Driving the Rural Delivery Route
The U.S. Postal Service has almost 80,000 rural delivery routes serviced by some 133,000 rural letter carriers. For some of those routes, USPS provides the vehicle; for others, the carrier uses a private vehicle and receives a maintenance allowance from the Postal Service for wear and tear. In fiscal year (FY) 2020, the Postal Service paid out nearly $583 million in maintenance allowances — a rise of $71 million, or 13 percent, over FY 2015.
Not long ago, the Postal Service started converting some private-vehicle rural routes to USPS-vehicle routes, estimating the change would save $888 million over six years. For a recent audit, we reviewed a sample of these completed conversions nationwide as well as future conversions, and found that the Postal Service’s strategy for these changes was generally effective. We also discovered a few shortcomings.
For instance, maximum savings weren’t realized because USPS wasn’t implementing conversions in a timely manner, and we determined that some of the future conversions wouldn’t be the most cost-effective. We made a couple recommendations to improve the process, and Postal Service management agreed with both.
Are you a rural letter carrier, or do you know one? How does a USPS-vehicle route compare with the private-vehicle route? Does one seem more cost-effective from your point of view?
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USPS would not be saving any money on their own fleet if it were providing a vehicle that wasn’t 35 years old, in horrible shape, or had any real safety features.
The one size fits all approach is not only outdated and washed up thinking, but the lack of new hires proves that it is.
Area and climate specific designs are an absolute necessity and to think your bottom line “cost savings” of converting high mileage POV routes to a Metris where you won’t even allow for the 91 octane gas to be used, thereby destroying the engine in just a few short years is a solution, then we all see the writing on the wall.
Really??? Remove the execution of implementation from Postal Managers. Use an outside organization whose primary job is to implement the job in a cost effective manner with a deadline that is strictly enforced. Get rid of managers who stall in order to not do a "job."
As a rural carrier, purchasing a Mercedes Benz to deliver mail out of in is insane. Whatever the fallout with Grumman was, efforts should be made to reestablish communications with them for a modified LLV. These vehicles are work horses and with a few safety modifications and OSHA upgrades (ie walk in cargo area, etc) these vehicles are the SAFEST AND EASIEST OF ALL CURRENT POSTAL VEHICLES TO PERFORM CURBSIDE DELIVERY!!
UPSP - Wake up and smell the coffee!! You're sitting on a gold mine and don't even realize it!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME IN THIS MATTER.
A right side drive SUV is an excellent choice instead of creating a new vehicle.
The PO will be unable to hire new employees if they have to provide a vehicle. Its become to expensive, and too hard.
So, when you award a contract to us "local folk" and provide us with a budget line item to use our own vehicles, great care will be taken to ensure that no matter the road conditions, winter, spring, summer or fall, we will maintain them as they are our livelihood. Give us a bright shiny new USPS vehicle, which by the way costs you at least twice, if not three times the amount of what we need to operate the route in our own vehicle, is not practical. This is not to say we will drive faster or fail to recognize the warning lights on the dashboard, or really run it through the ditches of mud season, or run it into a snow bank, it just means it is not ours, it is not our livelihood, if it breaks or needs repair you will supply us with another.
Rural Route Carriers have not chosen this profession to masse great amounts of money. They do it to make a living and serve their local communities. People they know, people they recognize, they keep their eyes out for the elderly and the young and because of their day to day jobs, they spot when something is awry and can either lend a hand or call the police.
USPS needs to make better decisions. As I read the Inspector General Reports I can not help but to think whether those making some of these calls have really thought this through. Many contracting officers rather than admit an error stand on pride. We can all do better and a good place to start is with honesty and the ability to admit our failures.