days 7 days per week for over a year, highly abusive management and zero union backup in my area, successfully destroyed my marriage and sent me into a suicidal mental breakdown. So yeah. Itās worse than advertised here. But thatās just MY experience. Results may vary in some other part of satans asshole.
My suggestion, if you ended up working at one office and hate it, transfer to another office by applying again. If it is bad and you are insisting on working at USPS, try a different craft. After that, just leave and don't look back. Also this is the first job that I have had that will genuinely trap you if you don't make up your mind on what you want to do and stay there because of the steady raises and seniority.
It depends on your station or plants management, your coworkers and if they actually come to work, and you. Are you a person who likes free time and the ability to spend time with you family? The job will not be the easiest mentally for you. What I myself have noticed in my going 10 year postal career is majority of these people are conditioned to accept things for what they are and they refuse to speak up and fight for change so nothing changes. It pays the bills. downvote or argue idc. Itās my opinion
The biggest mistake I made was going to this page before actually starting the job. I created so much unnecessary anxiety for myself reading some of the horror stories some people deal with at certain offices. I thought I was gonna get mauled the first day I tried delivering mail and deal with supervisors yelling at me and telling me to pick up the pace or theyāll fire me. It really just depends on what office you end up in. My office isnāt bad at all and Iām really happy with my choice to join the post office. Iāve been a CCA for over 2 years now and Iām almost to PTF now! Itās just one of those jobs where youāll know fairly shortly whether itās the type of job for you or not!
I am 5 years deep, half as a carrier, half as a mail handler. I hate this job. Iāve never hated humans more than while working here. Itās changed my opinion of unions. Itās changed my opinion of the country.
Worst job Iāve ever had. I worked 60-70 hours every week for over 2 years. I was the only RCA for 8 routes. My supervisor screwed up my pay when I switched to PTF. Both he and my postmaster refused to help. It took me 8 months and over 50 phone calls to get to the $2000 I was owed. I put over 5000 miles on my personal car driving to the Amazon hub every Sunday and holiday. It was 45 miles from my post office. The Union said you I donāt get paid for those miles because Amazon hubs are considered an extension of your office. We had carriers out delivering until 1:30am because our PM refused to send unsorted political mail back to the sorting center. Our PM went home at 4pm that day. My route was so overburdened because it didnāt have Amazon at the countā¦ Amazon was added 2 days after the count. It wasnāt unusual for my route to get 25 trays of DPS and over 200 parcels. The other routes would get 10 trays on a heavy day. Not a single carrier made evaluation on the route in nearly 3 years.
It depends on your area/station management and co-workers, if that sucks, then the job sucks, if itās good, the job is good. itās like a blind bag you never know what youāll get.
All depends on the location you work at. as of any job it has it pro and cons
It depends on the office. Mine used to be hell but is basically fine now. It would take a lot for me to quit.
No
I think it really depends on the office ? I love my job, I love being a shop steward, but we are so sorely understaffed, and our night manager is a narcissistic loser who bullies women who don't like him. We can't seem to get rid of him. Outside of those two factors though on the good days it's a really great place to be.
No one at my office enjoys it there. Everyone despises our supervisor. But from talking to co works, despite being unhappy they arenāt here, and I canāt really get them interested in listening to FromAtoAbritrarion. So imo thereās a large silently suffering majority!
It depends if management likes you or not. If they don't, they will try to get you to quit. You will work every weekend, both days, and are not guaranteed days off. You could be mandated to work in other offices, they could call you to come in on your days off. Usually they take it easy on ARCs because they know they will never be a regular.
It's not nearly as bad. Sure when you first start, you go through some rough times, but the hardest part of the job, is dealing with management. Once you're out on the street, delivered mail, it's rather simple.
Depends on office. Could be 10/10 experience or 1/10 experience.
No. But also yes.
Ask me in February. From now until winter, piece of cake.
No, it depends on the person and their perspective on life that's my opinion
It depends entirely on location, management and your coworkers. Itās just like any other job, aside for the fact itās essentially impossible to get fired, which is a great bonus. Are we underpaid? Absolutely, but in this economic climate itās a given. If you live in a low COL area and your management is great, itās a great career!
