Letter carrier routes and work methods

The NALC and the Postal Service have reached agreement on the next phase of a Joint Alternate Route Adjustment Process. However, the agreement makes it clear that finalizing a number of incomplete revisits of 2009 MIARAP adjustments must be given priority over the evaluation and adjustment of routes/zones under the new JARAP.

Included among several positive changes to the process are automatic reviews of specific forms to ensure integrity of data being reviewed. Also, rather than reviewing all routes/zones nationwide, only routes/zones requested by either party will be evaluated and/or adjusted under JARAP. Local parties may also submit locally developed alternatives for adjusting routes to the national parties for review and possible approval. NALC Bulletin

Looking for a PowerPoint presentation on JARAP? Please check back.

• M-01732: The Table of Contents of the USPS/NALC Joint Alternative Route Adjustment Process Training and Resource Guide - May 2010.
• M-01731: An Adobe Acrobat pdf file of the Carrier Optimal Routing [COR] PowerPoint presentation, as included in the USPS/NALC Joint Alternative Route Adjustment Process Training and Resource Guide - May 2010.
• M-01730: Postal Service Delivery Operations Information System [DOIS] instructions for downloading a PS Form 3999 into DOIS, as included in the USPS/NALC Joint Alternative Route Adjustment Process Training and Resource Guide - May 2010.
• M-01729: A list of Postal Service Management Operating Data System [MODS] operation codes and descriptions, as included in the USPS/NALC Joint Alternative Route Adjustment Process Training and Resource Guide - May 2010.
• M-01728: A Postal Service Flash Last 4 Weeks Report, as included in the USPS/NALC Joint Alternative Route Adjustment Process Training and Resource Guide - May 2010.
• M-01727: A Postal Service Time and Attendance Collection System [TACS] Operation Summary Report, as included in the USPS/NALC Joint Alternative Route Adjustment Process Training and Resource Guide - May 2010.
• M-01726: A Postal Service Steward, Standby and Meeting Time Report, as included in the USPS/NALC Joint Alternative Route Adjustment Process Training and Resource Guide - May 2010.
• M-01725: Adobe Acrobat pdf file of the Joint Training on the Joint Alternative Route Adjustment Process [JARAP], originally given to the JARAP Area/Regional Teams by the JARAP National Oversight Team by PowerPoint presentation on May 3, 2010. [Changes from MIARAP to JARAP are highlighted with red letters.]
• M-01724: Pursuant to the JARAP agreement, this is the adjustment consultation script to be used by the local office contacts during the adjustment consultation with the letter carrier.
• M-01723: Pursuant to the JARAP agreement, this is the evaluation consultation script to be used by the local office contacts during the initial consultation with the letter carrier.
• M-01722: Pursuant to the JARAP guidelines in M-01720, "The (local office) contacts will be provided information on their duties and responsibilities and discuss these tasks with their assigned district evaluation and adjustment team, prior to performing local office contact tasks." M-01722 reflects the duties and responsibilities of the local office contacts that they are to be provided under JARAP.
• M-01721: Outline for the nationally developed stand-up talk on JARAP to be given to employees in a unit selected for JARAP. The stand-up talk is given by management and union representatives assigned by the district evaluation and adjustment team. (This May 21, 2010, document replaces all previous versions.)
• M-01720: The joint guidelines to the new Joint Alternate Route Adjustment Process (JARAP), including the MOU language itself.
• M-01719: MOU on prioritizing incomplete 2009 MIARAP revisits first
• M-01718: MOU on Alternative Evaluation and Adjustment Processes.
• M-01717: The JARAP Memorandum of Understanding itself

October 26, 2009
"Use of COR in MIARAP"
PowerPoint presentation

The NALC and the Postal Service agreed to a COR PowerPoint slide presentation and presenter's notes for use of COR in MIARAP. This presentation is intended to be used as additional assistance in MIARAP, particularly by the MIARAP District Lead Teams and the District Evaluation and Adjustment Teams. It is being made available on the national parties' respective websites.

