Is Postal Service Suffering?

The lines are longer at the post office and some people are getting their mail later in the day. It's all part of the new U.S. Postal Service. But is customer service suffering? There are fewer people behind the counter, and fewer people delivering the mail. And the post office is beginning to hear complaints from customers.

Natasha Jackson said, some days the line at the Beechwood branch post office on Waring Road is out the door because there's only one postal clerk on duty. But that's not her only gripe.

"Even with the mail getting delivered at home, it's getting later and later," said Jackson. "And I've heard the same thing from my postman, that it's because of cuts."
 
Fellow customer Rick Danna agreed, saying, "It seems like the quality of the service overall has gone down while the rates keep going up. So that disproportion kind of thing bothers me."

At the Winton Road post office near Blossom, customer Joanne Slater said, "They have extended hours now but there's not enough service for the people that come through. In the evenings, it's just horrendous. The lines are out the door practically. It's very sad. I feel very bad for the employees."

There are more than 600 fulltime mail carriers in the Rochester 144, 145 AND 146 zip codes, other than rural delivery. But their union says 43 fulltime positions are not filled. Carriers are being forced to pick up delivery duties on other routes after their own routes are finished.

"It's a clerk issue where they've been decimated," said Roger Larker, vice-president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 210. "And even in the stations, where the mail has to be broken down and distributed out to the final routes, there's just not enough staff."

Complicating matters is the bulk of vacation time comes in the summer months. So on any given day, as many as 125 postal routes have to be covered by employees, either on overtime, or when their routes have been finished and there is still time left in their shift.

Jim Bertolone heads up the American Postal Workers Union, which represents mail clerks. "It appears to us that the service has gotten so bad, both in delivering the mail and how long people wait in line, the Postal Service is in fact encouraging people to buy their postage online, or get it in their drugstore. We don't want you to come into the building unless you're going to spend a lot of money."

The Rochester general mail facility and its branches are under the control of the Western New York District. Spokeswoman Karen Mazurkiewicz in Buffalo confirmed there are fewer employees, and they are shifting staffing around where the workload is. She said the Rochester area has nine offices with extended hours, so that stretches out staff a little thinner. But she also said there are more efficiencies in place.

Customer satisfaction in western New York ranks in the top five in the country out of 80 districts.

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