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12-05-2019 11:42 PM - edited 12-05-2019 11:45 PM
If your post office is like mine with a "help wanted" sign there's a good reason for that.
My friend (late 40's, single, no kids) got a job at the local USPS. You have to work your way up into being hired as a "fully vested" employee. Until then you are a contract worker with few benefits or protections, and you have to work the most grueling tasks. Employees who work the easiest jobs (like at the post office window) have the most seniority.
She started working in September (this is a few years ago) . Second week of November she was told they would not get one day off until AFTER CHRISTMAS. Who else with a spouse or kids could work without a day off in 6 weeks? She worked 12 hour days and was given random routes.
She stuck with it even though she rarely got a day off. She'd be scheduled for a day off but then her supervisor would often call her back in. She couldn't refuse without risk of termination.
After 3 years her name finally made it to the top of the list and she was a fully-vested employee. Now she has some protection as well as better benefits and a pension.
It's no wonder these jobs have a lot of turnover..
12-06-2019 12:02 AM
@Krimpette wrote:While I appreciate their efforts, I wasn't crazy about getting a delivery at 10PM recently from UPS. No fault of the driver, of course, but UPS is just overloading them at this time of year, I fear.
@Krimpette Hi, Krimp!! I can top your 10PM.....I was expecting a delivery today that never arrived.
I just went down to let the dogs out and saw something on the front porch. It was my delivery. I just tracked the package and it said delivered at 11:20 PM.
Someone had a very, very long day.
12-06-2019 12:16 AM - edited 12-06-2019 06:49 AM
@Shorty2U wrote:I have a whole new appreciation for UPS, the USPS, and Fed Ex. My son has a new job as of (11 month ago) at Fed ex loading trucks. His hours the past weeks and until Dec 23rd are six 12 hour days a week loading 400 or more packages an HOUR. He is exhausted, his back hurts, he got hit on the head with boxes, and they cut his head,, paper cuts galore. And went from a size 38 waist to a 29 inch waist in 11 months since he works there! In fact hes thinner than in high school. (He went for tests at the Dr. because everyone thought he was sick because he lost so much weight in no time, he had to buy all new clothing!) His tests came back OK, so its his job! Also, tonight DH was about to go to bed, when UPS dropped a big box on our porch at 9 PM! (our last and final gift we ordered). Lastly, our mail man has been coming at 5 PM instead of 230-3. Theyre all busting their butts so we can all get our packages for Christmas! My son comes home late at night, showers, eats, talks to his wife 30 minutes and goes to bed. (Of course his job will slow down more after the holidays but he still lifts hundreds of boxes an hour and Summer was even busy which I did not think it would be!).
@Shorty2U I can relate to your son's hard work...
Well, I must share some of my work history with you. For over 20 years I worked 2 full time jobs with mandatory OT. I averaged between 90-100 hours a week...and during peak periods at either job my hours would surpass 110 hours.
My 40 hr day job (not including OT) was a certified heliarc welder for a sub contractor for Pratt & Whitney during the day. My 40 hr night job (not including OT) was at an auto parts warehouse filling orders, filling skids by hand and loading skids onto trucks with either a hand jack or a fork lift/hyster.
My day hours were 7am-3:30pm. I would drive home, change my clothes, put on my steel toe boots, make my to go dinner, grab my mail, check for any phone calls and then drive to my night job. I literally had barely enough time to breath. Everything was precision when it came to the tasks I had to do to make the proces go smoothly. My night hours were 4pm-12:30am.
My OT hours for my day job were on Saturdays and occassional Sundays. My OT hours for my night job were mostly from 12:30 am-2:30 am during the week and sometimes Saturdays.
Side note: Both jobs required punching in and out of clocks so I had to make allowance for making sure I got to the clock on time. Lunches were 30 minutes and 2 - 10 minute breaks for each job.
Those 20 years was before I was married. I also worked 2-3 jobs after I got married, but I'll just stop there.
In 2007, 3 years after several health issues including lung cancer surgery in 2004, DH thought it was time for me to retire...bless his heart. I was 48 and had worked enough hours in my lifetime, that if I spread them out, it was as if I worked a single 40 hr full time job til I was over 80 yrs old!
I started working part time jobs when I was 16 and in high school through and up until I went to college for 2 years before I quit. When I was 20 I went from just one full time job to two.
12-06-2019 12:21 AM - edited 12-06-2019 06:45 AM
@Krimpette wrote:While I appreciate their efforts, I wasn't crazy about getting a delivery at 10PM recently from UPS. No fault of the driver, of course, but UPS is just overloading them at this time of year, I fear.
@Krimpette This past week our UPS driver is now driving a U-Haul! They are so backed up they have taken on several extra drivers and have acquired extra vehicles.
12-06-2019 12:26 AM
Tonight, our local news had the story of a Delaware woman who leaves treats in a basket at her front door for delivery drivers and one Amazon driver's happy reaction.
12-06-2019 12:33 AM
@ValuSkr Thanks for sharing - what a great video and idea!
12-06-2019 04:48 AM
I just read that the UPS driver of the hijacked UPS truck in Florida who was held hostage was killed in the shootout, 😟
12-06-2019 04:54 AM
The last two days I received a package from usps before 7am. I was stunned to say the least. My flat pieces came at the regular time in the afternoon Odd to hear the doorbell ring at 6:45AM.
12-06-2019 05:46 AM
News from yesterday......UPS driver and others killed in a crazy senseless incident......
_____________________________--
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/dec/5/ups-truck-shootout-leaves-multiple-people-dead-cor/
12-06-2019 06:43 AM
@Susan Louise : I live two blocks from our ups center where the drivers start out with their trucks for deliveries. My normal deliveries are between 7 pm and 7:30 but during the holidays until 9:30 pm. In my neighborhood the deliveries are now made with a driver using a golf cart that has a trailer hitched to it. The other day, DH was returning home with a friend- a regular ups truck with a piggy back truck was in front of them. DH comment arriving home - "was that your special deliveries from Amazon?". Not fair- he was kidding of course because we both do 90% of our shopping on line. None of our delivery people will accept the tips we have tried to give them or accept bottle water or anything else. Southern Bee
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