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Here comes Bobby Brown riding on his "Mule". He hooks em' up and hauls em' out! Dispatch is his middle name. Bobby has served this Union as a Shop Steward on Tour One.
Here's Bob taking well deserved respite from a grueling session of "bustin letters"
Bob Naugle makes sure that all outgoing mail is unloaded and staged for further processing or dispatch.
Calvin is one happy camper now that his tour is over. He paused long enough for me to get this shot and then he was off to spend some quality time with friends and family.
Ever wonder how your mail gets canceled? Chris can cancel more than 30 thousand pieces of mail in an hour with the help of his AFC. That's almost as many stock trades he makes a day on his home computer!
Typical of Dominic, he was moving so fast, all we could get was picture of him rushing by on his way to tackle his next assignment.
George and Mike make sure that all mail going out to our Associate Offices in the 321 zip code is sorted and dispatched on time.
Greg, Fred, Bob Huff, and Bob take a brief pause before clearing the Platform. The free movement of mail and equipment on an uncluttered Dock is imperative to ensure accuracy and safety.
There are Mail Handlers and there are Mail Handlers. Pat and Henriette more than handle their share of the load. Two great people who have made Daytona a much better place to work in.
Greg Healy handles all outgoing mail coming in off the A.O. trucks. He makes sure all mail leaves the "Bullpen" and is transported to the proper operation for distribution.
When you work in an area like the First Class letter opening unit, the pressure is such that we occasionally have to incarcerate employees for their own protection. Here's a shot of Jack taken during visiting hours. No worrys, soon he was out again de-sleeving trays and busting bundles.
JJ Maserone works in the Carrier section spreading mail to the Carrier cases. It can be the most frustrating of jobs because you are pulled in different directions by managers from Customer Service on one hand, then managers from Mail Processing on the other. This picture of JJ is at the start of his work day.
Here's a crazed JJ at the end of the day. It's a tough job but somebody's got to do it. Here's to JJ. The human bouncing ball.
Marvin Plowden makes sure the mail from the BMC Truck is transported to its proper staging area ensuring the dock is clear for the rest of the mail coming in from our stations and branches.
Huffy and Greg make sure the letter racks are delivered back to the automation section for the next round of mail processing.
When the sun comes up, it's time for George to go home. After a hard night at it working the AO's, he says he's always glad to see the Tour Two Mail Handlers because that means quitting time is close by.
Jack and Marvin inspect the rough cull operation, making sure that the machines are ready to accept the voluminous amounts of mail that are soon to arrive.
John Bryan gets ready to tackle another load of Standard Mail. He probably works in more operations on his shift than any other Mail Handler. He does it all in a professional manner and is truly one of "Natures Noblemen".
John Watson works in the BMEU allied operations unit. We won that job at the Regional Level of the JDRC process. Although we won, implementation is always difficult. It was John who made sure that no clerks worked in our operations by carrying the load and making sure no clerks performed any of our functions.
Larry Ingerman joined us a couple of years ago. He had toiled as a missionary for many years and still donates time to local missions in our area. However, with all he's been through, nothing has tested his faith more than having to work for the Postal Service. As you can see, he's still smiling so you know his faith is strong.
Here comes Freddie towing an important dispatch of mail for one of our Stations to the proper bay on the Platform. In the background,you can see the new entanceway to the 10 additional bays that were built as part of the 30,000ft expansion to our facility.
Mike Coulter traveled a long road to become a Mail Handler. He started as a casual MH in the old VAF facility. He was hired as a carrier in Boca Raton and then was offered a carrier job in Orange City. He took that job and after a couple of years, he requested and received a transfer to the new facility in Daytona. Needless to say, he's glad to be here and his attitude is an inspiration to us all.
Ray Rosa and Dave Dunkle make their way out of the building and head toward home. Ray has worked for the Postal Service as a Mail Handler for 35 years. Dave was hired in November of 1998. According to Dave, he knows more about the service and the contract than all of us combined. I'm sure he'll be the next PMG. I just hope that he remembers all his buddies once he makes it to the top.
"Sesh" is our senior AFC operator and resident physical fitness expert. If you need to know anything about nutrition or working out, just ask Sesh. It's not that he follows any of these routines and disciplines himself, it's just that he reads alot of books on the subject.
Tommy gets ready to dump a hamper of raw mail onto the rough cull machine. He will cull all the non-machinable pieces out of the system and sort them to the appropriate bins.
Troy Watts pauses for a picture before proceeding on his merry way. Troy is famous for not letting proper procedure or objects get in his way. His determination to get the job done is exceeded only by his determination to leave early or change his schedule.
Although automation has had a major impact on the way we process mail, some things still have to be done by hand. Here, Bob Schmidt goes that extra mile and stays late in order to help the Mail Handlers on Tour Three by hand cancelling every piece of non-machinable mail. As Bob says, "It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it. Might as well be me."
Tour Three Group Leader John Bartlett has served this Union as a Shop Steward. John pauses for this photo before setting up the 010 operation and "hitting the boxes".
Here's Derek doing his impersonation of a UPS driver. He can also do an amazing Flip Wilson. Why he flipped me off just the other day. Seriously, Derek is presently serving the Union as Safety Captain on his tour.
Matt recently transferred to our facility from North Carolina because it wasn't hot enough for him up there.
Sharon Jeffries does what every Mail Handler should be doing; checking our Bulletin Board for the latest information. Sharon came to us from Jacksonville GMC and their loss was our gain.
Bobby, Henriette, Mike, Sharon, and Ray pose before heading for a well deserved break.
Tres Coulter gets ready to truck an ever increasing number of pallets to the pallet dumper. Tres is a member of the Naval Reserve and has served this Union as a Shop Steward.
Mike Benedix gets ready to containerize some "AO" mail. Mike is our Tour One Forklift Operator but he's always ready to lend a helping hand in the AO's when necessary.
Jim Gately works letter trays in the 110 Opening Unit. His job is to keep all 8 DBCS's and an OCR supplied with machinable letters. But Jim's a former Marine and he handles the pressure with great grace and form.