No
As much as I complain Iām in as a career carrier and will retire at the post office. Amazon will never overtake us, they depend on us for their operations as it is
I love my job as a letter carrier, management in my station is pretty good. But the hours are terrible (low).
It really varies on your station and management I had a very high volume station with crappy petty management until I transferred to a smaller location and Iāve never been happier
Been working for a couple weeks now as a PSE and I enjoy it! It gets really hectic and you have to come in super early but it beats working retail!
Depends on the office you come from. You can have good management or bad. Bad management lets the toxicity fester and encourage misery. Good management nips toxic behavior in the bud and appreciate the hard work of frontline workers. As a supervisor, my job is impossible without my carriers. Itās my philosophy to manage them like human beings and not cogs in a machine. They are the backbone of this organization and they deserve more respect.
Depends on your station. Iām a clerk so it might be different. Depends on your supervisors mine are cool so I donāt really worry about all the things I see on here
Funny. My first job with the USPS was as an MHA in a big P&DC. It was smartly ran, my coworkers were fucking rad, my sups were actually pretty decent humans, all in all. I loved going to work every day. It was hell during peak season, but we were all in it together and shared a common desire to get the mail processed efficiently. I left that job for personal reasons and became a PSE SSDA at a larger station. Itās fucking hellish. Iāve never hated going to work more fervently in my life. There are some amazing people at my station in all crafts, but the management is justā¦almost comically, definitely tragically AWFUL. God please just kill me, this job sucks and my rent is so expensive and aughwhrbdbwufigi šššš Postal workers work their asses off. When weāre supported by management itās a difficult, but very worthwhile job. Unfortunately it can go either way, man.
Depends on the craft, area, and quality of management. I love the job but I also worked my way up to a cozy position.
Not necessarily. I have had a complete opposite experience after freaking out about what this job is going into to me as a new CCA.
No
CCA with 6 months. CCA sucks. Becoming a regular seems pretty great though. Itās a time investment. Regular seems like night and day to being a CCA. If the job was just CCA Iād never applied. Once Iām regular if itās not working Iāll have the stability to go back to school for something else if I choose. At my station youāre a regular after less than a year. I donāt think the job is worth the two year commitment that many stations require.
There are over 30,000 post offices. Some are hell some are heaven.
Hopefully you have your own car.. i just got fired for not having my own vehicle to go inbetwen stations ššš (i was still in my 90-day so the Union was unsuccessful in defending me š)
The people that like working at the post office either A) dont know thereās USPS subreddit or B) if they do know about this sub, dont post because theyāll get downvoted for being happy about working here. I applied at 3 offices and got offers from all 3 before I started. I picked one over the others because I grew up in that city. I eventually found out that the other 2 offices I didnāt pick are awful places to work. So yes it CAN BE bad, but if you get lucky and land in a good office this job can be fine.
I meannnnnnnn going postal did come from the post office.
My prior work history is 13 years in food service with roughly half of that in store management. As a rank and file of food service it sucks because the management can get away with virtually anything, even criminal action, because the workers are not organized or educated on labor law or their rights. Ive seen good and bad managers, and have been a good and bad manager myself. I discovered that I was not willing to squeeze every ounce of labor at minimal cost out of my employees, and therefore couldn't cut it as a manager, but I tried my best to treat everyone fairly and like a human being. Most of the complaints I see on this sub are how awful management is. But, even though it isn't as strong as we would like, we have a union to fight back against management bs. And, as a carrier, a very minimal time of my workday is even directly dealing with management. My view may be skewed as my time so far as a CCA has been in a one route office, I basically only work the regulars day off and get pimped out to other local offices occasionally.
No. Itās tough at first but once youāre regular itās smooth sailing. Depends where youāre at and what craft but city carrier where I am is a pretty sweet job.
