Anyone run for USPS contractors?

Because I wasn't stuck in a company truck set at 62 - I could actually pass other trucks and it didn't take me 3 miles of highway to do it.

 

Alright guys, just a passing update on this one.

Been leaving calls and sending emails for 2 days and finally got a response - that says something right there....

• 1099 Independent Contractors: I realize that all carriers of this nature are contract carriers for the USPS and not actual employees of the USPS. However, all drivers of this company are 1099 independent contractors.
• No Insurance Benefits: The company does not accept benefits under contract nor do they offer any in-house. New Mexico offers a state health exchange that I would be required to purchase coverage through.
• Applicant Pays For Everything: I am required to pay for the DOT drug screen, two color passport photographs, 2 sets of fingerprints, and the USPS background investigation. At approximately 90 days after employment, if an employee progresses beyond the probationary period then any money used for those purposes will be reimbursed. If you don't pass the background check (I already have my hazmat so I don't know why I wouldn't) or aren't eligible to be hired for any reason then you are out the money.
• Pay up to 40 hrs.: All drivers are paid up to 40 hours per week to include the $4 per hour "Health & Wellness" premium. After 40, I would still be paid the base rate, no overtime pay or "H & W" pay. Up to 40 hours I'd be paid at $26.50 and any hours after 40 would be paid at $22.50.
• Bad equipment: I know for a fact that there are several problems on the tractor-trailer I road tested on, including one OOS violation. No CB, non-functioning radio, busted up interior, 2 trailer tires below 2/32" and others fairly close, oil leaking from the timing cover and contaminating the engine drive belt, mismatched tires on both trailer axles, several burnt out exterior lights, etc. I would have to put the truck OOS for the tires before I could even leave the yard with it.

G. Anthony, thank you for telling me about the possibility of being a 1099'er - I wouldn't have thought to ask that question. That was one big reason I chose to no longer pursue this opportunity, another was the up-front cost to even apply to this company with no guarantee that I would even be able to get it back. In fact, I read a little further into the mound of paperwork I was given and they have at least 3 ways "out" of reimbursing you for any of the screening costs. If you aren't eligible per a USPS background check result, if you quit before a 90-day probationary period, or if they decide to not retain you beyond a 90-day probationary period. Any of those things happen and you forfeit the funds you used to have the various screenings done.

There was just too much bad juju with this place. Being interviewed by the shop foreman, being sent to do a PTI on a tractor-trailer and then said shop foreman being visibly irritated when I find a bunch of stuff he didn't know or care about, having to pay for items that are normally borne by the company as a cost of hiring & training a new employee, and even the various forms I was given were rife with spelling and grammatical errors. Yes, I realize that is a little "nit picky" of me, but if someone running a business doesn't know the difference between two, too, and to (which I saw misused and even misspelled several times), it makes you wonder how much care they have and how much attention they pay to other aspects of the business.

I came into trucking after 12 years of IT (Information Technology) and I know truck drivers have a huge stigma about being a bunch of dumb, inbred, backwoods, ex-con morons, but don't sit there and try to sugarcoat the fact that you want me to pay for big portions of your application process and then try to BS me when I'm asking very pertinent questions about your business and the conditions I would be subject to as a driver for your company. If I ask you a question, I expect you to either have the answer or find out, not try to steer me away from the topic because you're just looking for a butt in your seat.

Again, thank you to all who replied, it was very helpful and somewhat educational.