Subject: Quincy IL Area Local - APWU - Using Your Vehicle for PO business
From: <Saved by Windows Internet Explorer 7>
Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2009 14:42:39 -0500

If You Have Ever Been Asked
To Drive Your Personal Vehicle On Postal Business... READ
THIS!

The following is an excerpt from a Step 4 Decision
dated November 25, 1983, regarding employees using personal vehicles.

" ... the Postal Service does not require as a
condition for bidding that a clerical employee use his/her privately-owned
automobile to perform official duties."

Further, Regional Council for the United States
Postal Service states:
"Unless there is a
contract between the employee and the Postal Service for the use of the private
vehicle, there would never be any circumstances in which the Postal Service
could order the employee to use his private vehicle. If such an order were
given, the employee would be entitled to refuse to obey. It would be a wrongful
effort to exert dominion over private property on behalf of the Federal
Government. The Judicial process for such an exercise is quite detailed, and the
Postal Service only follows such judicial route under the most unusual of
circumstances. This would never be applicable to an effort to require an
employee to use his personal vehicle for Postal Service purposes."

It is the recommendation of National Business
Agent, Jeff Kehlert, that under no circumstances should a bargaining unit worker
use his personal vehicle in the performance of USPS duties. Management must make
transportation available to you. If you utilize your personal vehicle for USPS
duties, you may very well be exposing yourselves to liability for your vehicle's
damages in the event of an accident. Your insurance may not cover you for use of
your vehicle in a business capacity.

In a letter dated December 26, 1986, Regional
Counsel for the USPS states:
... that it a
Postal employee is traveling in their personal vehicle while in an on-duty
status and involved in an accident, the Postal Service will pay damages to the
other vehicle if it is established that the Postal Service employee was
negligent. This is also true as to personal injury damages to the driver of the
other vehicle. The Postal Service will not pay for the damage done to the
vehicle of the Postal employee. The Postal Service will not Day any increase in
premiums if the insurance company charges more as a result of the accident. The
Postal employee would be covered by the OWCP just as if they were hurt in an
industrial accident on the workroom floor. The primary differences in the
situation where the Postal employee is driving a Postal vehicle and when they
are driving their personal vehicle is that the Postal Service will not be
responsible for damages to the private vehicle of the Postal employee, whether
or not the Postal employee was at fault in the accident.

Fault does enter into whether the Postal Service
would pay damages, except in determining whether payments are due to the driver
or owner of other vehicles involved in the accident or other parties injured in
such an accident. The postal service is liable for any such damages which are
attributable to the wrongful or negligent conduct of a Postal Service employee
acting in the scope of his or her employment.

(Reprinted from The Guardian)

Return to the Top of the
Quincy IL Area Local Home page

This
page was last updated on November 22nd, 1998.

This site was created by Jack Ball.

Please address all comments and corrections to
him at [email-masked]