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Highway Contract Route Handbook from USPS

USPS Outsourcing Mail Delivery Work. - The USPS made a change to Postal Operations Manual 532, Highway Contract Service, in 2003.  Supply Management deleted the limitation “in sparsely populated areas.”  This gave them the green light to expand everywhere.

Solicitations for Contractors

Spokane
Montana
Kansa City
Kansas City
Springfield (MO)

Phoenix
Boise (Idaho)
East Idaho

Fargo

June 07, 2007

Harkin Introduces Senate Bill To Outlaw  ‘Contracting Out’

*This is a reminder that we need your help! Please call your senators as soon as you can.* 
 
NALC needs your help to fight the USPS Board of Governor's reckless attempt to gradually privatize the Postal Service 
though the radical and unprecedented expansion of Contract Delivery Service (CDS). Because of the thousands of calls and 
emails to members of the House of Representatives from letter carriers, I am thrilled to report that a bi-partisan group of 
188 members have formally co-sponsored H.R. 282, a measure that calls on the Postal Service to stop contracting out delivery. 
However, as you know, H.R. 282 is a non-binding "Sense of the House" resolution, and is only the first step toward a permanent 
legislative solution. 
 
On Thursday, May 24, 2007, that solution took shape when Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced the Mail Delivery Protection Act of 
2007. The bill, S. 1457, forbids the Postal Service from entering into any contract "with any motor carrier or other 
person for the delivery of mail on any route with 1 or more families per mile." Twenty other Senators have joined Senator 
Harkin as co-sponsors. 
 
I have listened to a growing chorus of letter carriers calling for action on this issue. They have told me they want to protect 
their jobs, their benefits, their customers and the nation's postal service. Brothers and sisters, I agree with them. Now is 
the time for action! NOW IS THE TIME for letter carriers to explain to their senators the importance of protecting reliable 
mail delivery service by trusted career letter carriers. 
 
If your senators are not co-sponsors, please check the list below for their phone numbers here in Washington, DC, and CALL 
ON THEM to stand with letter carriers nationwide by co-sponsoring S. 1457. If your senator is one of the co-sponsors 
listed below, please use the senator's email address to thank him or her on behalf of the NALC. 
 
Thank you for your continued support and activism on behalf of all letter carriers. With your continued efforts, I have no 
doubt that we will prevail. 
 
In Solidarity, 
 
William H. Young 
President 
 
------------------------------------ 
 
Senators who are not co-sponsors of S. 1457 (as of 6/9/07) 
 
