Postal Workers Brave The Blizzard Of Catalogues

T

hey do not have sleds with eight tiny reindeer, but Newtown Post Office mail carriers are facing a mass distribution challenge almost as great as Old Saint Nick’s. They are filling their trucks to the rooftop with an increased volume of letters, cards, and packages this holiday season.

And there is no such thing as “junk” mail, according to Newtown Postmaster Paul Marciniak. What most people refer to as “junk” mail is called Standard A Mail and it is always welcome at the post office because mail is of any sort is their business.

 “We would never turn down the extra mail,” Mr Marciniak said. “That’s something we want.”

Even the catalogues, which some people consider more of a hassle and the bane of their mailboxes from fall to Christmas, put a smile on the postmaster’s face. Even though he welcomes the catalogues, Mr Marciniak admits he is not the one who has to sort or deliver them like the mail carriers do. But luckily for the carriers, catalogue time is just about up.

“We’re going to see a drop dramatically in catalogues very soon,” he said. “By this time most third class mail dies down. September, October, and November are the heaviest mailing season for catalogues.”

Catalogues have to be delivered within 48 hours of when the post office receives them, Mr Marciniak said. So if catalogues arrive on Wednesday, carriers can wait until Friday to deliver them if need be.

“The problem being in a really affluent community is these companies. When someone buys or sells a house and they get the list,” he said. “Then people get every single catalogue under the sun. It’s incredible.”

But with catalogues on the way out, in come the Christmas cards and packages.

“Obviously with the Christmas cards, people come in and buy hundreds of Christmas stamps,” Mr Marciniak said. “It’s phenomenal.”

The increase of mail volume takes up more room in the mail trucks than usual and adds time and extra trips for the mail carriers. It takes some carriers six to seven hours just to deliver the mail loads.

“It’s a lot slower. It takes up more room,” Mr Marciniak said. “It’s time consuming, naturally. They have to put it in sequential order to each person’s house.”

The Postmaster has a bit of advice for people who have yet to select that special Christmas card they will be sending to family and friends: look at the shape.

“They need to be careful what Christmas Cards they send. If the card is a four by four or perfect square, it will cost more money,” Mr Marciniak said. “The machine can’t differentiate if it’s on its side or not. It costs 11 additional cents.”

It could be embarrassing if the card someone sends requires additional money that does not come from the pocket of the person that sent the card, but rather from the person who receives it.

If there is any doubt, bring it to the post office and have it weighed, especially if pictures are added to the card.

The mail volume being received at the Newtown post office is up from last year, according to Mr Marciniak. Carrier and clerk volume is also up.

“Volume is up in parcels by 28.8 percent from last year. Volume to carrier is up 6.7 percent from last year. The clerks who sort is up 13.3 percent. The discrepancy is some mail goes directly to the carrier. It’s presorted mail,” he said. “I can’t speak for every post office, but volume is up in the surrounding post offices.”

One reason the increase of volume could be happening is the new tracking feature the post office started offering this year. Now people can have their priority mail and packages tracked from when they are mailed to when they are delivered.

“We are getting a bigger chunk of the mail and packages. Part of it is now we do delivery tracking,” Mr Marciniak said. “UPS always had where you could trace a package from when you mailed it to when it was delivered. Over the past year, we’ve had it, it seems to be successful.”

The cost for the tracking is only an additional 35 cents, according to Mr Marciniak. Customers are choosing to use it for their priority mail and packages.

In Newtown, there are 25 different routes and 32 carriers. Some work full-time and others are part-time or substitutes. There is still a shortage at the local post office. It is hard to find people who want to work.

“When regular carrier is on a route, they know the places it needs to go. But when we have people on there that don’t, it can be very, very slow,” Mr Marciniak said. “What we need to do is be more efficient in doing our jobs. One of the problems we have here is we don’t have enough people working here. The economy is so good right now. It’s very difficult to find people who want to do this job. We are trying to get more people on board to handle the routes.”

Not every mail carrier working at the post office uses a postal vehicle. Most carriers have to use their own vehicles to deliver the mail.

“Only seven of the 20 carrier routes have postal vehicles,” he said. The other 13 have to use their own vehicles.”

Mail carrier Michele Ormsby enjoys her job at the Post Office, even during the busy times like the holidays.

“I like the physical aspect, being outside,” she said. “I like all types of weather.”

“Order more. It’s job security,” Ms Ormsby said, laughing, as she loaded her truck for a day’s delivery.

But the best holiday advice the Newtown postmaster had was do not wait until the last minute to mail packages or cards. Get them out as soon as possible.

“Mail early. Most of the deadlines for overseas have already passed. As far as parcel post [packages], now it will be more expensive,” Mr Marciniak said. “Within the United States, mail as early as possible.”