Category: Motor Vehicle Service

MVS Updates: Mercedes First Article Testing Concerns, CBD Impacts on Drug Testing & DOT Clearinghouse for Drug & Alcohol Testing Violations

Just two months into the new year, and the Motor Vehicle Service Craft Division has been hard at work with several updates for the membership. Of primary issue are the Department of Transportation’s changes impacting MVS Operators with Commercial Drivers Licensing. More information will be provided, pending further discussions and meetings with the USPS. Here are the notable updates: FAT Testing Concerns for Mercedes Metris RHD Van In mid-January, MVS APWU representatives attended the First […]

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FMCSA – DOT Disputes Resolved

The APWU and Postal Service’s history regarding the Service’s decision to follow Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations dates back to 1995. Despite policy stating that DOT physicals would be scheduled by postal management, occur on the clock at a Medical Unit or Contract Medical Facility, and be paid for by the USPS, issues surfaced from the field concerning payment and scheduling of the different tests required to certify PVS […]

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Passing of Robert C. Pritchard, Former MVS Director

Robert C. Pritchard, former Director of Motor Vehicle Service, passed away Sunday, July 7, 2019. He was born May 2, 1949. At the time of his APWU retirement, May 10, 2013, Brother Pritchard was the longest serving craft director in APWU history with 17 years. Robert “Bob” Pritchard began his postal career in 1978 as a clerk in Trenton, NJ. In 1980, he became a Motor Vehicle Mechanic. He was elected local craft director about a decade […]

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Major Win for the MVS Craft – POM 1995 Language Restored

September 13, 2018 When the USPS made changes to Chapters 5 and 7 of the Postal Operations Manual (POM) in 1995, APWU challenged the changes as not fair, reasonable, and equitable. While USPS agreed to restore the language in 2007 and again in 2012, they never did. APWU never stopped fighting. On August 28, we reached an agreement with the USPS to restore the language within 12 weeks. “This language is significant because it protects […]

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‘Keep on Truckin’ Baby’

(This article first appeared in the May-June 2018 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine)  By Motor Vehicle Service Craft Directors  MVS Director Michael Foster (fifth from right) and Assistant MVS Director Javier Piñeres (far left) with MVS members and USPS representatives in front of newly tested cargo trucks. New USPS cargo trucks and spotters were scheduled to begin deployment in April. The Postal Service conducted the First Article Testing (FAT) on the Ottawa Spotters and the Peterbilt […]

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MVS New Hire Salary Dispute Settled

On Jan. 26, the MVS Division and the USPS settled Class Action Grievance USPS NO. Q15V-4Q-C17473798/APWU No. HQTV20170179. In the settlement, the parties agreed that when an external posting to hire contains an incorrect salary for the position in question, the Postal Service may correct the error pre-employment. Correction of the error must be made prior to a written job offer being accepted by the applicant. If an applicant accepts a written job offer which […]

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Postal Vehicle Service Scanning Duty Settlement Reached

09/28/2017 – On August 31, the APWU Motor Vehicle Service Craft Division and the USPS came to a settlement for case numbers Q10V-4Q-C 16466169/HQTV20160275, Q10V-4Q-C 15300453/HQTV20150846 and Q10V-4Q-C 16466163/A19V20160276. The issue concerns the deployment of scanners to Postal Vehicle Service (PVS) drivers, as part of the Surface Visibility (SV) program. The issue initially arose in 2006, when the USPS first introduced the SV program that included scanning. Since then, there have been numerous conversations and disputes concerning […]

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USPS Private Contractor Pleads Guilty to Fraud

Beam Bros. Trucking caught stealing from and endangering employees 06/02/2017 – On March 16, 2017, Beam Bros. Trucking, Inc., a private trucking company, was indicted on multiple counts of fraud and abuse in their capacity as a Highway Contract Route (HCR) operator for the USPS. The APWU Motor Vehicle Service Division has fought for years to return this type of work in-house to Postal Vehicle Service employees from such HCR subcontractors, citing fraud and abuse […]

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Motor Vehicle Service PSE Salary Exception Agreement Reached

03/23/2017 – On March 10, the Union signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Postal Service that remedies the situation where Motor Vehicle Service Postal Support Employees (PSE) who had been granted a salary exception were converted to career status within the same craft but to a lower level and received a starting salary rate in accordance with the June 6, 2014 MOU “Re: Resolution of Postal Support Employee (PSE) Salary Exception Issues,”  and […]

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Lawsuit Against Arbitration Award Dismissed

By MVS Craft Directors The National Star Route Mail Contractors Association’s lawsuit against the Postal Service over the American Postal Workers Union’s (APWU) arbitration award regarding Highway Contract Routes (HCRs) was denied by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.In an effort to prevent the USPS “from taking any action to implement the portion of the Aug. 18, 2016 APWU-USPS arbitration case No. Q06C-4Q-C 11182451 (Das), in which the arbitrator ordered the Postal Service to […]

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APWU, USPS Resolve Dispute over Forced Bids in Motor Vehicle Craft

Web News Article #: 193-2015 10/08/2015 – The APWU and USPS have signed an agreement that prohibits management from initiating the posting of annual bids in the Motor Vehicle Service Craft pursuant to any audit review, Assistant Director Javier E. Piñeres has announced. The dispute that led to the Sept. 30 Memorandum of Understanding Re: Zero Base Initiative arose last year, when reports from the field indicated that local managers were forcing the posting of […]

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Can We Trust USPS Management?

Can we ever trust USPS management to live up to their agreements and obligations? On August 18, 2016, during our last convention in Orlando, the Motor Vehicle Division received one of the most important arbitration decisions relating to Article 32.2.B and the renewal of Highway Contract Routes (HCRs). In Case No. Q06C-4Q-C 11182451, arbitrator Shyam Das sustained the union’s non-notification of HCR routes dispute and awarded the Postal Vehicle Service (PVS) 110 HCRs for four […]

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