May 8, 2009
Modified Interim Alternate
Route Adjustment Process

On Tuesday, May 5, 2009, the Modified Interim Alternate Route Adjustment Process (MIARAP) was presented to the Postal Service District Joint Lead Teams (80 teams, each consisting of one manager and one NALC letter carrier), numerous District Evaluation and Adjustment Team (DEAT) members from both management and the NALC, and many other Postal managers and NALC branch officers throughout the country. The presentation was conducted jointly by representatives of the national parties via a webinar conference call from Washington, DC, and bringing in interested parties from 200 locations across the nation.

The National Memorandum of Understanding (NMOU) on MIARAP, combined with jointly developed explanation and direction, is reflected by MRS document M-01703 and can be accessed below. Also accessible below is the PowerPoint presentation that was utilized jointly by the national parties in the May 5 webinar. Both the M-01703 document and the PowerPoint presentation should be utilized for MIARAP training purposes and/or to fully understand the intent and application of the NMOU regarding MIRAP.

• M-01703 (PDF)
• MIARAP Training (PowerPoint Presentation)

Additional M-numbered documents

We added a number of new M-numbered documents to the Selected City Delivery Reference Materials page including the following:

• M-01519 is the City/Rural (dispute) Process Agreement which provides an agreed upon process and guidelines on how the USPS, the NALC, and the NRLCA are to handle disputes over whether deliveries should be assigned to the City Delivery or Rural Delivery craft.
• M-01520 are the agreed upon principles in addressing city/rural delivery dispute issues, jointly formulated by the USPS, the NALC and the NRLCA.
• M-01568 is the March 8, 2006 Memorandum of Understanding between the USPS and the NALC and the NRLCA regarding the processing of future city/rural disputes.
• M-01606 renewed the March 8, 2006 MOU (M-01568) above.
• M-01683 is the renewed (April 29, 2008) city and rural delivery National Memorandum of Understanding, renewing M-01606 above.
• M-01691 is the Flat Sequencing System (FSS) NALC/USPS Joint Task Force Report, the NALC FSS Task Force Members' Report, and the USPS FSS Task Force Members' Report.
• M-01697 is the National Memorandum of Understanding on the Approved FSS Work Methods.
• M-01680 is the April 21, 2008, National Memorandum of Understanding on Multiple Days of Inspection.
• M-01690 is the August 1, 2008, National Memorandum of Understanding on Minor Route Adjustments.
• M-01694 is the October 22, 2008, National Memorandum of Understanding on the Assignment of City Delivery.
• M-01695 is the October 22, 2008, National Memorandum of Understanding on the Interim Alternate Route Adjustment Process.

NALC Route Inspection Kit available for Windows Vista

In order for the Route Inspection Kit to work properly on Window's Vista, you need to run a special installation program. This installation includes all patches incorporated into prior editions. This program is NOT intended to run on non-Vista machines. This is a full installation NOT a patch, and is 9.6 MB in size.

When you start the Route Inspection Kit from the icon on your desktop, you must right-click on the program icon and select “Run as Administrator” from the menu that appears. You should "allow" the program to run when asked by Vista. Once installed and running with administrator rights, the program will perform as it has on other Windows operating system machines. Files may be freely exported and imported between Vista and non-Vista versions of the Windows operating system.

Note: If there are any future patches to the program, they will be available in two forms, one for Vista machines and one for all other operating systems. Download the Vista installation program here.

Rotation calendar available

Spence Burton created a color- and letter-coded 2009 calendar of rotating days off for the California State Association, which he authorized the NALC to use. While most places will use either the letter or color codes that correspond with this calendar, members should verify the schedule for their location, as some offices use different systems with similar color or letter codes. Download the calendar here.