MURKOWSKI, Lisa -- R-AK -- (202) 224-6665 
STEVENS, Ted -- R-AK -- (202) 224-3004 
SESSIONS, Jeff -- R-AL -- (202) 224-4124 
SHELBY, Richard C. -- R-AL -- (202) 224-5744 
LINCOLN, Blanche L. -- D-AR -- (202) 224-4843 
PRYOR, Mark L. -- D-AR -- (202) 224-2353 
KYL, Jon -- R-AZ -- (202) 224-4521 
McCAIN, John -- R-AZ -- (202) 224-2235 
ALLARD, Wayne -- R-CO -- (202) 224-5941 
SALAZAR, Ken -- D-CO -- (202) 224-5852 
DODD, Christopher J. -- D-CT -- (202) 224-2823 
LIEBERMAN, Joseph I. -- ID-CT -- (202) 224-4041 
BIDEN, Jr., Joseph R. -- D-DE -- (202) 224-5042 
CARPER, Thomas R. -- D-DE -- (202) 224-2441 
MARTINEZ, Mel -- R-FL -- (202) 224-3041 
CHAMBLISS, Saxby -- R-GA -- (202) 224-3521 
ISAKSON, Johnny -- R-GA -- (202) 224-3643 
AKAKA, Daniel K. -- D-HI -- (202) 224-6361 
INOUYE, Daniel K. -- D-HI -- (202) 224-3934 
GRASSLEY, Chuck -- R-IA -- (202) 224-3744 
CRAIG, Larry E. -- R-ID -- (202) 224-2752 
CRAPO, Mike -- R-ID -- (202) 224-6142 
DURBIN, Richard J. -- D-IL -- (202) 224-2152 
OBAMA, Barack -- D-IL -- (202) 224-2854 
BAYH, Evan -- D-IN -- (202) 224-5623 
LUGAR, Richard G. -- R-IN -- (202) 224-4814 
BROWNBACK, Sam -- R-KS -- (202) 224-6521 
ROBERTS, Pat -- R-KS -- (202) 224-4774 
BUNNING, Jim -- R-KY -- (202) 224-4343 
McCONNELL, Mitch -- R-KY -- (202) 224-2541 
VITTER, David -- R-LA -- (202) 224-4623 
COLLINS, Susan M. -- R-ME -- (202) 224-2523 
SNOWE, Olympia J. -- R-ME -- (202) 224-5344 
LEVIN, Carl -- D-MI -- (202) 224-6221 
STABENOW, Debbie -- D-MI -- (202) 224-4822 
COLEMAN, Norm -- R-MN -- (202) 224-5641 
KLOBUCHAR, Amy -- D-MN -- (202) 224-3244 
BOND, Christopher S. -- R-MO -- (202) 224-5721 
McCASKILL, Claire -- D-MO -- (202) 224-6154 
LOTT, Trent -- R-MS -- (202) 224-6253 
BURR, Richard -- R-NC -- (202) 224-3154 
DOLE, Elizabeth -- R-NC -- (202) 224-6342 
HAGEL, Chuck -- R-NE -- (202) 224-4224 
GREGG, Judd -- R-NH -- (202) 224-3324 
SUNUNU, John E. -- R-NH -- (202) 224-2841 
MENENDEZ, Robert -- D-NJ -- (202) 224-4744 
DOMENICI, Pete V. -- R-NM -- (202) 224-6621 
ENSIGN, John -- R-NV -- (202) 224-6244 
REID, Harry -- D-NV -- (202) 224-3542 
CLINTON, Hillary Rodham -- D-NY -- (202) 224-4451 
SCHUMER, Charles E. -- D-NY -- (202) 224-6542 
VOINOVICH, George V. -- R-OH -- (202) 224-3353 
COBURN, Tom -- R-OK -- (202) 224-5754 
INHOFE, James M. -- R-OK -- (202) 224-4721 
SMITH, Gordon H. -- R-OR -- (202) 224-3753 
SPECTER, Arlen -- R-PA -- (202) 224-4254 
REED, Jack -- D-RI -- (202) 224-4642 
WHITEHOUSE, Sheldon -- D-RI -- (202) 224-2921 
DeMINT, Jim -- R-SC -- (202) 224-6121 
GRAHAM, Lindsey -- R-SC -- (202) 224-5972 
JOHNSON, Tim -- D-SD -- (202) 224-5842 
THUNE, John -- R-SD -- (202) 224-2321 
ALEXANDER, Lamar -- R-TN -- (202) 224-4944 
CORKER, Bob -- R-TN -- (202) 224-3344 
CORNYN, John -- R-TX -- (202) 224-2934 
HUTCHISON, Kay Bailey -- R-TX -- (202) 224-5922 
BENNETT, Robert F. -- R-UT -- (202) 224-5444 
HATCH, Orrin G. -- R-UT -- (202) 224-5251 
WARNER, John -- R-VA -- (202) 224-2023 
WEBB, Jim -- D-VA -- (202) 224-4024 
SANDERS, Bernard -- I-VT -- (202) 224-5141 
CANTWELL, Maria -- D-WA -- (202) 224-3441 
FEINGOLD, Russell D. -- D-WI -- (202) 224-5323 
KOHL, Herb -- D-WI -- (202) 224-5653 
BYRD, Robert C. -- D-WV -- (202) 224-3954 
ROCKEFELLER IV, John D. -- D-WV -- (202) 224-6472 
ENZI, Michael B. -- R-WY -- (202) 224-3424 
THOMAS, Craig -- R-WY -- (202) 224-6441 
 
Senators who are co-sponsors of S. 1457 (as of 6/9/07) 
 
BOXER, Barbara -- D-CA -- boxer.senate.gov/contact 
FEINSTEIN, Dianne -- D-CA -- 
http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm 
NELSON, Bill -- D-FL -- billnelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm 
HARKIN, Tom -- D-IA -- harkin.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm 
LANDRIEU, Mary L. -- D-LA -- 
landrieu.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm 
KENNEDY, Edward M. -- D-MA -- 
kennedy.senate.gov/senator/contact.cfm 
KERRY, John F. -- D-MA -- kerry.senate.gov/v3/contact/email.html 
CARDIN, Benjamin L. -- D-MD -- cardin.senate.gov/contact/ 
MIKULSKI, Barbara A. -- D-MD -- 
mikulski.senate.gov/mailform.html 
COCHRAN, Thad -- R-MS -- cochran.senate.gov/contact.htm 
BAUCUS, Max -- D-MT -- 
baucus.senate.gov/contact/emailForm.cfm?subj=issue 
TESTER, Jon -- D-MT -- tester.senate.gov/Contact/ 
CONRAD, Kent -- D-ND -- conrad.senate.gov/webform.html 
DORGAN, Byron L. -- D-ND -- senator@dorgan.senate.gov 
LAUTENBERG, Frank R. -- D-NJ -- lautenberg.senate.gov/contact/ 
BINGAMAN, Jeff -- D-NM -- senator_bingaman@bingaman.senate.gov 
BROWN, Sherrod -- D-OH -- brown.senate.gov/contact.cfm 
WYDEN, Ron -- D-OR -- wyden.senate.gov/contact.html 
CASEY, Jr., Robert P. -- D-PA -- casey.senate.gov/contact.cfm 
LEAHY, Patrick J. -- D-VT -- senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov 
MURRAY, Patty -- D-WA -- murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm 

13 million reasons to love Contract Delivery Service
USPS News (March 14, 2007)

The Postal Service adds 1.8 million delivery points a year. Servicing those new points in the most fiscally responsible manner is important to our customers and our bottom line. Contract Delivery Service (CDS) is a contract agreement between the Postal Service and a private individual or firm for the delivery and collection of mail from homes and businesses. CDS and rural routes are similar, but historically, USPS has been able to provide CDS at a lesser cost per delivery, per day.

