Horrible planning and division of responsibilities/labor by supervisors. Some people work six hour days while others end up having to do 11 hours or more.
I was lied to about when I would convert to a regular carrier. I was told by a recruiter or HR that it would happen within three months. When I got to my assigned station, I found there was already a PTF who had been there for almost a year.
No one should have to work more than eight hours a day and/or 40 hours per week unless they want to opt-in to over time. USPS does this with their regular carriers but PTFs don't receive these rights. PTFs are expected to do whatever they're told.
There are so many PTFs in a cluster but when a carrier calls out they still make the in-office PTF cover their route. If they'd get another PTF or two in there, the work could be divided in a way that no one has to go ten hours without access to a bathroom.
Delivery truck drivers and mail carriers should be separate crafts, not the same. There should be no overlap as some people prefer to walk and deliver the mail while others prefer to drive and deliver packages. YMMV with management but overall they should be different crafts as the work responsibilities, skills, and risks differ so much.
USPS allows regular carriers to take advantage of programs like family leave and medical leave. The carriers rarely come in to work or come in for about four hours a day, but their route remains theirs. The route doesn't open up to PTFs who want the route.
Some carriers don't maintain their routes at all. As a result, the PTF has to deal with angry customers and trying to deal with mail boxes that are too full to continue delivering any mail.
Pay is the same nation wide regardless of cost of living.
If you ever want to move you have to give up seniority and start all over as a PTF again. That basically traps people in their area unable to move out as cost of living increases while pay does not increase enough.