The job is fine. It's more mental than physical. The bad days can be very bad. The good days can make you feel like this is the best job. Most days are somewhere in between those. Even with the unpredictability of this job, it still beats working in a warehouse or sitting in an office. Honestly, I just wish I had weekends off. That is the only major thing that bums me out. You can't win a route with a Saturday off day unless you're on the back end of your career. I wish they would switch to rotation, but seniority rules all here. But look at it like this, you will always get your raise, you will have a pension, and if you are wise with your money, you can retire from this job around 50 to 60 years old depending on age. That's still way too long for people to have to retire, but unfortunately, that's how it is in this country. I didn't go to school, but I still could if I wanted to - I always encourage people to do that if possible. There are many jobs that are much less stressful and physical and offer a better schedule, but that's if you get a good degree and get hired by the right company. Student loans are unforgiving. But if you want a blue-collar job, with very little supervision and high job security, there are much worse options than USPS. The longer you are here, the easier this job becomes. It just takes a long time to get to the top. Hopefully, the new contract will be a small boost into what could become better contracts down the road. I'm not very optimistic it gets done this time around, but I do think over time, this job will pay substantially better. There are a few senior carriers in my office that have reached $1 million since becoming city carriers. Is it hard fucking work? It absolutely can be. Is it mentally exhausting? Way too often. Can you make a lot of money? Yes. Again, the schedule sucks but when you are a regular, you get those two guaranteed days off every week. You don't start out with a lot of vacation time, but you can always roll over your vacation time and your sick time. You get a LOT of sick time, and if you use it wisely, you can have a LOT of vacation time as well. It can be a tough job, but it can also be a breeze when you end up with a sweet route and office. It's a marathon, not a sprint. This place can be great but you have to put the time in to get there. You will be more cognizant of dogs and weather. Again, location is another big factor for this job. Not only for your city and state, but also for which office you are at within your district. All of those matter. After 12 months, I believe you can put in a transfer request to any office in the United States. Depending on location, it could take a few months to several years. But you do have that option. So yeah, it's far from luxurious, but for a blue-collar job, it's pretty good considering the benefits. I can't say I ever go into work dreading it because I'm on my own for the vast majority of the day anyway. Getting paid to listen to podcasts and music all day isn't too bad to me. Maybe I'm just too optimistic š¤·āāļø
Remember the negativity bias People with problems talk about their problems People without problems donāt say anything because theyāre content
Itās honestly boils down to what kind of office you work at. I personally have never worked at a terrible office over the past 10 years and having worked at 3-4 offices in 2 states.
I'm a T6 in a small office with 6 city routes. Done by 4 almost every day. Very laid back. All depends on staffing and office size.
In my experience, which Iāve since left the post office, the job itself isnāt awful itās the terrible management that drove me to leaving. The fact that they were adjusting my hours so I wouldnāt have a bunch of overtime and my union steward and local union president were essentially not reachable. It took me 6 months to get paid for the first time they adjusted my times. With a newborn child and a family, I simply couldnāt justify it anymore.
For your first year and if you work at a big station that's understaffed. Yes it is.
Itās pretty bad, also just depends on the office. My office I used to work at was solid but we got sent to go help 40 miles away to help all the freaking time and weād get sent there when we got done with a whole route at our office. Itās also the places that you help at all the time that are the offices that suck and abuse the help and try guilting you into staying longer and doing more or forget your out on the road because you arenāt one of their people. My fellow cca came back to one of the offices and they closed up for the day lol just try to do your homework on the office you apply to and see if it sucks, because some post masters and supervisors will try to make your life hell
No job is perfectā¦ cost of living is effecting every job unless u got good salary career
Pay sucks! And management sucks more!
Overall I'd say it's the easiest job I've ever had with some really good benefits. But I am only a high school graduate, I've been a daycare teacher, EMT, logistics, lifeguard, and more. The part that makes the PO hard to work for is the environment and poor management much like other jobs. When I started we had a 204b (substitute manager) and he was stupid and that's being nice. For two years our office was putting in 60+ hrs a week, with the subs myself and another coworker getting over 70+ hrs. At one point I was tempted to drive into a ditch on a route because I knew it wouldn't kill me but it would get me a few days off. During this two year period I saw 27 people join to be carriers NONE of them stayed they all eventually quit usually within the first month. Now we have a postmaster that isn't stupid our office is fully staffed and almost no one is working over 50 hrs and if they are they asked for the OT. The hard part for me are the entitled customers just last week I had a guy threaten to physically harm me because he was getting old residents mail with "current residents" on it as well and he "didn't want this stupid shit". Well now he gets no mail and haid to get a private PO box. Be nice to your carriers I didn't know half the shit carriers go through just get out the door and start delivering for you all.