To help get the most out of CDS, a team from Rural Delivery and Surface Transportation established guidelines to handle new growth. The guidelines call for considering all services — city, rural and CDS — when establishing delivery for new delivery points. The guidance includes cost evaluation tools to help team members arrive at a decision. Establishing new delivery points was moved from the Postmaster level to the District level and a growth management coordinator was identified for each district. Six training sessions were conducted for contracting and delivery specialists.

So how's it working? The percentage of annual growth of new delivery points for CDS increased from 1% to 4%. The total annual cost avoidance by using CDS instead of rural delivery for 58,131 new delivery points in FY 2005 was $3,234,702. The total contract savings for the four-year period is nearly $13 million.

STOP CONTRACTING OUT—

JOIN THE PICKET LINE MARCH 15!

by Peter Shapiro, Editor (NALC Branch #82)

Beaverton: Stop Contracting Out - Join The Picket Line March 15 (PDF)

 When Branch President L.C. Hansen attended our union's National Rap Session in Los Angeles January 28, she heard a disturbing presentation from President Bill Young on USPS plans to contract out city delivery work.

Returning home, she found a certified letter from Beaverton Postmaster John Lee on her desk, advising her of management's intention to take bids from private contractors for 374 new delivery points in the Arbor Parc development off Laidlaw Road.

There have been scattered instances of city deliveries being contracted out across the country in the past few years. It was the major sticking point in our national contract negotiations. But this is the first time it has happened here.

Management has placed a freeze on authorization of new delivery points in the Portland district. Carriers are being directed to update and turn in their EDIT books now. The data is being forwarded to the USPS Regional Office in Denver, which will decide which new deliveries will be farmed out and which will be handled in-houses. As many as 15,000 new delivery points are expected to open up inside the Portland urban growth boundary over the next few years, and apparently management considers all of them fair game.

Management has thrown down the gauntlet. We have no choice but to respond in kind. At our February Branch Meeting, the members voted unanimously to throw up an informational picket line at the Beaverton Post Office after work on Thursday, March 15.

Besides protesting this attack on our job security, the picket will alert the general public to what amounts to an abdication by the USPS of its long-established legal mandate to provide universal mail service. This mandate was reaffirmed by Congress late last year with the passage of the Postal Enhancement and Accountability Act (postal reform). By mobilizing public opinion as well as our membership, we intend to hold management accountable and make sure it abides by its mandate.

At the national level, the NALC is fighting for strong language against contracting out in our new national agreement. At the same time, it is urging Congress to put pressure on the Postal Board of Governors to stop outsourcing our jobs, while crafting future legislation to explicitly forbid it. The national union is counting on a favorable response from what is expected to be a labor-friendly Congress.

But it's always easier for our elected representatives to do the right thing when they have an aroused constituency backing them up. That's where we come in. Our customers value our work, and we try to do it well. Our daily contact with the public is our greatest asset as we alert the community to the enormous threat to service standards, to say nothing of the privacy and security of the mail, posed by the contracting out of city deliveries.

We can already see some of the results. In Florida, deliveries to a new shopping mall are being handled by a private contractor whose criminal record would prevent him from working directly for the USPS. Outside Seattle, a gated retirement community is being served by a local ceramicist who earns a few extra bucks driving a sack full of mail ten miles from the local post office and leaving it in a CBU at the gate. Accountables and oversize parcels are left behind at the post office for customers to pick up. In Tacoma, excess sections of overburdened routes are being contracted out when the routes are adjusted.

Here in Portland, mail service to customers moving into new $400,000 condominiums near Orenco Station remains in limbo while management prepares to contract it out. The customers must travel across town to the Hillsboro DCU to get their mail, while half a block away postal employees make regular deliveries. At this writing, a large priority parcel with a delivery confirmation bar code for one of the new addresses had been sitting on the supervisor's desk for nearly two weeks. We haven't been authorized by the USPS Western Region to deliver it.

Brothers and sisters, this is not merely union-busting; it's rotten business practice.

In defending its actions, management is sure to point out that the Post Office has a long history of using private contractors to make deliveries to isolated rural addresses. These Highway Contract Routes, as they're called, account for roughly 65,000 individual deliveries in Oregon.

But there are no practical or logistical reasons why the USPS can't deliver mail to an upscale new development in suburban Beaverton—except management's desire to get out of paying union wages and benefits.

The USPS has apparently been seduced by the example of a certain discount retail chain which became the nation's wealthiest business by employing a largely part-time work force for poverty wages and no benefits. But the Postal Service isn't Wal-Mart. Trying to run it that way is a sure way to destroy it—a betrayal of the American people as well as those who move the mail.

It falls to us to save this organization from itself. Be at the Beaverton post office at 4:30 on March 15, or as soon after that time as you can get there. Bring your family and friends. The union will do all it can to see that your customers know what we're doing and why, and understand that, to keep the Postal Service from being auctioned off to the lowest bidder, we need their help too.

Branch 82   The B-Mike   March 2007