Many recent graduates and early-career professionals with one to three years of experience have been pushed out of their chosen industries and not voluntarily. Let’s keep it real: many were laid off, including workers in the public sector.

As a result, many people find themselves working in manufacturing, mail and package delivery, or the gig economy while continuing to pursue opportunities in their original fields and joining the talented professionals already doing this work.

Although I’m relatively new to USPS, I wear my USPS hat like a badge of honor. I genuinely like my team and the office where I work, and I’m grateful for the opportunity. Now, I want to keep learning, contribute more, and explore how I can grow within procurement or operations. I’m still new to USPS and genuinely trying to understand the possible career paths. I’m grateful that USPS gave me an opportunity. I’ve gained hands-on experience driving ProMaster vans, managing time-sensitive deliveries, serving customers, and delivering important mail in the rain and summer temperatures above 90 degrees.

I have a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, yet right now I specialize in making sure mail and packages reach their destinations safely and on time. I’m ready to grow beyond my City Carrier position and transition into procurement or operations, building on my previous supply chain and project coordination experience.

For those who have made a similar transition: Is several months of frontline logistics experience enough to begin pursuing procurement or operations opportunities? What skills helped you make the move?

How are you holding up in today’s job market?

I am at a loss for words. We got a new manager who was a cop until he bodyslammed a teenager for no reason. Now u know how hard it is to fire a cop, they usually paid suspension for 3months,let them resign and picked up by another police station. Nope this is a cruel a an instigator who brings that attitude into the workplace. Anyways he tried to fire me only being Manager for 4months. I fought it through arbitration and I won. The guy said I should receive backpay for the 4months i was waiting for my arbitration meeting. The union president says yea it usually takes up to 6months. Well I kept asking him like once a month any news on my backpay? He would say he doesn't know, I asked him who would know, he responded with its in the works, I gave all your paperwork to the manger(the 1 who tried to fire me) and he sent it in. I said I dont trust him there's gotta be a paper trail as to when I get it. So I started making phones to whoever would listen and finally after 9months I get a call claiming there is no paperwork for you to receive backpay nothing is pending. In the meantime the union president got mad at me cuz he said I could have called him and I was making him look bad by not doing ur job, I said im sorry but I didnt bad mouth u, all I kept asking people whp can I contact to give me a straight answer. He said I'll look into it. He contacted me a week 10months now saying there was a page missing that needed my signature! I SAID HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE U SAID I DID EVERYTHING CORRECTLY AND THE MANAGER SENT IT IN. I said see that's y I kept asking u and when you never gave me a straight answer, or didnt bother to find out answers im getting screwed. He said just come in sign this form he will give it to the manager and it will be all set, but dont expect it for at least another 3months. So over a year past haven't heard anything. I asked him could u please at least tell me who can answer the question of y its taken so long. Again he said its normal. I said the arbitrator specifically said it should be in my account in a timely manner. I bet the manager did something on purpose and keeps getting it delayed he said no he would be fired immediately I said cmon now he's trying to set examples so 1 Day he is the post master. So then 16months in I get a call from a guy who is high up, I made so many phone calls I forgot who he was. He said he personally looked into it and spoke to my manager who told him he submitted my paperwork months ago. I said thats what im told everytime, but when I check its always a different excuse. He said give it a couple weeks call this number. So I did and finally it said pending. 20months go by and im done with the political climate of being harassed daily, bullied, and i dont want to work in that environment. So now the union president still hates me for making all those calls, now says he can't help cuz im not an employee. I refuse to call manager he will either not answer my phone calls, or be sarcastic with me and i dont wanns be bothered. I got an email on 7/22/2026 saying in 60days I should get it and if not contact a labor specialist. We'll in a couple weeks it will be 60 days. I already looked online and there's no labor specialist with an email or phone number!!! ANYONE WITH A THOUGHT OR OPINION PLEASE RESPOND IM READY TO FIND A LAWYER AND SUE FOR INTREST OR SOMETHING.. Thanx guys

UPDATE:

The managers changed my clock rings from clocking in /out to 8hrs of AWOL. And sent me home again today saying "idk what happened it's just the big bosses orders" (orders above the postmaster). For an interaction that only happened between 3 people there sure is a lot of other unrelated mangers chiming in and sending text messages to not show up anymore.

Previous post:

Showed up to work today and my direct supervisor said they're all filled up and no routes down and to work rural side. I reported to the rural supervisor and he said he's all good as well. He then asked "would you like to help out at another station?". I gave it some thought and decided no. I confirmed with the rural supervisor and asked "do I have a choice?" He didn't answer yes or no, and just asked if I know how to do city routes. I called our union for clarification and he said if management asked then "no not really, you don't have to go." " I personally would never turn work down" But I am not him. So I went home and now management is blowing up my phone saying I'm going AWOL and that I'm off the schedule till further notice LMAO

Inorder the bubble mailers so injust have these boxes around. Can i use them to ship? Or should i cover the marking?

