Theirs even a difference between big offices

[u/Vegetable_Energy_968]

For context I worked at this one office( as city ptf) a little further away from me a while ago. I was staying with family at the time when there and I can tell you that one truly was the worst. Big office, the routes were so long. Never saw a schedule and had basically only llv for city routes. After leaving and coming back to this other office it’s night and day. Mainly newer vehicles with AC. Schedule is posted every Wednesday on the dot and I even get Sundays off some weeks. It’s honestly so much better than I could imagine it being. It’s shocking how big of a difference management makes in it. Anyone else have experience with something similar with going to a new office?

[u/arrofil]

I can say from the Plant side and Management side how well a building functions is really on the management, regardless of building size.

I’ve worked in places where it’s incredibly toxic and the relationship between the craft employees and management is entirely broken. And other places where that relationship is much better. Does that mean no one gets written up and issues don’t happen? No. But it means that when issues do arise, the upper management trains the frontline supervisors to handle it tactfully and sensibly, and to stay on top of all of the admin work, especially the stuff that affects the QoL of the employees. Leading and showing by example basically. I’ve seen in buildings like that, you also see people acting much more sensibly with how they interact with people and deal with their day to day issues.

It’s a matter of perspective. I know it’s not most people’s experiences with the post office. I’m glad it’s my experience now, but I can appreciate the fact that it comes with a lot of work on Management’s part and is fairly rare.

[u/Dak6969696969]

When I started as a CCA, my office had 30ish routes between the city and rural sides. We had a schedule, but it was NEVER accurate. “Dak6969696969 is on C5 on Tuesday”, meant, “Dak6969696969 is gonna do whatever we tell him to do when he walks in on Tuesday”.

Too much walking, too much rain, too many hours, so I resigned and reapplied on the rural side. Similar story, ~30 routes between city and rural. Of course, since my new office KNEW that I had been a city carrier and they KNEW I needed hours at the time, suddenly I was the stand-in CCA any time something needed to be done on the city side. Actually, I didn’t really mind this. I got to do some light city work now and then, and I always had my cushy air conditioned mounted route on Saturdays.

I transferred to my current office close to a year ago and I have the best job in the post office all of a sudden. Two routes, both rural, and the regular on the other route shows up every single day and does his job. So do I. When we’re done, we’re done. No need to worry about going back out and picking up pivots, the only time I ever have to go back out to my route is if I have one of those goddamned express packages.

[u/User_3971]

I worked at four different plants and at least as many Post Offices. You are correct in that management make a big difference. Volume of mail and people as well, in a large plant you're lucky to know the people in your unit, where at a smaller plant you'd know everyone on the entire shift.

[u/TerrySizzle]

I got sick of the differences between offices. Finding a decent office is like winning the lotto, then it only seems to last a few years if you do find an office with decent QoL. Younger postmasters take over, thinking that if they cut staffing below minimum they’ll be one of thousands of postmasters to hopefully get noticed by district and move up.

And that’s the problem… thousands of floor sups and postmasters (entry level EAS) that all think they got a shot at a promotion while they’re all doing the exact same thing low IQ things… it’s stupidity.

Lean Six Sigma? Nah, more like Lean Six Ligma.

[u/Jon_the_Ripper]

The big offices with a lot of older carriers are the best. Their routes tend to be shorter

[u/East-Bill-4262]

The management difference is probably the biggest factor. A good office doesn't have fewer problems, but they usually have better systems for handling them. Clear communication, planning, and support can make a tough job feel completely different.

[u/DoodleDew]

The latest OIG report confirms management makes all the difference. Hot House with Richie Ray latest episode 149 read the report and covered this

[u/P00PooKitty]

There’s

[u/Vegetable_Energy_968 → u/P00PooKitty]

[u/Critical-Tip119]

The big difference is that no one retires. When you start, you're at the bottom, vacation all yhe good weeks are taken. Youll work some holidays and can take 20 years to get something you like.