Im a beginner mail carrier and I was looking for tips! This helped so much to keep me encouraged and ready to go! Thank you for hitting all the sensitive topics!
I'm an RCA and i think setting the mini goals does help a lot. Like say, i want to be at this area by 11, then this area by 1, then this area by 3 and so forth. It breaks up the day and you can tell if you're behind or ahead.
managers have GPS tracking . All you need to know is that if you are late at one point you should be at least that late al all other points according to management. If you can "makeup" time that means to them you goof off when you don't make up time
Was on a route for 6 years. Really loved it but management made it heck! Switched to a new route and it terrifies me. Attitude is the biggest thing. Keep getting better and recognize that you are getting better no matter what negative voices you may hear.
I have been a carrier for 20 + years bid on a new route and started Saturday I keep missing flat outs/spurs had to go back track didn’t finish till almost 5 pm learning the case is always the hardest but repeatedly it will come easier there is no right or wrong way to do this job u gotta do what works for u.
Love the optimism! Attitude is KEY to every situation, as well as breaking big problems / issues down to smaller pieces that are easier to deal with. Goals are awesome as well!
Love your mail videos! Keep them coming! I am starting orientation next week and your videos has helped me so much! Thank you for taking the time to make them!
I agree with the mini goals helping, I have a goal that I MUST be at a certain location before 2pm, so if I am on it by 1pm, I know I'm ahead by an hour and if I'm on it, before 1pm, I am SOME KIND OF HAPPY! LOL (Light day)
Ya, I did look ahead this Tuesday. I'm a person that tends to triple guess myself so this I think may help. My route is 128 miles so i double guess myself to much cause going back to deliver a missed package can actually cost me 30 minutes.
Employee being treated like crap early on. Set up to fail. Sweating bullets putting forth a huge effort with nothing but discouragement from PM. She won't put person the route after driving partial routes. How can one get better if she is making employee stay home? Conscientious hard-working intelligent person.
Hey Forrest, great videos! I’m in the process of starting as an RCA here in TN. I was curious how much you work on average during now peak season as I’m about to pull the trigger on a vehicle for the job but am worried about only working 2 days per week. I know it varies from area to area but wanted to know what your hours were like weekly.
The heavy days....ugh...watching this trying to find ways to help my husband. Packages are so bad now with Amazon. He is a 40 year carrier. Trying for 2 more years. Its tough.
I’ve just now starting my RCA career and I’ve went out to shadow and delivered on the 1st half twice and yesterday the 2nd half! It was a long day because I didn’t know where the mailbox’s were and forgot to deliver some packages, which I had to go back out! Are there any tips to help me with learning the case and knowing what order I can do when coming into work for the day? Hot case, and separating the packages! I have ADD and I get distracted while trying to case and the packages piling up! Please help!!
I worked 4 days leading into the academy this week. With the COVID it has been pretty much kicked in the pool with the sharks. Last week my toter went down and had to use my 3/4 ton Z71...that won't happen again hahahaha. I'm driving an 02 Taurus. But I'm learning the case more everyday and trying to get a system by typing it up for reference on the case.
Hey Forrest thanks for sharing your videos, I wonder why USPS doesn't have a system like Amazon, their scanner has also a GPS turn by turn directions and information about your packages, anyway I also wonder if you happen to know any delivery driver that is hard of hearing impaired, I am asking because of me and I would like to start a new carrier as RCA, so thank you, please don't stop making videos. PS: I already subscribed to your channel.
i justt start as mail man in a few days for me the bigggest thing will be driving the van here in swiss we got stick shift delievery vans. driving the tour sensflly wil be a big thing oo but just driving the van worries me the most
Never marked a package ever such a time waster, spending more time in the office than necessary. Divide them in 3 sections in vehicle based on location and use memory and go from there.
I'd rather spend the extra time in the office and not worry about it on the route. This seems to work great for smaller routes but on bigger ones. Spending all that time alone so much runs through my head! I'd never remember them all haha. Different things work for different people
As an RCA, on a new route, or one I don't know very well, I mark my big parcels. Every route I put my smalls in order. The routes I know i don't mark anything. I do, however, write the address on the boxes, just so I can see it better.
Same with me, my regular said its well over 800 mail boxes 200 packages a day. Yesterday on a Monday it was very bad, I’m really questioning my self if it’s for me or not. Haven’t been able to complete the route yet without some sort of help.
Dude wat kinda right sided steering wheel do you have man?? Thanks fir videos I gotta know if I should just drive in middle or get a right sided car???
