The Postal Service now has 50 flats sequencing system (FSS) machines in operation — half of the 100 machines scheduled to become operational during phase 1 of FSS implementation.
According to FSS Executive Director Rosa Fulton, the 50th machine, located in San Jose, CA, became fully operational this week. An additional 40 machines are installed and ready for testing. “The schedule for system burn-ins and activations is aggressive, with 10 machines starting up every 3 weeks,” said Fulton. All 100 machines are scheduled to be sorting flats by July.
More than 14,000 letter carriers now are receiving sequenced flat mail each day. Route adjustments — made possible with FSS — are ongoing, with more than 500 city routes eliminated since the first FSS machine went online.
Bringing an FSS machine online requires an orchestrated quality process — one that takes a few weeks to implement. In the first week, zones are added to the machine. Over the next 2 weeks, acceptance tests are conducted. After the machine has met acceptance criteria, the Postal Service begins to ramp up to full FSS operations.
we have 5 fss machine’s in our building and they run like crap the day after they were accepted from testing. they are under staffed with mailhandlers and et’s and breakdown everyday, but it does finish getting the mail done each day only because you can move sort plans from one machine to another. i feel bad for the customer with these machines because there is no possible way to keep the mail from tearing to pieces.
to all the regular’s your lucky for what you have, i would give anything to have your job most of you don’t realize what you have
I’ve been a TE for 3 years, I work 8 + hours a day 6 days a week. On average I put in about 50 Hours a week. I never get time off when I ask, I now work in collections at night and carry mail in the mornings. Saturdays I carry mail all day. The jobs good paying but I work so much over time its no wonder the post office is bankrupt. I get no health benifits for my kids and I get treated like crap, oh by the way did I say its good paying lmao, thats the only reason im there the money is good and there are no jobs out there. I’m a veteran but that does nothing for me. At my station there must be at least 10+ routes that are Vac. No one bids on them and the Flexs opt on them because theres no regular or swing lol. we all do so much over time its unreal but they wont higher Us TE’s as a flex, that is really sad. I’m stuck in this job until I get fired or become something better then a TE. I had hoped that the Post office would allow me to take the test but it looks like that wont ever happen. I’m Tired physically! I kick butt at this job I did a walking route plus and hour and half today and was off before 4pm with no lunch. I just want a real job this crap is unfair and my kids need health benifits, so does my wife who is sick right now with a serious condition. To all the New TE’s Out there Welcome To The USPS your going to loose that smile real soon LOL.
the po HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET DPS RIGHT IN OVER 10 YEARS. now we are trying to get flats properly sorted…huh?……Extra hours on the street will be mandatory but as Im hearing we are still going to be sorting flats and first class letters that get side stepped in an imperfect world. So now we have extra hours on the street, still have to sort mail, which was supposed to be eliminated with this new system, increase work hours due to imperfection of the FSS system, pay excess overtime for these imperfections and what have we gained or learned. Having been in management in private industry and seen good companies go down I now see a bad system getting worse and nobody really caring. Its almost like intentional sabotaging to eliminate the USPS
it is a young persons job, and u have to see it to believe it on the ineptitude of mngmnt. it’s a caretaker mngmnt team. maintain the status quo.
months into fss andwe still case all 1st class and other bulk. too dangerous for the fss shredding machine
What a piece of junk. No wonder money goes in toilet. Rather than buying this piece of Junk and eleminating 500 route won’t help the Postal Service, as long as the Manager, Supervisor are making over $80,000 to $200,000 per year doing nothing, this excluding their bonus pay, food, travel, entertainment. While the craft clerk, Carriers and Mail Handler makes between, $35,000 to $54, 500 the most. Plus they do all the work. If this machine doing to do all the work than what about Managers and In-Plant- Support, we don’t need them. Why Postal Service is loosing billions because of all this high profile managers doing shit and nothing beside harrasing, giving stress to the employee. If any action is taken against any Managers or supervisor they take stress leave and goes on OWCP pay roll and receive 75% of their pay. Perhaps no one can fire Managers or Supervisor if they are demoted their pay stay the same. Less work more money. K-9 can watch people better then punk head. Don’t you all agree with me.
What I do not understand about you carriers that complain about the union
1. The Union is not doing enough to stop or control FSS.
2. The Union is losing power.
Well a majority of Americans put Anti-Union Republicans in Offices around the country. And if you did vote for a Democrat (good for you) but did you help neighboring Democrats or give to COLCEP. At this rate the Republicans will treat the USPS unions like the Wisconsin unions and turn us all into TE’s. Way to go America I guess we are getting what we deserve. Quit complaining and do something like help Union friendly politicians.
