Not even the flu can stop U.S. mail, but it can slow it down

By Howard Greninger
The Tribune-Star

December 17, 2007 11:30 pm

— While neither snow nor rain will halt the delivery of the U.S. mail, a winter flu bug can slow it down.
Mail delivery in sections of Terre Haute was delayed several hours Monday as mail carriers worked to cover shifts from fellow workers with the flu or on extended sick leave from operations.
“We had two or three people call in sick. I know the flu is going around, but I don’t know if that is the complete answer … but it does delay the mail going to some places,” said John Verostko, acting postmaster in Terre Haute.
In all, about six carriers were out.
“It is not the most we have had off,” Verostko said. “We try to make sure business areas are covered and the last resort is late deliveries to residential areas. We still expect to have all deliveries done by about 5 p.m., which usually are done by 3:30 p.m. or 4 p.m.”
Delays on Monday were in the southern portions of Terre Haute in the 47802, 47803 and 47807 mailing ZIP code zones, Verostko said.
“We held back on standard volumes and carriers did get out early,” on Monday, Verostko said. “It is slippery out there. Our main concern is not to hurry the carriers in light of safety reasons. They were out before 8 o’clock [Monday] morning and normally don’t go out on their routes until about 9. So getting a jump like that has helped us recover.”
There are 54 mail carriers in Terre Haute and 25 mail clerks. The Postal Service’s mail processing center on Margaret Avenue employs about 125 workers.
Under a new union contract with mail carriers, the Postal Service can hire up to five temporary, non-career employees, Verostko said. “We have hired two and are still in the hiring process. Temporary employees are used for this very reason or absenteeism, or when [mail carriers] take their annual leave or when people are on extended leave,” he said.
Monday was expected to be one of the busiest days, when the Postal Service expected to process almost 1 billion pieces of mail. About 275 million pieces of that total were expected to be cards and letters, more than three times the average daily volume of 82 million, according to the Postal Service.
Verostko said Terre Haute handled 319,000 pieces of mail on Dec. 10. He said Monday’s volume could match that or may be slightly down because of weather conditions.
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.

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