PSE Tractor Trailer Driver US Post Office

Did you actually itemize enough to deduct more than the standard dedication that most take during tax time?

 

To tell you the truth...I have a friend who's an accountant that only charges me $25 to do my taxes...and let's just say he is VERY clever at what he does .

I'm really surprised that a city like Chicago wouldn't have enough work to allow OT. At my barn, we are severely understaffed and picking up more and more work. We got drivers working 12-16 hours a day, 6 days a week. Some work 7 days, but no more than 2 weeks at a time. And it's not just our craft, it's EVERYBODY. Mail Handlers work 7 days a week for months on end. Same with Letter Carriers. Automation and Manual Clerks working 6-7 days a week. Hell, even our Maintenance Custodians work 6 days week. Imagine a custodian who just takes out trash, cuts the lawn, cleans bathrooms, etc., making over $100k. Clerks making $100-150k. Mail Handlers making $150-200k. Letter Carriers making $150-200k +. TTO's making $150k +. And we're not even close to being the top money makers. I know of other barns in other states where TTO's are making over $160k +. Everybody who works at the PO basically looks for OT in order to make money. "BUT" in order to make that money, you practically have to LIVE HERE to make it. We got guys who practically never leave. Almost like trolls living under a bridge, or fungus growing on a tree. I wouldn't necessarily call it having no life or living just to work, although it can easily be viewed that way...but the job almost becomes part of you. It's what you are. You're identity. It's hard to explain it unless you work here...but it's DEFINITELY not for everyone.

 

NYC is nowhere near this busy. I'm PTF and just got the lowest check since I started (worked 5 days, not 6).
I'm told it will pick up soon and be very busy.

Bidding is still ongoing. I am close to the bottom of the list so I will likely not get to bid.

 

Dunno if this is of use to anyone, was looking for info on a postal contract hauler and came across this page which has docs listing the top contractors for the USPS for each year... Top U.S. Postal Service Suppliers Lists

I did a screenshot of the top 26 for 2018...

 

Try to attend a Union meeting if possible. It's not just a place to vent your grievances, but you can gain A LOT of useful information about how your District operates and learn about not just what's going on in the MVS Craft, but ALL Crafts within the APWU...locally and nationally. You can get updates on contract negotiations, prefund mandate, and what the White House and Congress has in store for the PO. You'll be surprised what people in your District are actually making. It's where I got the info on how much Crafts employee's were making at my barn and it shocked the hell out of me . I had no clue that some people were making that much. Obviously not everybody is making that much money. They are the exception...not the rule.

As far as the bidding process...sorry to say, but you will not be able to bid as a PTF . However...you will be able to bid on a "hold down position" as your seniority gets higher. PTF's are Career employee's, so you will get the same step level raises like we do every 7 months. So when you do actually get converted to FTR, whatever step level you are on as a PTF will transfer over to as a FTR, minus the 10 holiday pay that was built into your payrate. You'll then start receiving 10 holiday pay as a FTR whether you work on those days or not. Career employee's salary can not drop down. So you will not drop down to the beginning step level pay as a FTR. PSE's on the other hand is a completely different story.

 

Looking at that top 25 list, the only ones I see that are "ACTUAL" HCR Mail Contractors rated top to bottom are......

- Eagle Express Line/Hoovestol
- PFS (Postal Fleet Services)
- Pat Salmon
- MCA (Mail Contractors of America)
- Matheson
- MTI (Midwest Trucking Inc.)
- Southern Mail Services
- Bancroft and Sons Transportation

Eagle/Hoovestol doesn't surprise me as number 1 on the HCR list. They're huge. I see them everywhere.

The rest are basically airline services.....

- FedEx
- UPS
- United Airlines
- Kalitta Air
- American Airlines
- Delta Air Lines

The PO has only one cargo plane that I know of. They basically contract all their air services for their overnight express mail and parcels. FedEx is our biggest air service, which probably explains why they are number 1 on that list, followed by UPS, United, Delta, and so on.

All the others...like Verizon , HP, Citibank, Jasper, etc., etc., I have no clue why they're on there other than paid services. Verizon and AT&T I do know we have contracts with them though.

 

FedEx Freight also ships some mail by ground, though it's probably an insignificant amount compared to what goes on the planes.

 

Idk about insignificant, FXF here is in full swing of bringing vans full of junk mail and flyers to the P.O. hub downtown.

 

All those scanners gotta be networked, trucks are likely networked, they have online payment systems for the website and for all those contractors, etc., so seeing Big Comm gulping down postal dollars doesn't surprise me. I found it interesting how much they outsource already in any area they can, and how few names in the top list are HCR's, about 1/3.

Was looking at a rural highway run and heard that local carrier routes were actually awarded to the highest bidder (one from that list above who may be HQ'ed in Florida) and not the local guys who were trying to get in, had experience there, and bid a lot lower. Yet they turn around and try to be draconian when it comes to agreement people. It's almost like they're setting things up to be corporatised. :^)

The search started because I was trying to understand why some carriers let their drivers take the 5.03 Health and Welfare as wages if they want to, some put part of it in plans and pay the rest, and some put it all in a plan like Contractor's Plan and think that's the only way it can be done because someone in USPS told them so and they were afraid to ask why.

I think it must be regional/local differences and also how large and influential the carrier is. The big ones seem to make the payout choice available, the smaller ones do not, which seems like it would help the larger ones get even larger because drivers will gravitate there.

 

True, I forgot about the flyers. I was thinking of the white USPS bins filled with mail and stacked on those black plastic pallets.