Just a message to those who have been disappointed and frustrated, if you are persistent and/or lucky like I was, a transfer can actually happen.
After first listing my desire here with numerous posts, I had all but put it on the back burner when lo and behold someone looking to come to my area
, in CT asked if I was still looking to transfer. I want to let you know, over the years I have been teased by many a rural carrier asking if I wanted to swap with them, only to see them just vanish off the face of this planet. After myself and the other carrier made phone calls to each other, we both knew we were serious. So, the process began.I printed out the Mutual Exchange form, we both notified our Postmasters and it moved along, slowly though. Postmasters will do what they want fast but not this task they won't. I had to prod and prod to send my safety records, attendance and driving records to my office where I wanted to go to, I also had to prod him to get the other carriers too.
After all were happy, both Postmasters and both carriers signed the Exchange form and we sent it to the local Human Resource person in FL who handles transfers. After about 3 weeks we were informed that we would be starting in our new offices in 4 weeks. It was much faster than we anticipated but guess what, I am now here in Florida on a new route while he is in Connecticut on my old route.
So, keep faith, if you can find a serious individual who really wants to swap with you, it can and does happen.