BUFFALO, N.Y. — We may all at times feel the stress of the holiday season but Christmas Eve is really "the game day" for postal workers around this area. Then toss COVID in on top of it for the perfect storm, as they say.
National Association of Letter Carriers Association Branch 3 President David Grosskopf, Jr. puts it this way: "We take great pride obviously as carriers and postal employees in everything we do, and we want to make sure that all of these packages are delivered to our customers by Christmas. But unfortunately it appears that that's not going to happen."
Grosskopf says here and around the country numerous trucks are filled with packages and the loading docks are jammed at mail processing facilities such as Buffalo's William Street plant.
"Right now I'm getting reports that the Buffalo plant and the Rochester plant in the Western New York District, there's literally hundreds of tractor trailers waiting to be unloaded with packages in those vehicles, number one," Grosskopf said.
"Number two, the docks in the plants themselves are loaded again with packages It's not just Western New York. We're seeing this all across the country."
So how did it get this way? Some theories.
First off, there's the delivery deluge with soaring online retail, in part due to people not wanting to leave their homes to go out and shop in a store, some with COVID concerns. A recent NBC story projecting 3 billion packages to be shipped between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Then there's always potential weather delays this time of year.
But Grosskopf also claims the postal system is picking up the slack from its competitors, such as UPS, who did limit package pickup from shippers to keep their timely delivery records intact.
"That overflow from our competitors, they're coming to us, which again is a good thing. However, that's going to impact our on time delivery rates, our ability to timely deliver things," Grosskopf said. "Because the U.S. Postal Service, we're not allowed to limit shippers to an 'X' amount of packages, for example and say, 'All right, you're not allowed to put anymore in the mail.' That's not how the United States Postal Service works."
A postal system spokesman acknowledges the challenges, citing the COVID impact on postal workers and unprecedented volume of shipped packages with the soaring level of online purchasing.
They hired more seasonal workers, transferred others to pick up the load at jammed facilities, and are overall confident processing and delivery will soon return to normal.
Grosskopf agrees with some of that. For example, with COVID, as many as 100 workers a day are affected just in Buffalo. He says it's even worse than the spring when we also saw mail delays.
"This second wave has been way worse than the first wave," he said. "From what we're seeing in the postal service, and I'm sure other industries are seeing the same thing, you know we're really struggling this second time around here because we have much more manpower out of work."
And transfers are sending postal workers from smaller, rural post offices to busy sites such as Orchard Park, which is one of the busiest for package delivery in the area.
So while on this Christmas Eve, many of us may be ready to relax soon or look forward to some festive time with close family under COVID, it seems some postal workers won't have any time off.
Grosskopf says, "We're going to have carriers out there tomorrow. I'm aware that many of my members will be out tomorrow delivering packages."
That's because they have a certain unwritten credo, which Grosskopf says is, "We are the nation's Santa Claus. You know we have to get these things delivered by Christmas."
Of course, there all the holiday cards and routine mail that still must go out. And they are also feeling the impact of COVID causing thousands of workers across the country and here in Buffalo to go out on leave with others picking up the slack.
Grosskopf notes: "The folks that are coming to work are working overtime, forced overtime. You know, working longer hours, that takes it toll, and unfortunately what happens there. We have been doing this again since the pandemic started."
He quickly added: "It's been a pretty intense peak season for the United States Postal Service and all its employees."
So they have a holiday wish request of sorts from home and property owners, especially with the upcoming snow fall.
Grosskopf says: "When the snowstorms hit, you know, please clear your walk. You know make sure the stairs are clear. Make sure that walk is clear. If you can try to get some ice, I'm sorry, some ice melt or some salt down there, and make sure there is a clear path because it does make a difference."