Waste of time. I work with people that spend an hour every morning marking and sorting their parcels. I can do mine in 20 minutes since I’m not wasting time marking.
sheanaterry if I don’t know the route, I will employ a grid system. So I’ll write where on the case the package is. Using a round robin case for this example, the first row is my A row. A1, A2, A3. Next row B. And so on. That way I have some idea what order they go in and I can just throw them in the truck and bring them up to the front as I need them. It’s still very easy to do even if you don’t know the route and will save you a lot of time. You may miss something and have to go back, but having to do that will teach you very quickly not to make mistakes. On an average morning, most of my coworkers will spend 4 hours casing their mail, marking parcels, pulling down, and loading. I do it in 2 by not marking anything and bringing DPS to the street. So that two hour savings is big. Even with DPS on the street slowing me down a bit, I can come in about 90 minutes later than everyone else and I’m still one of the first people back to the office every day.
I use googlemaps when I am trying to find a location...if I'm running a new route and only helping by delivering parcels...(no mail to follow) however I have had it send me out to the wild blue yonder with NO HOUSE in sight so be sure to watch your surroundings as you follow it.
Follow the dps mail everything is in order through the dps or have your carrier to put arrows in the mail boxes that helped me a lot and always remember that you’ll almost never have to turn around to to go back unless you miss a package the mail moves forward so your next mailbox would always be infront of you not behind you
Hi. Do you number your packages or use the alphabet system. Like the 1A 2B 3C its driving me crazy. I would rather number my packages. What do you think?
So if for example a 4 hours route for the day; if you did it in 6 hours by some reason will you be payed for the 4 hours or 6? I'm a bit scared because they told me it's part time and that I might work 20 hrs a week and some week it can increase to 60... but I want to work as much hours as a can but part time sounds like there days I'm gonna work 2 or 3 hours and that's not business for me... I'll be making way less there...
Is that a Suzuki Samurai? Is that big enough to hold all the packages for an entire route? I just got hired as a RCA and I'm trying to decide if I need a bigger car. Edit: I just found the video about your car... Thanks for the info! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CJDJR6eMTWU.html
my regular would write up index cards with details of where to go and what turns to take. my biggest issue was the case too and i was scared more of the route but nope the case is what makes me super slow.
It completely depends on your office. The office I’m in, every route has a truck. I’ve worked in probably 10 other offices and nobody in any of those offices ever had to use their own car. Generally, the more rural the office, the higher the likelihood. It is technically a requirement of the position so it’s important to ask when you go for the interview.
I'm green as grass and have began as a substitute on a 118 mile rural route that the mail doesn't arrive until 8:10 and I HAVE to be back by 4:30....one box is 20 minutes to and back. It has beaten me to death, some 2 Lane highway but mostly dirt road. I'm 52 and this is hurting me bad... The casing has so far been my challenge and getting started on the road...
Congrats! The hardest part for me was learning the case. Just take your time in the beginning. Try to soak in all the information you can. Everyone will try to tell you a different way to do things. My advice would be learn how they do it, try it out for yourself. If you don't like it try something else until you find your own way of doing it! Good luck if you have anymore questions let me know!
1. Get there early! 2. Learn the case! 3. Get a map of the route if it's complicated 4. Case your chunkies with your mail 5. Bring a back pack with pins and markers and gloves etc Hmmm, what else? Did I say get there early?
My route is evaluated for 9 hours so it doesn't matter what time you get done you get paid for 9 hours! Every route is different, but it pays to get done as soon as you can! You can be done and at home and still getting paid!
You ever had route inspection? Cause my route used to be 8 hour route(PARK&LOOP) for more than 2 years and they cut out a loop and added more than 2 loops. Using my mini goal helps but not for my supervisor writing the 96s
You make straight time over 40 so yeah, it makes sense to not move too fast but only if you know you’re working enough that week. If you’re working 3 or 4 days a week, you want to move fast. But 5 or 6 days a week, move as slow as you can. But don’t go over evaluation without a valid excuse. I’m a regular now but when I was an RCA and PTF, I’d work the exact evaluation every day so that I didn’t leave any money on the table. I worked mostly 45Ks so that’s all straight time. 40 hours plus 5 hours overtime. That’s where the money is at. My PTF rate was somewhere around $21.16 an hour but with overtime, I was averaging like $27 per hour every paycheck. The problem with moving too fast... say you’re scheduled to work 5 days on a 9 hour route each day. That’s 45 hours for the week if you’re getting paid evaluation. You do it in 7 hours every day. So your actual work hours are 35. Cool, your making 10 hours that you didn’t actually have to work. Uh oh, they call you in for a 6th day. Now you’re cresting 40 hours so you’re making straight time so you just cost yourself a bunch of money. Now you’re working an extra day but you’re only getting paid 42 hours. 40 straight, 2 Overtime. This is why it pays to hit your evaluation. Same scenario, but working the evaluation, you get 54 hours. 14 hours of OT. That’s the ticket. And that’s the reason that I probably made 10-15k more per year than most of my fellow subs in my office.
