Postal Service Trivia

1. After a person is hired by the Postal Service but before doing any work, one last step is required.

From Quiz The Tribe Has Spoken!

Answer: oath of office

This is the same oath of office that is given to the President of the United States and all military service members. You are not a member of American Postal workers until this oath is taken.

From Quiz Life as a City Letter Carrier

Answer: Nine

Really! 1.) Fill out a card indicating that you want to take the clerk/carrier exam. You will then be notified by mail of when you are scheduled to take the test. 2.) Take the exam. In some cities the Post Office will offer a pre-test warm-up, which I heartily recommend taking! (In some cities a private group also offers coaching for taking the test. It was the best $45 I ever spent!) 3.) Receive your score. If you are a disabled veteran you get up to ten extra points, a regular veteran gets five. All others get what they score. Your score will give you an idea of how long you might have to wait to actually get a job, depending on the total number of people that took the exam and how they did. (I scored 98.6 and waited 1 1/2 years to get hired!) 4.) Finally, the Postal Service will send you an application. The one I got was 6 pages long. 5.) Go for an interview. Two or three managers ask you why you want to be a carrier. 6.) If you pass the interview, you will be sent for a physical by a doctor contracted to do exams for the Postal Service. 7.) If you pass that, you will be sent for a driving exam. 8.) After you pass the driving test, you must take a Postal defensive driving course. 9.) And finally you must pass a computer based exam. If you fail the exam you are terminated. If you do pass the exam, you must take the National Safety Council Safe Drivers course. There is no test. Once you have completed the NSD course, there is final road test you must pass to obtain postal driving privileges. If you fail the final road test, you may not be a City (or Rural) Carrier. If you only include the two tests, the total number of steps is nine.

From Quiz The Tribe Has Spoken!

Answer: crafts

One craft doing the work of another isn't acceptable and may cause a grievance to be filed in protest. There are also Letter Carriers, Supervisors and Plant Managers who have their own tribes and sub-tribes.

From Quiz Life as a City Letter Carrier

Answer: 90 days

The probation period in the US Postal Service is 90 days. Every 30 days your supervisor should review your performance with you, telling you what you are doing right and helping you to do better at the things you haven't mastered. During this time you can be let go, but you would be wise to talk to your Union steward if this happens, because the Union has been known to save the jobs of probationary employees. (For overall poor performance you might be better off in another job. In my personal experience I've seen a probationary employee have an accident on his 89th day and be shocked that he was let go when it was discovered that he was driving without a license. I've also seen several people be brought back when it was determined that the problem was a personality conflict with the immediate supervisor.)

From Quiz The Tribe Has Spoken!

Answer: tour

We have a Tour of Duty. The Processing and Distribution part of the Postal Service is never "closed". Three tours of duty operate around the clock. Tour I is usually from ten p.m. to six a.m., Tour II six a.m. to three p.m., and Tour III three p.m. to eleven p.m. Care is taken to stagger reporting times so there will be some overlap.

From Quiz The Tribe Has Spoken!

Answer: one half hour

Lunch times are set by the supervisors for the unit as a whole. All lunches are off the clock, unlike the two ten minute breaks which are paid breaks. The supervisors assign lunch times according the needs of the service, trying to send the most people to lunch during the slowest time of the tour.

From Quiz Life as a City Letter Carrier

Answer: None

Management doesn't have to give you any hours at all. If they do schedule you to work, it has to be a minimum of two hours.

From Quiz The Tribe Has Spoken!

Answer: 30 days

The immediate supervisor rates your work, then discusses ways to improve on the quality of service. After the 90 day probation period your work is either deemed worthy and you are solidly hired, or you are let go to seek life elsewhere.

From Quiz Life as a City Letter Carrier

Answer: 40+

Many people decide against working for the USPS when they find that they aren't guaranteed any hours at the start. Most CCAs are shocked that they are scheduled 6 days a week from the very beginning, thinking they wouldn't get many hours. Becoming a full-time regular employee, who can choose to work only 40 hours a week; it's sometimes the first break a CCA gets!

From Quiz The Tribe Has Spoken!

Answer: safety captain

The safety captains themselves meet once a week and discuss any accidents that have happened or unsafe practices they have noticed. There is no additional pay for being a safety captain. Persons interested take a training course during working hours. The goal is to be accident free. Even an incident which is a near miss is to be reported, so that events can be studied to see if safer action can be taken.

From Quiz The Tribe Has Spoken!

Answer: red tag

Some red tags get removed by workers desperate for that piece of equipment. It's best to quickly safety check any of the more dangerous articles. Equipment on wheels can be especially dangerous as tipping or falling can lead to a bad accident. A few seconds of inspection can save a broken body part.

From Quiz The Tribe Has Spoken!

Answer: flats

It is unacceptable to open these magazines. The address label is on the front cover. Flats are sorted by machine or by hand according to the ZIP code.

From Quiz Life as a City Letter Carrier

Answer: at some point

Employees can be CCAs for as little as 90 days and as long as YEARS! The letter carrier craft is run by the rules of seniority, CCAs start at the bottom of the seniority list and move up as people retire, leave the Postal Service, take different jobs within the Service or transfer. There is generally a celebration when someone "makes regular".

From Quiz The Tribe Has Spoken!

Answer: back to sender if possible

Now you know how some of the mail can "go missing". Often press on labels can come loose and attach to another piece of mail. As far as possible mis-labeled mail is corrected and resent.

From Quiz The Tribe Has Spoken!

Answer: dead letter

These pieces of mail, whether letters, packages or flats, are labeled clearly and sent to dead letter. RIP Sometimes a Postmaster will designate a task force near Christmas to answer letters from children to Santa. But this practice is fading as it isn't cost effective and is more of a goodwill gesture.

From Quiz Life as a City Letter Carrier

Answer: Stealing mail

It is against the law for a letter carrier to read the mail, outside of the address. It is also against Postal Regulations to delay the mail and in certain instances you could get fired for abandoning the mail. But stealing the mail is a heinous crime in the Postal Service. Getting caught would result in your immediate removal from the workplace, the Postal Inspectors would be called in and you'd better call your Union steward, as well as a lawyer, because you could be facing time in prison. Don't do it!

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Last Updated Dec 21 2024 5:54 AM

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