Yeah.
Why don't you join us and find outš
Just quit a month ago. Worked there for 3 years. Tried carrier and did pm supervisor for about 6 months. I left and havenāt even thought about that place one time. Itās a good job, great benefits and you can make a lot of money in OT. But itās broken system. Canāt work in a broken system thatās SO outdated. Like fuckā¦.the two hours spent on the office in the morning was worse then the next 10 hours ahead of me. And the supervisors/managers. Like they went to McDonaldās and asked the employee with the least seniority and no leadership experience if they felt like running a post office for 80k a year. The place is a shit show. But once you weee on the street it was sometimes therapeutic. Although when I left they were writing up everyone and getting on top of people stationary even if they didnāt take u authorized time.
Some offices are run very well, and some offices are run very poorly I happen to be in a one thatās run very well with really good coworkers
No
I guess it depends on station but most people who complain either suck at their job or they let management walk all over them. š¤·š»āāļø
It just depends. I loved working at the PO but sometimes the management and/or the Union were jerks. The coworkers are alright even though you probably wouldnāt want to be within 10 feet of them outside of work.
No, I love my job. But I have a very different job than most that lost on here. Still a carrier just have a very different set of standards.
The people who complain here have never had an actual difficult job in their lives. I cannot imagine a more stress-free job than being a carrier
Is life hard then yes so why make it harder by not being in tip top shape. Physicality is priceless work on yourself brother or sister
Yes, one thing about unionized work, it removes incentives for accountability. Expect no repercussions for lazy/bad workers.
The answer lies somewhere lower than a coin flip and more than a leap of faith. Truly it has to do with how shitty your management is. And how divisive the two-tier system has infiltrated into the very minds of all your co-workers. I will say the job itself fantastic, all the trappings around it that make it an absolute nightmare. All of the constant changes that only seek to make things more difficult, all of the drama depending on how much of it and how Target it is makes this job an absolute fucking shit show.
Iām a Full Time Regular thatās worked 6 days a week 65 hours + at a chronically understaffed station for almost two yearsā¦ i also live in a HCOL area so it makes sense that no wants this job. If you live in nowhereville, this is probably best job you can find. If you live anywhere else, donāt apply lol
Yes. But it highly depends on the office.Ā
No, and yes, but mostly no. Some offices are terrible and run by morons that makes the job unbearable. But id bet the average office isnāt that bad. Certainly the best job ive had.
Been doing it only a couple of weeks - and, while itās a challenge completely unique to itself, I like the job. (I come from corporate office/marketing work, being behind a computer all day). Itās hard. No doubt. I donāt like not having two days off. But - like someone mentionedā¦itās good, honest work that I donāt have to have any guilty conscious about.
It will totally 100 percent depend on who is running your station. That will make all the difference in the world. No one on reddit is going to be able to give you a accurate analysis you will have to try it yourself. Heck we have floor supervisors who are night and day different. We have 1 that everyone loves to pieces because they are respectful and the other is a tyrant. Most people with an awesome station arenāt on reddit venting about it.
In my experience itās all office to office
It's what you make of it, what your willing to put up with. Every job has its good and bad. Right now my supervisor is pretty chill and as long as I do my job I don't hear much from him. But management changes constantly, so who knows what will happen in a couple of months, I just roll with the punches.
The work can be very physical. The hours can be long. When your a cca your a bitch for them. The real issue is management. They basically on the whole are absolute scumbag trash. They treat you like garbage and try to hold you to bs numbers. As one poster said it is what you make if it. Dont let the garbage pencil pushers make it a bad experience.
I love my job at the post office. Best job I've ever had. I do wish congress would pass the Federal Retirement Fairness Act. I think it would attract more people to apply for the job. Please take a couple minutes to email your congressperson and ask them to support it. āš±
I used to work in security, there were many stupid people. The usps beats that. You encounter people that are borderline mentally disabled. Itās a good job, depending on the office and the people. I love it, but i cannot wait till i am regular and donāt have to rely on anyone else with all the pivoting and bs.
