CCA Driving Instructor Carmine Montana watches as CCA-in-training
Linda Nemetz practices her delivery skills during a simulated curbside delivery
exercise.
Ask Fort Myers CCA (City Carrier Assistants)
Academy Instructor Carmine Montana, who has the most important job at the
Postal Service, and he will likely tell you he does.
"What I do sets the foundation for new employees. It's something they can build on," says Montana, who began his postal career as a letter carrier 35 years ago in Tucson. He's been in Florida for seven years and trains six to eight new CCAs every week.
CCA Academy consists of four eight-hour days and includes PowerPoint presentations and hands-on activities. "Before coming to CCA Academy, new employees go through a three-day orientation, an eight-hour Defensive Driving Course (DDC) and receive driver's training on whatever vehicles they will be driving," he says.
Once this training is complete, they receive three days of on-the-job instruction (OJI) with another carrier.
"It helps a CCA by verifying the mail before they put it into the box and then move onto the next box," Montana says. "They also have to finger the mail and verify the address. Otherwise, it could result in a misdelivery.
"It also allows us to address safety concerns. Are they wearing their seat belt? If they dismount to go to a front door to deliver a package, there's a procedure: curb the wheels, put the vehicle in park, remove the keys, and set the hand brake. We are trying to instill good habits."
New hire Linda Nemetz says she applied for a job at the Postal Service because she wanted to have a more active job that wasn't behind a desk. "I needed a change from a few years of administrative work," she says. "I wanted to be busy and feel like I accomplished something at the end of the day."
Nemetz, assigned to Venice Post Office, says she became interested in USPS after hearing her letter carrier speak highly of his job. "He was also nice and upbeat, which helped convince me."
What makes Florida unique over every other state is we have many snowbirds. What that creates is some additional handling of undeliverable mail.
CCAs are trained on CBUs and NDCBUs. There are at least ten different styles. "You could have a CBU at a condo or apartment building. One opens from the back and one from the front. And some have a box for parcels to avoid delivering to the door," Montana explains.
"If you have two parcels for the same building, you can't put two different addresses in the same box because you only have one key," he says. "You place the parcel locker key at the address for who receives the package."
Montana compared his job to that of a first-grade teacher. "Students always remember who you are in their lives. Some will see me not long after training and talk about the experiences they've had in the first one or two months, while I might run into others a year later. But they always remember me, and it seems like I touched their lives which is always rewarding."
CCA Instructor Carmine Montana explains a parcel locker to new
hire Linda Nemetz.
