Thursday, December 12, 2024
USPS marks a merry milestone
This season’s 1 billionth holiday mailpiece went to one of Santa’s helpers
When the Postal Service delivered its 1 billionth piece of peak season mail, it fittingly went to the “chief elf” in Santa Claus, IN.
Danni Fulkerson, a rural carrier associate, delivered the package to Patricia Koch at the Santa Claus Museum on Nov. 29.
Koch, 93, the founder of the museum, heads its Letters to Santa program, in which volunteers write more than 23,000 responses to people who mail their “Dear Santa” letters to the local Post Office.
The 1 billionth mailpiece — a Priority Mail package addressed to Santa — contained an old quill pen and jar of ink. On hand for the delivery was Joshua Graham, the local postmaster, and members of the local and national news media.
“We’re just a small town of 2,500 people,” said Koch. “To be recognized by the United States Postal Service [is] a real honor to us.”
The Postal Service will continue to mark milestone deliveries throughout its peak season, which runs from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. The 2 billionth piece of mail was delivered last week in St. Louis.
USPS is currently delivering nearly 1 billion pieces of mail every two days, and that rate will likely increase significantly as the holiday season continues.
The organization’s online Holiday Newsroom features a real-time counter that shows how many mailpieces and packages have been accepted.
Off the Clock
Any given Sunday
This USPS employee is a star player on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ chain crew
My name is Mike Sieber and I’m a distribution clerk at the McKnight Post Office in Pittsburgh, where I’ve worked since 1983.
When I’m off the clock on Sundays, I’m part of the chain crew who hold the signal poles — or “sticks” — at Pittsburgh Steelers home games.
I was born a Steelers fan.
My dad, Ray, held the sticks for 25 years. He started at Pitt Stadium. Later, when they built Three Rivers Stadium, he worked the games there, too. I was always at the games two hours before kickoff in case someone on the chain crew called out sick. I think I held the sticks about five times with my dad.
My dad would always come onto the field about two minutes before kickoff. Bill Hillgrove, the play-by-play announcer for the Steelers, would say on the radio, “It must be close to kickoff because here’s Ray and the chain gang.” He said that every home game.
When my dad passed away, the Steelers offered me his job. It was like a passing of the torch.
Typically, we have to be at Heinz Field by 5 p.m. At about 6:30, we have a meeting and then we are on the field by 7:45. We stretch the chains and stand there, so I’m on my feet for hours. Since I’m 65, it takes me about two days to recover.
My most memorable moment was probably the last game played at Three Rivers Stadium in December 2000. A lot of the retired Steelers, such as Jack Lambert, came back for the final game. Seeing those guys — players I watched growing up — was a great experience.
I’m trying to get my son on the crew before I retire, but I don’t know how long chain crews will be around. The NFL plans to put GPS in footballs, so they won’t need the chain crew to measure because they’ll know exactly where the ball is. There are already a few stadiums set up for it.
I look forward to every home game. When the Steelers win, everybody here is on a high. When they lose, it’s a bad day — but there’s always a lot of excitement.
“Off the Clock,” a column on Postal Service employees and their after-hours pursuits, appears regularly in Link.
Atlantic Area, MN-ND District on top in scanning
A snapshot of Postal Service scanning data shows the national rating was 96.5 percent during the week ending Dec. 6, down 1.17 percent from one week earlier.
The data was collected Dec. 11.
Atlantic led the four areas with a rating of 97.13 percent, while Southern ranked last with a 95.75 percent rating.
Among the 50 districts, Minnesota-North Dakota, part of Central Area, ranked first with a 98 percent rating, while Tennessee, part of Southern Area, ranked last with a 95.26 percent rating.
Scanning data allows customers to track their mail and packages, which helps USPS deliver excellent service, boost loyalty and drive revenue.
To see the latest data, go to the Informed Visibility website and select “Customer Experience,” followed by “DES 2 Scan Performance.” Postal Service employees must request Informed Visibility access through eAccess.