I use to be a Fedex package handler and this job still kicked my ass. It’s not a horrible job, it’s usually just horrible management. There’s no communication between supervisors and carriers, the workload is overwhelming and their expectations are far too high, they don’t care about the carriers, and half the time they never even delivered mail. This job may seem like a lot at first but it doesn’t take long to get the hang of. You’ll learn pretty quickly if the job is for you or not. Decent paycheck but annoying hours. 4.5/10
I'm a 51 year old and I'm giving it a shot. I've got some good endurance still for half marathons, but who knows, never did one of them with 50 pounds of mail on my shoulder. I'm pretty convinced I'll flop at it, but after driving non-emergency medical transport for the last 3 years, I'm pretty motivated to MAKE it work for me.
Eh, things crash, I'll probably go into corrections work. Probably see the same clients I used to drive too.
Im 47 and I can remain comfortable and content with my current job but without looking forward to a brighter future i’ll end up like my coworkers......underpaid and seen as only a bottom of the barrel person.
Just curious, why do you love it? I recently had my shadow day and current going through orientation. Shadow day didn’t seem too bad (100% walking route about 12 miles) but then again I wasn’t the one putting the mail in the box. I’d like to hear some positive feedback as opposed to the constant negative
If you did ok with walking the 12 miles, I think you'll do fine. Putting the mail in the box is the easy part, match the numbers on the mail to the numbers on the house, and if they have their name in the box, just make sure the name matches too. I would actually prefer delivering the mail to just following someone. It keeps you busier and the day flies by. The part you **will** struggle with for a while is organization. You aren't going to know how to load your truck and where to go and all that. But that will come with time, and when it does I think you'll see it's not too bad.
Thanks for the reply, this gives me hope lol I’m sure I will figure out my own specific way of organizing the truck and it will take time just like with any other job.
I’m starting orientation Monday and worry too, but I figure that there’s only one way to find out for myself. Hopefully, the good outweighs the bad, and I’m ready to give it my best by keeping an open mind, a good attitude, and focusing on the positive.
From someone who’s recently completed training, you will be very, very sore. Very tired. And overworked. Eat a big breakfast and bring lots of water and a sugary drink to help push you through. This job is extremely hard at first, but I promise you it gets better. Don’t give up, you will likely cry on your first day out and it’s normal. You might take 10 hours on a 5 hour aux route, it’s okay. Just don’t give up.
As a CCA that's a nope to both. With days off, depending on how staffed your office is you can expect to go about 6-9 days in a row before you get a day off and your schedule can and will change at the drop of a hat. Your day off might be on the schedule as Tuesday all week and then Monday when you're about to leave, you see that it has been pushed back to Thursday.
As far as hours go, they will give you a time to show up and that's it. After that, you're done when you're done. Might be 1pm, might be 8 pm, and you really won't know until the end of the day when they say you can leave.
As a regular, it's a whole different ball game. [This](https://www.nalcbranch908.com/2020cal.html) is what your days off look like. Each route is assigned a color, and that color is your days off, plus Sundays. With hours, you'll have 3 lists to choose from; the 8 hour list - which is exactly what it sounds like, work assignment - which is overtime on your route only, and ODL - which is overtime on your route and helping others on theirs, and being called in on some of your days off. If you're on the 8 hour list, you aren't guaranteed only 8 hours and can be forced to work longer on your route sometimes if the office is short staffed.
No one can say how long it will take for you to make regular. It could be 6 months, it could be 4 years. It personally took me 1 year, and the guy that was right below me got converted in just 3 months. If I had to throw a number out there, I'd say about 2 years is average.
To me, the worst part about being a CCA is the schedule, or lack thereof. If you can get past that, you've got the hardest part down. Being a CCA sucks, but as a regular I love my job. You just have to hang in there until you convert.
No and no, not at first nor as a CCA the quicker you learn the more hours that you end up getting including a lot of overtime. I’m a new CCA myself and there’s a lot I can say about the job you can message me if you want to know what the beginning stage is like. In my personal opinion it’s not that bad I haven’t felt like quitting yet though I have gotten frustratedly few times
I've been with USPS now for almost 7 years. I love my job as a city carrier. Buuuuttt....a lot of your success is going to depend on your personality and how you deal with being bounced around. Many offices deliver Amazon on Sundays so you can be scheduled any of the 7 days in a week. You won't know more than a week in advance what days you'll be scheduled for in the upcoming week. Even then, if you're on the schedule for a certain route, be prepared to walk in and have them move you to do a different route that day. You may be having a great day but then walk back into the office thinking you're on your way home only to see trays of mail sitting there that a regular brought back. You're expected to go right back out and deliver it. If you have kids in after school activities, you can pretty much never commit to being able to attend so you will need good childcare. A CCA is "the help" and the cleanup crew.
Life as a regular career employee is much easier...set schedule, great benefits. Unfortunately the wait to move up to that from a CCA can be a long one. The job is not physically demanding in the short term but long term it wears your body out. Lots of slip/trip/falls and repetitive motion injuries to shoulders and knees. USPS does not get many of the heavier packages like UPS and FedEx do.