J Jameson, Reading your post made me want to say to you that “Federal Disability” is great if you are not a RCA, and are a Regular. Sorry if you cannot get it if you are not a career person. After 18 months, you cannot do core essentials of your job, then it can be an option/something to look into to apply for if it is avaiilable within your position to get. As we get older, we “all” breakdown sooner or later. Good luck!
I’m going into the nearest bar. would somebody please tell me when it’s time to go home?
MANAGEMENT DOES NOT CARE ABOUT IT’S CARRIERS. CAN’T DO THE JOB, QUIT. SOMEBODY ELSE WILL DO IT.
OUR T.E.’S ARE SCARED TO DEATH THEY WILL GET FIRED IF THEY DON’T FINISH IN THE ALLOTED TIME.
6 MORE MONTHS AND I’M HISTORY, AND WILL DO ALL MY PAYMENTS ONLINE.
IT’S BAD WHEN YOUR NEIGHBOR BRINGS OVER YOUR PAY STUB THAT HE FOUND IN THE STREET, NO BODY CARES ANYMORE ABOUT SERVICE.PUT THE LETTER IN THE BOX AND MOVE ON.
Given that FSS is the future of postal sortation, I have a couple of questions.
1) how will the carrier who has to walk 6 to 7 hours a day, every day, delivering his or her own route and then be forced to carry up to 4 more hours on overtime; ever make it thirty yers to retirement? The Postal Service seems to have embarked on the course of chronically understaffing their workforce, and many offices are reporting that they have been working, and being forced to work overtime for years now, how can anyone be expected to physically walk, carrying weight of up to 35lbs per loop, 6 to 10 hours a day, everyday ?
Am I making this clear? If the average employee starts at age twenty-five and puts in thirty years to achieve the neccessary age (55) and years in service (30), how can they keep walking 6 to 10 hours a day every day?
The Marines don’t do this! The current NALC position is that when contract time comes they will compare this to similar private sector jobs that are alike for evualation purposes.
There are no other private sector jobs in the country that are this physically demanding. The last job known that was set up to be this physically was when the pharohs used slaves to build the pyramids.
In my mind there are a number of effects that are going to happen, none of them good.
First, current employees will be quitting or getting fired because they will not be able to keep up, they will use up their leave all the time having no time left for vacation to be able to rest so they can keep up, they will be written up often and regularly for being too exhausted to come in, they will quit before having too much discipline on their records for taking too much time off, or they will quit before they are written up so they will not have a bad record applying for another job.
Second, there will be a revolving door for new hirees as they will be exhausted after six months and quitting; neccessitating continous paperwork and training of new employees that will destabilize delivery.
Third, the number of new and current employees joining the union will decrease as people get angry realizing that they will not be able to make retirement because they physically will not be able to keep up. The loss of a large percentage of employees union dues will eventually destroy the union and largely negate their ability to operate effectively in the present. Many carriers will feel that the union should have prevented or moderated the impact of FSS and that since they know that they will not be able to retire from the job that they should save their money. Why spwnd their money on an ineffective union that has proved it cannot defend themselves?
Fourth, the elevated physicality of the job will have a disproportionate effect on the women and smaller carriers doing the job. Women, being smaller with less muscle mass than the average man will be quitting in droves as the increased mileage will affect them first.
The big question is why is the government creating and allowing a job to be so hard that no can retire from it ???
i guess, that at some point the carriers will change from calling their managers “supervisor” to calling them “master” again.
Bring back the good old days.
and hired 2000 TE’s
Every new machine has a learning curve. APPS was a nightmare in the beginning bu after a year we have littl to no problems with them. Same for our AFSM 100’s.
500 city routes eliminated but work force is not. The postal service can claim they are reducing costs but honestly those so called 500 city routes eliminated, where do you think the letter carriers went?
Of course there’s a return on investment. We still wind up casing flats and letters while we wait for parcels, accountable itembs and unsorted mail. The machines don’t have to work for them to adjust our routes.
The cost and maintanance of the FSS far exceeds the savings in a low volumn environment. There is no ROI.
The FSS is another piece of junk the USPS was talked into purchasing. From what I have heard from the ET’S in my office they are terrible machines that missort and breakdown all the time. Way to go USPS……you’ve done it again. It’s no wonder the USPS is going down the toilet!!!!! Terrific management . HA!!