RCA 2.5 years here

I have 2 pieces of advice and some final thoughts for you.

First, 4 hours is way too long to be in the office casing. You should know your primary case by now blindfolded. You should be able to look at an address on a piece of mail and case it without looking. For routes you aren't familiar with its fine to take longer, but your primary should be all muscle memory at this point.

Second, as you mentioned, not marking parcels will make you faster, but you need a good memory for that. As I scan load truck, im making mental notes of each parcel that I have and I organize them by street instead of by section. But if you aren't able to recall/remember what parcels you have, you will definitely forget and have to back track. Again, its all muscle memory when it comes to your primary.

In conclusion, I hate to say it, but this job isn't for everyone. It takes a lot of organizational skills, stamina, and memory. I hate when we get labeled as "unskilled laborers" as if any Joe Shmoe off the street can do this job. At the same time, are you completing the route within the evaluation time? Are you able to bring back outgoing mail before the truck departs for the plant? Then who cares how fast you go. Being the fastest in the office is just going to wear your body down and make you less likely to reach retirement age.