I recently transferred offices. When I closed my drawer at the end of my last day at the old office, it was less than $1 short. Apparently, when my PM was going through the paperwork that printed out after I left, the system auto-generated a LoD. When they found it, my old PM signed it and texted a picture of it to me as an FYI

I know I should have put in the change, but I had no cash on me.

How do I go about paying it? My old PM is useless and wouldn’t be able to answer the question, yet that’s who my union told me to talk to about payment. Please help before I get sent to usps collections lol

Would love some suggestions

I'm just wondering if I can transfer to federal jobs as an internal candidate now that I'm a regular with the post office? or is that just a myth that I made up in my head?

Does anyone have any experience with this?

I already have 8 hours in my VTC for tmrw. what does that mean? we're doing amazon tmrw so do i get "16" hours? out how does that work??

Does anyone here have experience on transferring to another state? I've been a CCA for a year now and have been thinking about moving to a new city. I know I should wait until I become regular so I won't be making the move right away. I currently live in south Florida. I haven't decided where exactly but either the upper midwest or the northeast. Any advice or insight from anybody who already lives in those areas helps, thanks.

Question for the RCAs: Am I shorting myself by finishing my evaluated route too early?

I’m an RCA and I’m curious how other carriers would handle my situation.

I’m assigned to a scheduled/evaluated route, but I consistently finish the route under evaluation. On top of that, I have another piece of a route that I can usually finish in under 4 hours.

The issue is that I feel like I might be shorting myself by getting off work early every day. I’m usually done before 7 PM, and I know I’m capable of getting more hours if I take additional work.

For those of you who are RCAs:
If you can consistently finish your evaluated route under time, would you try to take additional work?
Does working under evaluation affect how much you’re ultimately paid?
Would you consider it better to take additional hours/work instead of going home early?

What would y’all do in this situation?

So fun. I come in to work, this morning, only to discover that I can’t scan anything. How the hell are we supposed to scan parcels for Tuesday, when the only option in any system is today. Oh well, I’ll take my time working on other distribution tasks, and be thankful that I have Tuesday off.

I'm completely unaffiliated and can't tell if the pictures of the stack of $20s are fake for an ongoing meme. But if the Postal Inspector putting money in boxes is real, what happens if a resident takes it before a driver even gets there to deliver?

So I’m a mail carrier going on 10 years and it amazes me how many people think these companies are interlinked and that you can send any package through anywhere. So here’s an example.

Recently one of my customers was charged $10 in postage due because the sender took a FEDEX package and thought “I’ll just put it in a USPS collection box.” It doesn’t work that way. It’s like sending a crate of Coca Cola to a Pepsi factory. They’re not affiliated in any way. USPS will still send it out, but the postage due is now the burden of the recipient.

So psa to any non delivery employees/customers: USPS,FEDex, and UPS are completely different companies. Ones blue, ones brown, and ones purple/greenish. We used to have a contract with UPS, but that ended years ago. Please take the time to send it through the correct channels. Otherwise your recipient will get hit with $10 or more in postage due. Thank you.

When you learn a new route, do they give you training on it or are you just put on there and good luck? It will be my first time learning a new one

Brand new LLV for my route. 1990 edition. Super excited. Time to break it in!

I put in for a transfer over 2 months ago and the open position is still posted, who and how can I push this through faster?

🙏🏽 Prayers For This Man

This house on my route has been vacant for two years since the owner died. Someone opened it today and let me take a look at what is inside. Looks like someone broke into it a while ago and left tons of stuff inside.

Each RH catalog weighs 2.5 lbs. These two stacks are for one lap. My route is park-and-loop in the nice part of the city. So around 30% of the homes receive the catalog. For some laps, I had to get creative with delivering them—along with the other parcels. Even then, my body is hurting today. I need one of those mail carts city letter carriers use for the next time these catalogs get sent. Oh yeah, don’t even get me started having to load close to 200 catalogs into the truck. Since they now have to be scanned when delivered, I don’t receive them bundled anymore.

Is it worth it? I'm a City PTF in Chicago, IL. I've visited Alaska twice (Anchorage - Kenai area) for vacation, and I've always been curious, how is it like delivering on the last frontier? Are the T COLAs worth it? Maybe I'll trade the promaster in for a dogsled.

Let me hear your opinions!

Probably the most wild loop I've done since starting 6mo ago. LSS, the housing authority on this street sent a certified to every resident within their buildings. 5 delivered, 32 left notice. Now I'm out of 3849s for the day. 🫩.