USA: The mail woes of a Mount Greenwood carrier

[theflyingpostman]

http://www.southtownstar.com/news/tridg ... ll.article

February 22, 2009
BY GUY TRIDGELL

Lester Sexton once packed his U.S. Postal Service van to the roof each day with letters, cards in colorful envelopes, magazines, junk mail, out-of-town newspapers, government checks and virtually anything else that could be sent with a stamp.

If Sexton covers just the floor of the van's cargo area these days, he's surprised.

"It definitely was a harder job 10, 20 years ago," said Sexton, a mail carrier at Chicago's Mount Greenwood post office. "There was a time when I could only use a cart on my route. Over Christmas, I was shoulder-carrying a bag."

The U.S. Postal Service is going through the biggest drop in mail volume in its 234-year history, a 10-billion item decrease from last year. The projections for this year are worse: a 12-billion item plunge from 2008.

Nationwide, the amount of mail has declined 4.5 percent. In Chicago and the suburbs, the rate is closer to 5 percent.

If the trend doesn't change soon, you'll see less of Sexton and his co-workers in your neighborhood.

To cut back on costs, the postal service might eliminate one of the six days of the week when a mail carrier visits your home. Also under consideration is the closing of post offices.

A peek into Sexton's daily routine tells you why the drastic measures are being discussed.

When he started as a carrier in 1971, every address on his route got some combination of magazines that included Look, Life, National Geographic, Time and Reader's Digest. Now there are just a smattering of addresses that might get one magazine.

"Newsweek used to be another big one," Sexton said. "Now I only have two people on my route who get Newsweek.

"I used to deliver 150 or more Social Security checks. I think 90 percent of those are direct deposit now."

E-cards replaced the rainbow of envelopes that filled his cart around holidays.

Weekly shoppers packed with local advertising dried up with the rise of Craigslist.

The blizzard of tax forms that hit every January also moved online.

TV Guides went away when cable and satellite providers started offering on-screen programming.

Letters written by hand are beyond passe.

About five years ago, the postal service went through a revival, thanks to the boom in Internet shopping, eBay and Netflix. A surge in prescription drugs sent through the mail also helped.

But those gains were not nearly enough to offset the steep decline in other areas.

"The companies that have been hardest hit by the recession were some of our biggest mailers," said Mark V. Reynolds, the postal service spokesman for the Chicago area. "Banks, credit card companies, the housing industry. They started cutting back. And one of the things they cut back was how much mail they sent."

It's hard to spot the struggles amid the morning bustle at the Mount Greenwood station at 111th Street and Homan Avenue.

Inside the concrete walls, a cacophony of carriers get ready for their routes in individualized sorting stations. Workers push wheeled orange carts filled with packages. In the lobby, waiting customers chat about neighbors and family.

But everyone who has a hand in delivering the mail knows that downsizing service always means one thing: Eventually it will trickle down to someone's job. The average unionized postal worker makes about $67,000 a year.

Sexton - who has personalized the worn metal partitions of his sorting station with copies of baseball cards for his beloved Cincinnati Reds, a magnetic calendar from a local funeral home and photos of deer congregating in his Palos Hills yard - feels the anxiety.

"One thing I have noticed is the station is louder," he said. "I think people are letting off stress."

He cares deeply about the job he walked into after leaving the military 38 years ago.

The postal service put his son through college and got him through the death of his first wife. Sexton, 60, said he could have retired five years ago, but have stuck around because he loves the routine. And walking a route keeps him fit and trim.

His concern for the postal service extends to the thick rubber bands used to bundle mail. While other carriers won't think twice about discarding them, Sexton will reuse rubber bands until they break.

Before departing on his appointed rounds to the 400 or so addresses surrounding Ridge Country Club in the city's West Beverly neighborhood, Sexton slid on a red-white-and-blue hat with the postal service's eagle emblem to guard against the winter chill.

"A lot of us have worries and concerns. We are nervous. It's a good job," Sexton said. "I have seen a lot of changes, that's for sure."

The biggest ones sound like they are due to arrive any day.

Guy Tridgell can be reached at gtridgell@southtownstar.com or (708) 633-5970.

drop in the mail

The volume of mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service is on the decline.

Pieces mailed through the years:

1999 - 202 billion

2000 - 208 billion

2001 - 208 billion

2002 - 203 billion

2003 - 202 billion

2004 - 206 billion

2005 - 212 billion

2006 - 213 billion

2007 - 212 billion

2008 - 202 billion

2009 (projected) - 190 billion

[theflyingpostman]

COMMENTS FROM READERS:
idiotland wrote:
This is such misleading BS on so many levels. Gee, mail volume plummeted the end of last year and this year. I wonder why that could be? Maybe the worst economic calamity in 70 years? duh. This piece makes it sound as if it's a coincidence. Even Toyota's losing money for the first time in 50 years. The average unionized postal worker makes $67,000 per year? What body cavity was that pulled out of? This is the same nonsense that auto workers make $70 an hour or $154 an hour as fixed noise's Glenn Beck claimed.
The average postal worker makes less than $50,000 per year.
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tourney wrote:
The day was years ago, the phone company said you had a job for life.
Technology will continue to let folks go at its own rate..even the p.o.
The words are true, technology has surpassed humanity...we all know this, we have to go thru a billion buttons to reach someone..and yes, get the usual excuses.
Welcome to the real world. And if Walmart/Kmart/Sears is still here in a year, Sexton might as well put in his applicaton.