News and Information About the Postal Service's Flats Sequencing System
Letter Carrier Sounds Off on Introduction of
FSS to Unit
6/24/2008
A letter carrier in Northern Virginia who goes by the
screen name FSSbrat has posted accounts in PostalMag.com's
Letter Carriers Forum of the Postal
Service's implementation of FSS (Flats Sequencing System)
into their post office. The carrier describes problems of
compatibility with established work processes and new
FSS work processes that require a daily third bundle.
Following are postings by FSSbrat:
"Week One of
route changes due to FSS has been completed -- most carriers
worked 10 every day!!! Surprise surprise surprise........Yes the
goal is 1 hour office, 7 on street. Two weeks ago power outage
shut down FSS, we got all flats in tubs like used to, doesn't fit
in the case anymore, they have downsized all equipment, some
having 1 case, 2 addresses per slot." (message
21,937 Letter Carriers Forum)
"As stated in my
earlier posts, full coverage circulars are "COLLATED" into the
residual mail, creating a single bundle -- suspiciously, no
supervisor has been able to show any of us how to do this new work
method -- they tell us to "deal with it"; I take that to mean do
whatever I want to make it work -- I combine all my bundles, have
DPS letters in left hand and everything else in left arm -- never
have tripped, I set the bundle on my left hip (women have hips ya
know) and can see perfectly where I'm going. Plus, my bag hangs
too low (I purchased one of those elasticized straps which really
helps to take the weight off my shoulder, but adjusted as short as
it goes, it's still a bit too long); we need TRAINING to do this
work method with all these bundles. Management is stupid." (message
21,929 Letter Carriers Forum)
"There was
plenty of "warning" that FSS was starting, they even let us case
it all for a few days (not sure what the point of that was) and
then, hurry up and take it all to the street -- even if you sit in
your LLV and organize it all, it is rough on one's back, that
involves lots of twisting and stretching and reaching more than
usual; we have plenty of PTFs (not sure of a #) being limited to 6
hour days, 2 days off each week; also have 2-3 TEs getting same
amount of hours as PTFs. FSS started back in November 2007, so
it's been 7 months or so and now the ##@#@# has hit the
fan........The scary part is that this "transition" period is
resulting in numerous contract violations and shop steward feels
powerless, because NBA sits with management and they all cite
"Article 12" allows us to do whatever we want -- on ALL issues,
not just flat sorting. Will post more on the results of new route
implementation which starts Monday." (message
21,877 Letter Carriers Forum)
"They divided 8
routes among the remaining 32 routes -- 8 unassigned regs will
hold down vacation routes, etc. Not sure how long that will go on
-- a few have detailed to other positions in PO. Circulars are
pulled in as you pull down route, resulting in combined residual
bundle (we carry in our left arm, FSS in bag, DPS in hand) --
inspections were a one-day drive-with several months after FSS
deployed -- previous clockring data also used; I'm sure everyone
will be working lots of OT, that is what happened every time they
adjust routes. It's a lot of wishful thinking on somebody's
part!!!" (message
21,870 Letter Carriers Forum)
"I'm a carrier
in Northern Virginia, home of 1st FSS deployment -- in two words,
"IT SUCKS" -- management here is citing "Article 12" to get away
with whatever they want; as if that is the only article of the
contract. FSS tears up the flats, and it's as if a brand new PTF
cased your route, good mail, bad mail, forward mail, utf mail,
other route mail - it sucks. Full coverage circulars are collated
in when you pull down -- get this: FSS only sorts bulk mail, still
have to case 1st class and takes about 1 hour in office -- new
routes are 7 hours on street, 1 in office -- office is going from
40 routes to 32 routes starting Monday -- where will 8 unassigned
regulars go? what about PTFs? Are layoffs coming? Can anybody
actually live on straight-time pay? Not in Northern Virginia...." (message
21,865 Letter Carriers Forum)
Video: An
Introduction to the Flats Sequencing System
Video: FSS - Transforming the Delivery Operation in 2008
BOARD APPROVES DEVELOPMENT OF NEW SORTING TECHNOLOGY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Media Relations 202-268-2155
February 8, 2006
News Release No. 06-008
www.usps.com
Washington - The Postal Service took another step toward completely
automating the mail sorting process with the approval by the agency's Board
of Governors today of a new technology.
The Board approved the redirection of funds toward the development and
testing of a Flats Sequencing System (FSS) which will allow the sequencing
of larger mail pieces in delivery point order.
Flat mail - which includes large envelopes, catalogs, magazines, and
newspapers - is one of the most labor-intensive categories of mail to
process, sort and deliver due to variations in size, thickness and address
label placement.
Similar to the Delivery Bar Code Sorters that were developed and implemented
under the successful Corporate Automation Plan for letter mail, the Flats
Sequencing System will arrange flats in the order of delivery. This will
reduce the time letter carriers need to prepare mail for delivery.
This April, a prototype FSS - one-half the size of the production machine -
will be installed in the Mail Processing Annex in Indianapolis, IN, with
field tests scheduled to continue through June. Following that, a full-size
pre-production machine will be built and tested through June 2007. Upon
successful completion of those tests, deployment of FSS equipment is
targeted to begin in the spring of 2008.
