All Sections ------------------------------- News & Events Pay & Benefits Departments & Divisions Members Only

Advanced Search

Printer-Friendly Page

VMF Issues

Estimated Repair Times

Section 344.5 of the Fleet Management 701 Handbool [PDF] specifies that “employees must use pertinent manufacturers’ flat rate time schedules as guides in developing and entering estimated repair times (ERT) in the absence of individual vehicle maintenance programs.” Managers or supervisors may not unilaterally develop ERTs.

Parts Consignment

A letter [PDF] from the Postal Service to MVS Craft Director Robert Pritchard dated July 13, 2001, acknowledges that MVS employees staff the stockroom and maintain the inventory, despite the Vehicle Repair Parts Inventory Consignment Program.

Also included is a letter from Director Pritchard to the USPS dated May 22, 2001, outlining the union’s concerns on this issue and USPS documents on the Vehicle Repair Parts Inventory Consignment program.

Schedule Changes Following Training

A memo [PDF] from the Postal Service to field managers dated Jan. 10, 1997, outlines the provisions for changing an employee’s schedule following off-site training.

Testing Issues Resolved
For Motor Vehicle Mechanics

A series of letters between the APWU and USPS in December 2005 and January 2006 settled several issues involving which exams MVS employees must take to qualify for positions that were upgraded in 2001. The disputes arose when the Postal Service issued new qualification standards for the upgraded positions. [read more]

USPS Must Maintain All Factory Equipment,
Including Air Conditioning

An e-mail [PDF] from USPS headquarters dated Oct. 3, 2001, instructs managers in the field that former Emery vehicles incorporated into the postal fleet are now considered postal vehicles and must be maintained in a manner consistent with all postal vehicles. “All vehicle component systems, including air conditioning, are to be kept operational and functional,” it notes.

Included is a letter from MVS Craft Director Robert Pritchard to USPS headquarters dated Sept. 18, 2001, outlining management’s failure to repair air conditioning in trucks.

USPS Sets VMF Labor Cost

In a letter to the APWU, the USPS has established the Vehicle Maintenance Facility labor cost at $42.24 per hour. The figure represents the average rate for a PS-7 Automotive Mechanic, including benefits, plus the cost of VMF overhead.

The labor rate is important because it is used for comparison by the Postal Service in determining the feasibility of subcontracting. The rate is also cited by the APWU when the union conducts cost comparisons with private firms that are seeking to perform vehicle maintenance work.

The March 22, 2006, letter followed an extended exchange of correspondence between the APWU and USPS on the subject. The $42.24 rate is much lower than the one posted previously, which was more than $60.

[back to top]