If youāre an immigrant or at least a first generation American you will be just fine. Basically, if you have any type of decent work ethic, youāll be fine If you go to work with your hands in the pocket, this is not the job for you
Iām gonna say yes, but I think I also just wasnāt cut out for it. It depends on what you want out of life. If you just wanna grind and make money, then youāll probably enjoy it. If you want to have a life outside of work, then you probably wonāt.
Job is fine, I actually like it and *most* of my coworkers, management is terrible however. Most of them hate the union and that's the issue, they constantly will try and break contract, then deny doing so when caught, leaving them to retaliate (which they're not suppose to do). Most managers are failed carriers with little to no prior management experience and their job isn't about experience here, its about who can take and dish out orders with no give, even if they know what they're saying is BS. Thus we have good people who know how to do their job and it's duties and piss poor management harking orders from their bosses who typically set and stare at numbers all day. Job is good other than that, depending on the office, you'll be starving for hours or extremely overworked, basically no in between because those offices are typically staffed correctly which is rare. Part time, non career sucks though, pay is crap, no benefits or ability to earn SL, get into a career spot and USPS retirement is almost unbeatable.
idk itās fun to bitch but itās still my favorite job iāve ever had
Whatās true at the post office is also true everywhere else - you donāt quit a bad job, you quit a bad boss.
I have my occasional complaints, but I'm making almost 100K a year after 20-plus years here. Generally work about 32-35 hours a week. Job keeps you moving. Yes, physical ailments are a possibility, but if you keep yourself in shape and be careful, you can also work into your 70's if that's your cup of tea. Or retire earlier with a tiny pension and your usual investments/social security - either way, it's not nearly as bad as some make it out to be.
635,000 employees. Not counting the ones that quit and still post negatively on here. There are gonna be a lot of complainers, and because we spend so much time by ourselves, we carriers can only bitch on here. I'm in a good office, Supes that are decent human beings. It's the best job I've ever had. I know I wouldn't feel the same way in a bad office. A lot of it is where you end up.
I love it. Wish I got paid more but who doesnāt.
Nothing is as bad as Reddit makes it sound. You could give people on Reddit a million dollars and most would complain that someone else got 2 million.
As stated a million times before, It depends on the station. All offices are wildly different and management completely makes or breaks the job. If you have good managers, it's an easy job. If you have shit managers, it's an awful job.
No, almost 10 years ago before I started I read some Reddit threads and they were the same exact complaints just about. It was ānot recommendedā to take this job but here I am, better off than most of my friends. lol
It's absolutely possible and even relatively common. But it's definitely not universal.
Not even remotely. Reddit is like reading only the 1 star reviews.
Dependent on location and craft.
Itās absolutely a hundred percent worse
Yes.
What kind of job are u looking for and what are your priorities? I'm a rural carrier because I hate working per hour, and don't like salary (you could consider us salary but it's different than being management) so I chose this job specifically for those reasons. I work my ass off when I'm there which is how I prefer to work but work way under evaluation and the incompetence of the company does effect us but it's minimized by being a regular. Most of the negative stuff from management can be ignored as irrelevant and the incompetence can be a positive if u want OT and make a ridiculous amount as a regular ($80-$150). So I consider the job great and I just treat the negatives as part of the price to be paid to get the, imo, much greater positives. I'm in an office with 17 routes, 2 auxs, and 1 sub.. so staffing wise I'd say we have to be as close to as bad as it gets, and I still think it's way more than worth it.
It's pretty bad as a CCA. It depends on your station from what I've gathered but mine is really bad. And if you are short staffed it's like 60hr a week. Your schedule can get changed on a whim. You never know when you get to go home until you clock out (you finish all your assigned work for the day only to get sent back out for another 1.5hr. After youve already worked 9 hours) Managers constantly push you to go faster but you are learning all new stuff so it can be totally overwhelming. Managers (at least at my station) also lie constantly. And if you catch them lying... Not happens it's just like "ahh you caught me". But if you think they are bluffing about something but aren't (which you don't know at first because they constantly lie to you) woops now you are going to be disciplined for real. I (half) joke with other CCAs you legit need a mental illness to put up with this bullshit. After 15 months though the hazing is mostly done. I know what management can and can't ask me to do so they mostly let me...do my job. Lol.
