Disclaimer! Ruralinfo.net is not sponsored or authorized by the NRLCA, the USPS or any state or local association. Click here to read full disclaimer

Twas the day after Christmas overtime

Its that time again.. I always pull out my Christmas OT poem about this time every year.. I wrote this a few years ago, but nothing ever changes.. Twas the day after Christmas overtime and all around my case were piles and piles of catalogs with not an inch of floor in the place I … Read more

On the 12th day of Christmas Overtime the USPS gave to me…

The 12 days things is going around FB, so I thought I would add our own special touch! On the 12th day of Christmas Overtime the USPS gave to me… 12 Migraine headaches 11 Busted knuckles 10 False directives 9 Letters of Warning 8 Managers freaking 7 Shoulders aching 6 Pre-D discussions Fiiiivvvveeee broken machines … Read more

15 things your rural carrier wont tell you…

1. No, you didnt get any mail.  If you had any mail I would have put it in your box. Just because you didnt find any mail in your box DOES NOT mean someone stole your mail. There really are times when you do not get mail. I promise.   2. No, the USPS did … Read more

Social media and Postal Employees

A Ruralinfo.net Editorial Social media and what employees can do and say is kind of a New Frontier.  Basically, with the surge of Facebook, Twitter and all of the other social media websites out there, we are more or less, as a work force, stumbling in the dark.  So what exactly are the rules concerning … Read more

Post Plan – The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

A Ruralinfo.net Editorial In July 2011, the Postal Service announced that nearly 3700 post office’s would be studied for closure.  There was major public outcry, especially from small rural communities who did not want to lose their post office.  Public meetings were held, and from the feedback received at these public meetings, the USPS developed … Read more

Postal Déjà vu

Most people do not think of the job of a Postal worker as being a dangerous job.  In reality, there are a lot of dangers Postal workers face both in the plants and post offices and on the street delivering mail.  This brings me to the Ricin laced letters sent through the mail.  These letters … Read more

Some USPS Saturday Delivery History

From the start, letter carriers delivered mail six days a week, usually Monday through Saturday.6 In May and June 1947, Saturday deliveries were temporarily eliminated in some cities due to budget shortfalls. In 1957, Postmaster General Arthur E. Summerfield decided to end Saturday deliveries nationwide because of a budget crisis. On one Saturday – April … Read more

Solving the Rural Carrier Relief Identity Crisis

I wanted to help clear the fog on all of the rural carrier relief designations and titles. Most of today’s rural carrier relief carriers fall under one of these four designations Rural Carrier Associates (RCAs)—(Designation Code 78) – Rural carrier associates are those employees hired from a register or reassigned from rural carrier relief or … Read more

The Neutral Engineer for the Rural Carrier Time Study

Dr. Louis A. Martin-Vega is the Dean of Engineering at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. With more than 8,500 students, 700 faculty and staff, and $129 million in annual research expenditures, NC State’s College of Engineering is internationally recognized for the excellence of its research, education and outreach programs. In 2008, the … Read more

Let’s talk about the Elephant in the room

Elephant in the room” is an English metaphorical idiom for an obvious truth that is either being ignored or going unaddressed. The idiomatic expression also applies to an obvious problem or risk no one wants to discuss.[2] It is based on the idea that an elephant in a room would be impossible to overlook; thus, … Read more

The only thing we have to fear is ourselves.

I spend a lot of time online and there are a lot of pages on the internet that I look at while scouring for news and information to share with everyone.  I see a lot of crazy things posted by rural carriers, but there is nothing that gets me riled up more than to see … Read more

The Piece Work Trap

 An OLDIE BUT GOODIE!! The Piece Work Trap by John Dziubek  former CTRLCA State Steward (written sometime after the Wells arbitration) Since 1896 rural letter carriers have been paid by an evaluated type system. After the wildcat postal strike in 1970, some very important things changed for postal workers. First the Post Office Department, which … Read more

A tale of two realities… Editorial by Ruralinfo.net

I am sure we have all heard of the USPS posting an 8.5 billion dollar loss for 2010. This number just jumps off the page at you doesn’t it? 8.5 billion dollars? How in the world can the USPS survive something like this? This kind of number could make postal employees really wonder about the … Read more

Let them Eat Cake… The USPS version..

  A trend has developed lately that is very disturbing. It seems that postal employees, and our wages have become the whipping post of USPS management, Congress and the media. They howl and groan that labor costs in the USPS are 80% of USPS expenses. Basically, the public perception of us has been destroyed by … Read more