Postal Haulers... who are the good employers?

Thank you, I should have been clearer about what I'm asking. I'm already doing it and the rates are set by USPS, looking for the better contractors. I like physical activity, and everything moves on wheels, unless you're wheezy-obese it's pretty easy and only takes minutes to load/unload a trailer.

To clarify for anyone else interested, the $5.xx/hr Health and Welfare is on top of pay for the first 40 hours so after 40 you make less per hour. Some companies require that to be paid into a special account for its intended purpose, some will add it to regular pay if you ask.

I've talked to drivers from a few companies, suggest that anyone interested do likewise, just like you would if you were hiring at a local LTL or food service barn. It's easier if you're already on a PDC loading dock.

 

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Job listings are easy to find, go to your local CL/Jobs/Transport and put mail in the search. Or use SearchTempest to search whole regions at once. On Indeed they have listings under mail hauler.

Much like FxG, the individual contractors are different, have different runs and equipment.

There are locations and shifts with miserable people. I've seen this before; the golden seniority handcuffs are chafing and the work is unending and repetitive and becomes torture. One troubled location has a poster about Depression on the wall next to the urinals. :^)

The good thing is I don't have to talk, just load or unload and go. I don't even need a pen, they print out a BOL to put in the sealed trailer and one for my pocket, about the size of a dollar bill. If they make me late with a delay, they make out a late slip to hand in at the other end.

Another positive is that it makes a great conversation starter with other mail drivers, we all know which places are miserable and have a laugh about them. There are good and funny people working docks as well.

It reminds me of my city messenger days. I'd come into an office out of the bright sunshine and find unhappy people in a dimly lit office who looked down on me, but minutes later I was back out in the sun and they were stuck in there, self-imprisoned by needing to get ahead and keep up payments on stuff that didn't make them happy anyway. :^)

The reason that 6-day job isn't filled is because overtime pays less. That company needs to find a weekend driver and bid the seventh day or something else. Lots of part-timers in this racket, some would love two days.

There is more mail volume than ever. If a contractor is doing less they got underbid. There is so much package volume that I often can't fit the regular mail cages in my trailer after loading the package pallets, and then Amazon shows up while I'm unloading to add even more pallets of packages to the crowded dock. That also probably contributes to employee unhappiness, from their side it must look like an unending avalanche.

It also means that there's always work. Even in 2008 the runs kept going as usual, from what I've heard.

I haven't seen any Veltri trucks yet, noticed Hoovestol somewhere else in my travels, I think it was Utah, seemed like nice tractors, Volvo sleepers IIRC. It's a hard name to forget.

@blairandgretchen I agree with your sentiment, I used to have a gig that took 3-4 months out of the year. I'm adapting to 5 easy days and continuing to look for a still more relaxed schedule.

 

I'm doing my own rolling, don't mind, it's easy. But could stand to make more. USPS needs to update the wage scales.

Lots of Eagle in PHX, also Matheson and Beco.

 

I watched a driver from a large OTR mail company try to hook last night. They backed up, there's a little ramp they go up so the tractor tail was angled up and still wasn't lifting the trailer. I can see light shining through, at night. They try anyway, pull up, no hook.

But don't get out, oh no, just try backing harder. Now they've submarined and have the pin ahead of the wheel and the van and the cab are inches apart.

But still don't get out, just hit the bag switch. Except it's not enough to clear... bang.

At that point I was called to a dock by my savior, so didn't watch more appalling laziness.

I think some folks get glued to that seat and bodily transfixed, they likely don't care about clean cabs either.