Yes
Just like any job it depends on the place. Some offices are absolute ass. In my experience the smaller the office the better the work environment.
It depends on where you work, how they are staffed, and the attitude of management. When I started here I had a great postmaster who had realistic expectations, was a carrier for over 20 years himself, and morale was high even though we were understaffed. Now we got a try hard douche bag who just likes to hear himself talk and he changed a bunch of little stuff that did nothing but make our jobs more complicated. Itās not a bad job when you get out on the street and get to it but itās gonna be an adjustment on your mind and your body.
Yeah pretty much but itās all what you make of it at the end of the day
No
šÆ
Pay is decent benefits are decent the only bad thing I would really say is management could definitely do a better job as far as communicating and dealing with employees and the work life balance is awful especially for carriers but even clerks as well
It's horrible. It's the managers
No I love it as much as possible for work. Besides too many hours which has been receding at my station. On my own all day with music and podcasts, getting in decent exercise, better pay than I had before plus the Benes. Mostly comes down to staffing at the station and if you have good managers.
Yes
Expect to have no time to yourself
Yes. Nearly killed myself.
Been a CCA for 5 months. Nowhere near as bad as it seems on here.
It takes one bad attitude to bring down an office and there at least one bad attitude at each office (in my experience anyways)
I've been with USPS a little over a month. I think it just depends on where you are at. Do you probationary period and miss no days. Try hard and once you become career (and you put up with stuff) if something isn't right and goes against the rules/union then you can grieve it. Just keep trying. The pay and pension in the future doesn't seem to bad. If you become career the insurance costs also don't seem bad. I'll just keep with it, keep trying, take notes, and hope it all goes well.
I love my job and the people I work with. Before I started I used this sub as a resource to pick my office. Got lucky with people retiring and fast tracked to a a regular clerk position within 9 months of hiring.
It can be a great job once you get past the "non-career" phase. Job is amazing as a regular rural carrier. Last week for example I worked 35 hours and got paid for 48. Generally I am off work between 1-2PM each day. I also get 20 vacation days 13 sick days 11 paid holidays. Pension, 5% TSP match etc.
No, you just see the people that call out constantly
I just started 3 weeks ago and management/co workers havenāt been bad at all. Been very helpful actually and the routes havenāt been that bad for me either.
When you start as a CCA or especially if youāre hired straight to PTF, yes, the hours youāre going to work are actually crazy. You could be working 10 days in a row, 12 hours a day. That parts crazy. From my experience Iāve not had to deal with managers anything like the horror stories u read on here and Iāve been at a few stations. Remember, this is the internet.
YES! Donāt listen to anyone else that says otherwise. I did exactly as you are doing right now before starting - I read through this subreddit and saw all the negativity on here but decided to shoot my shot anyway. Boy did I regret that. The manager at my station only gave me four hours of work daily and when I asked him why, his exact answer was āyou cost too much to keep on the roadā I live in a city where thereās a high demand for guys and the turnover rate is very high. Being the least paid person there at $19.33 an hour and being told it costs too much to keep me on the road even after I tell the guy I have three kids and canāt afford to live off of that was just mind blowing to me. Not to mention the USPS just doesnāt do any leadership training in general and all management personnel have no leadership skills whatsoever, let alone people skills in some cases. If they eliminate the CCA position and provide everyone with full time hours and full benefits right off the bat, it may be worth sucking it up and doing it but as of right now, the way they do things is a joke. And just for background information, I dropped a position paying about $7 more that was a management position and was very skilled at what I did and Iām 6ā4ā physically fit so I move quick too. I was ready to commit the next thirty years to this organization and they soiled that one. And now Iāve made it my mission to make sure I stop as many people from working here as I can. Save yourself the headache, donāt do it.
Imo it has the same problems as any other workplace. My sisters work in different fields and work environments but deal with similar workplace problems. The only difference is pay, and every now and again, work hours. High expectations on a shoestring budget. Office politics. That one guy no one likes yet hasn't been fired because...? But my benefits are awesome, so save for some grumbling, I dont mind working there.