April 4, 2007
Pre-arbitration settlement on jurisdiction of PS Form 3883

M-01608 is a pre-arbitration settlement on a case out of Buffalo, New York, which was pre-arbitrated prior to national level arbitration. The case was remanded to Step B of the grievance-arbitration procedure for further processing. The case deals with the jurisdiction (clerks vs. city letter carriers) over the generation of PS Form 3883. NALC alleges a past practice existed where letter carriers had exclusively generated this form (See M-41, Sections 335.11, b and c, and 335.15). The office was issued scanners, which allowed the user to scan articles into a computer generated form, Form 3883-A. Such work was assigned to clerks, resulting in this dispute. The agreement indicates that changing the manual form to an electronic version cannot be the sole reason for altering a past practice.

March 28, 2007
MOU on appealing rural delivery/city delivery disputes

M-01606 is a national Memorandum of Understanding providing directions on appealing Rural/City Delivery Disputes through the Grievance-Arbitration Procedure. This memorandum serves to extend the previous memorandum (MRS M-01568).

September 27, 2006 Route Protection branch mailing completed Each NALC branch has been sent a copy of the Route Inspection Kit CD as well as a copy of the 2006 Contract CD. Also enclosed with that mailing were hard copies of the corrected pages for Chapters 1, 2, and 3 of the Route Protection Program, which were made to the online chapters in May 2006. The online pages indicate the date of the correction at the bottom of the page. August 24, 2006 Update your NALC Route Inspection Kit   Latest RIK patch Version 1.2.25 (December. 1, 2006)   This version features an enhanced “Synch Keys” option under the tools menu. If you receive an error (1884/Uniqueness of index violated) when trying to save data, use the new version of the Synch Keys option to correct the problem. As of the September 1 update: You can determine if you need to update by clicking on "Help" in the top menu of the program installed on your computer and then on "About Route Insp Kit."  The screen which comes up will show you the issue date of the program, and the version number.  If the issue date above is more recent than the date shown on in the program information, you should update. If your version doesn't have the "About..." function, please install the patch above. Each delegate to the national convention in Las Vegas was provided with an NALC Route Inspection Kit CD. Additionally, we sent the CD to each NALC branch. As discussed in the CAU/City Delivery workshops at the convention, it is important to regularly visit this site and download the latest version so that you have the most recent enhancements to the program. Once the 2.15 mb file is downloaded to your machine, start the installation by double clicking on it in Windows.  This update will only work if you have previously installed the Route Inspection Kit CD. August 4, 2006 NALC Route Inspection Kit The NALC Route Inspection Kit (RIK) is a computer program developed as a supplement to the NALC Route Protection Program to assist officers, stewards, and other NALC members with monitoring route inspection data. The program will prompt the user to enter route inspection data from the PS Forms 1838-C, 1840-B, 3996, & 3999, and it will then generate the properly calculated PS Forms 1838 and 1840. The program features an extensive help index, links to the RPP, and a grievance checklist. We distributed a copy of the Route Inspection Kit CD to each delegate at the national convention in Las Vegas. Additionally, we sent a CD to each NALC branch shortly after we returned from that convention.

May 11, 2006
Multiple Days of Inspection MOU Extended

President Young has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Postal Service (M-01571) which extends the terms of the previous MOU on 'multiple days of inspection'. During a six day route count and inspection, the MOU allows management up to three 'days of inspection', but limits them to only one day of completing PS Form 1838-C. Additionally, when two or three PS Forms 3999 are completed, the MOU dictates which PS Form 3999 will be used to transfer territory when adjusting routes. The terms of the new MOU are applicable through May 26, 2007 unless mutually extended by the parties.

May 1, 2006
NALC Route Protection Program—
Minor corrections made to chapters

Background information

NALC's Route Protection Program is a comprehensive educational publication explaining route examinations, route adjustments and "minor route adjustments."