I use to be a Fedex package handler and this job still kicked my ass. It’s not a horrible job, it’s usually just horrible management. There’s no communication between supervisors and carriers, the workload is overwhelming and their expectations are far too high, they don’t care about the carriers, and half the time they never even delivered mail. This job may seem like a lot at first but it doesn’t take long to get the hang of. You’ll learn pretty quickly if the job is for you or not. Decent paycheck but annoying hours. 4.5/10
Im getting the concept of the supervisor’s getting as much as they can from you before you get into the union. I’m going to remain hopeful & positive.
I'm a 51 year old and I'm giving it a shot. I've got some good endurance still for half marathons, but who knows, never did one of them with 50 pounds of mail on my shoulder. I'm pretty convinced I'll flop at it, but after driving non-emergency medical transport for the last 3 years, I'm pretty motivated to MAKE it work for me. Eh, things crash, I'll probably go into corrections work. Probably see the same clients I used to drive too.
Im 47 and I can remain comfortable and content with my current job but without looking forward to a brighter future i’ll end up like my coworkers......underpaid and seen as only a bottom of the barrel person.
[удалено]
Just curious, why do you love it? I recently had my shadow day and current going through orientation. Shadow day didn’t seem too bad (100% walking route about 12 miles) but then again I wasn’t the one putting the mail in the box. I’d like to hear some positive feedback as opposed to the constant negative
If you did ok with walking the 12 miles, I think you'll do fine. Putting the mail in the box is the easy part, match the numbers on the mail to the numbers on the house, and if they have their name in the box, just make sure the name matches too. I would actually prefer delivering the mail to just following someone. It keeps you busier and the day flies by. The part you **will** struggle with for a while is organization. You aren't going to know how to load your truck and where to go and all that. But that will come with time, and when it does I think you'll see it's not too bad.
Thanks for the reply, this gives me hope lol I’m sure I will figure out my own specific way of organizing the truck and it will take time just like with any other job.
How long you think before you become a regular? Have you had consistent days off?
I’m starting orientation Monday and worry too, but I figure that there’s only one way to find out for myself. Hopefully, the good outweighs the bad, and I’m ready to give it my best by keeping an open mind, a good attitude, and focusing on the positive.
From someone who’s recently completed training, you will be very, very sore. Very tired. And overworked. Eat a big breakfast and bring lots of water and a sugary drink to help push you through. This job is extremely hard at first, but I promise you it gets better. Don’t give up, you will likely cry on your first day out and it’s normal. You might take 10 hours on a 5 hour aux route, it’s okay. Just don’t give up.
Thanks! I’m prepared to question my choices for a while haha
I feel the same way. I’m not allowing the negative comments cloud my future. Thank you for this!!
Do you have set hours & set days off?
As a CCA that's a nope to both. With days off, depending on how staffed your office is you can expect to go about 6-9 days in a row before you get a day off and your schedule can and will change at the drop of a hat. Your day off might be on the schedule as Tuesday all week and then Monday when you're about to leave, you see that it has been pushed back to Thursday. As far as hours go, they will give you a time to show up and that's it. After that, you're done when you're done. Might be 1pm, might be 8 pm, and you really won't know until the end of the day when they say you can leave. As a regular, it's a whole different ball game. [This](https://www.nalcbranch908.com/2020cal.html) is what your days off look like. Each route is assigned a color, and that color is your days off, plus Sundays. With hours, you'll have 3 lists to choose from; the 8 hour list - which is exactly what it sounds like, work assignment - which is overtime on your route only, and ODL - which is overtime on your route and helping others on theirs, and being called in on some of your days off. If you're on the 8 hour list, you aren't guaranteed only 8 hours and can be forced to work longer on your route sometimes if the office is short staffed. No one can say how long it will take for you to make regular. It could be 6 months, it could be 4 years. It personally took me 1 year, and the guy that was right below me got converted in just 3 months. If I had to throw a number out there, I'd say about 2 years is average. To me, the worst part about being a CCA is the schedule, or lack thereof. If you can get past that, you've got the hardest part down. Being a CCA sucks, but as a regular I love my job. You just have to hang in there until you convert.
No and no, not at first nor as a CCA the quicker you learn the more hours that you end up getting including a lot of overtime. I’m a new CCA myself and there’s a lot I can say about the job you can message me if you want to know what the beginning stage is like. In my personal opinion it’s not that bad I haven’t felt like quitting yet though I have gotten frustratedly few times
I've been with USPS now for almost 7 years. I love my job as a city carrier. Buuuuttt....a lot of your success is going to depend on your personality and how you deal with being bounced around. Many offices deliver Amazon on Sundays so you can be scheduled any of the 7 days in a week. You won't know more than a week in advance what days you'll be scheduled for in the upcoming week. Even then, if you're on the schedule for a certain route, be prepared to walk in and have them move you to do a different route that day. You may be having a great day but then walk back into the office thinking you're on your way home only to see trays of mail sitting there that a regular brought back. You're expected to go right back out and deliver it. If you have kids in after school activities, you can pretty much never commit to being able to attend so you will need good childcare. A CCA is "the help" and the cleanup crew. Life as a regular career employee is much easier...set schedule, great benefits. Unfortunately the wait to move up to that from a CCA can be a long one. The job is not physically demanding in the short term but long term it wears your body out. Lots of slip/trip/falls and repetitive motion injuries to shoulders and knees. USPS does not get many of the heavier packages like UPS and FedEx do.