A few minor corrections to the text of the three chapters were made, effective May 1, 2006. (See errata in the index of each chapter.) The corrections were printed and mailed to branches in an RPP mailing. They are also available for download below:

• Chapter One, Route Examination and the Letter Carrier is intended for letter carriers whose routes are scheduled for a formal six day count and inspection. It contains instructions on filling out the Form 1838-C Worksheet during the week of inspection, a brief outline of how management evaluates and adjusts routes, and advice on how to ensure that the results of the evaluation and adjustment are fair and accurate. Chapter 1 (pdf, 3.71 MB)
  
  
• Chapter Two, Route Examination and Adjustment for NALC Representatives provides in-depth information focusing on the adjustment process, and is intended primarily for NALC representatives who will assist and advise carriers through the inspection process. Chapter 2 (pdf, 1.81 MB)
  
  
• Chapter Three, The Minor Route Adjustment Process describes management's use and misuse of the minor adjustment provisions in Section 141 of the M-39 Handbook. Chapter 3 (pdf, 614 KB)
  
  
• The NALC Route Protection Program Pocket Handbook is a separate, pocket-sized booklet to be used by carriers as a quick and convenient reference during the week of count and inspection. NALC has mailed a copy of the Handbook to every letter carrier who is a member of NALC. The handbook it is intended for members only and is not available online.

NALC created the Route Protection Program after Postal Service management scuttled a joint labor-mangement task force that was exploring new methods for evaluating letter carrier routes.

March 15, 2006
Memorandum on new City/Rural disputes

The National Association of Letter Carriers, the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association and the Postal Service have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (M-01568) regarding the processing of new city/rural grievances.

Any settlements at Step A (city) or Step 1 or 2 (rural) that would result in the reassignment or assignment of deliveries require the agreement of authorized representatives of all three parties at that level.

Additionally, if a grievance is appealed to Step B (city) or Step 3 (rural), the representatives at that level will ensure the file is properly developed and documented, and forward the file along with their supported recommendations to the national level for review by the national city/rural committee.

The memorandum was set to expire in one year if not extended by the parties.

March 15, 2006
Delivery redesign cases resolved

The parties at the national level have entered into an agreement which resolves the 186 delivery redesign grievances which were being held at the Headquarters level. (M-01567) The data collection and testing conducted by the Postal Service during this initiative did not result in any changes to current work measurement systems or work or time standards. The parties agreed that a test conducted pursuant to Article 34 does not modify provisions of the National Agreement, including handbooks, manuals and published regulations incorporated through Article 19, beyond the scope of the new work measurement system or work or time standard being tested. The parties agreed that Article 8 was not amended or modified during the testing, and subsequently all delivery redesign cases involving Article 8 violations were remanded to the appropriate Step B teams through the National Business Agents to be resolved by applying the relevant provisions of Article 8 to the facts of each case.

February 17, 2006
2005 JCAM

The 2005 Joint Contract Administration Manual (JCAM) was mailed to each NALC branch, and was also mailed to each USPS delivery unit for use by shop stewards and supervisors. The 2005 JCAM was printed as a completely new manual rather than as a transmittal letter with inserts as was done in 2004. While there weren’t many major changes or additions to the interpretive material, a new printing was needed because of the many rewrites, typographical corrections and grammatical and formatting changes. The major changes to the material are summarized in a "JCAM Changes" attachment to the cover letter mailed to each NALC branch and included with the NALC website copy. Please note that there are four corrections to the "JCAM Changes" pages. The referenced change on page 8-16 is actually on page 8-17, 8-20 is on 8-21, 8-23 is on 8-24, and 17-2 is on 17-3. Click here to go to the 2005 JCAM.

January 31, 2006
Interpretive Step Dispute Initiated by NALC on S-999 Mail

President Young initiated an interpretive step dispute with the Postal Service on the recording of the handling of S-999 mail during a route count and inspection. It is the position of the NALC that the S-999 mail should be handled and recorded in section 1 of the PS Form 1838-C pursuant to the handbook instructions for letter size mail. In the grievance arising out of the Cadillac, Michigan, installation, local management recorded the time on line 21.

January 20, 2006
DOIS Base Data Verification Form

During discussions on one of the many issues in the national level grievance on DOIS, the Postal Service assured the NALC that the base data in the DOIS system is derived from route counts and inspections and will only be changed pursuant to subsequent counts and inspections.

In order to ensure that this is the case, President Young asked each shop steward to request the latest DOIS "Route Base Information Report" and the latest PS Form 1840 for each route in order to complete a "Base Data Verification Form" provided by your National Business Agent.

The form and the instructions for completion of the form are available for your use. You can either use this form (102 kb) to print and fill out by hand, or use this form (3.7 mb) with text fields that you can type your entries into. Once either form is complete, please mail the completed form to the attention of Director of City Delivery Dale Hart at NALC Headquarters, as was requested in the January 13, 2006 NALC Bulletin.

December 22 , 2005
New scanners

The Postal Service planned to begin deployment of new scanners for letter carriers in May of 2006. The new scanners are called Intelligent Mail Devices. Several letter carriers were involved in the testing and provided input into the design of the new devices.

The IMDs weigh about three ounces more that the current scanners and have a larger screen. The device will take a digital picture of the customer’s signature, prompted by a barcode situated below the signature block on the PS Form 3849. The scanner will have the ability to scan at any angle. The device itself has a full alphabet keyboard, an adjustable hand strap, and additional large scan buttons on either side.

The Postal Service was planning to conduct performance, engineering, and field testing between January and April, 2006, with plans to begin deployment to letter carriers in May, 2006, in the Capital Metro Area. Nationwide deployment would follow and take 6-12 months.

We were advised that stand-up talks were being developed for letter carriers in advance of the deployment, and that each letter carrier would receive about one hour of end-user training when the devices arrived. Additionally, each route was to be assigned a user guide, and each letter carrier was to be provided a pocket card as a quick reference to the scanner functions.

December 22 , 2005
Service endorsement

The Postal Service initiated a service endorsement known as Parcel Select Hold for Pickup. The endorsement is designed for shippers of high-value and heavyweight parcels. Using this endorsement, the sender drop ships the parcels to a designated postal facility, where the parcel is then picked up by the addressee within 10 days. The Postal Service was testing the service with the Dell company only.

The shipper contacts the customer 4-7 days before sending the parcels, and another call to the customer is generated automatically when the items are scanned upon arrival at the postal facility. If the packages have not been picked up within three days, a notice is delivered to the customer by the letter carrier. The shipper will call the customer again after 7 days, and if still not picked up after 10 days, the parcels are returned to the sender.

If a customer decides to have the package delivered instead, they must pick up the parcel, take it to the retail window, and pay the postage for delivery to their address.

January 28, 2005
Training Program for Newly Hired City Letter Carriers

NALC and the Postal Service jointly developed a Standard Training Program for City Letter Carriers to be used to train newly hired letter carriers in Carrier Academies. Four city letter carrier classroom instructors in each Area received the training necessary to provide training to all the city letter carrier classroom instructors in the country.

The training for newly hired letter carriers will consist of three days of classroom training, followed by three days of on-the-job training by On-the-Job Instructors (OJIs) in the station where the new carrier is assigned. OJIs who will be training new carriers will receive training on the classroom material provided to the new carrier.

Management will select the Classroom Instructors and the On-the Job Instructors from a list of candidates provided by and agreed upon by the NALC National Business Agent and the USPS District Manager. The national parties have tasked the National Business Agents and the Area Vice-Presidents with ensuring that local instructors are selected and trained.

Postal Record articles

The Director of City Delivery writes a column in NALC's monthly magazine, The Postal Record, that covers a wide range of issues.These informative articles can be viewed using Adobe Reader. Click here for instructions for obtaining the free Adobe Reader and for viewing and downloading the files.