Field Trip #3: Blessed Be The Letter Carrier Part 1

"We are mothers and fathers. And sons and daughters. Who every day go about our lives with duty, honor and pride. And neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor the winds of change, nor a nation challenged, will stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds. Ever."

~ US Postal Service Creed (provided by TLWR follower, Celine)

Did You Know That Canada Post:

• is the employer of more than 72,000 Canadians (Full and Part-time employees)?
• delivers more than 11 billion letters and packages to 31 million Canadians and over one million business and public institutions?
• has 6,600 post offices (of which 3,000 are managed by the private sector) and more than 17,000 stamp shops?
• has more than 900,000 points of entry?
• has in excess of 6,000 vehicles, which makes it one of the largest fleets in Canada. In addition, Canada Post has two DC-10s which fly across Canada everyday?
• has one of the largest transportation networks in the country with letters and parcels travelling on more than 36,000 intercity trucks every year?
• contributes more than $2 billion annually to the Canadian economy?

Something else you probably didn't know is that I have always thought that an awesome job would be that of Letter Carrier or what used to me known as The Postman. Since women deliver mail along with men, the term "Letter Carrier" is more politically correct and accurate, I suppose. In Ottawa, it is estimated that 30% of Letter Carriers are women and the rest are men.

After my tour of the Ottawa Mail Processing Plant (OMPP), I decided that I would like an even closer look at the journey of the letter and so I asked if I could job shadow a Canada Post Letter Carrier for a day. Lisa Dupuis, a Canada Post employee for the past 8.5 years, approached her Superiors with the idea. After some time, permission was granted and we picked the day (Thursday, October 7th). As I mentioned in my OMPP Tour report, Canada Post is a high security corporation. Although Lisa wanted me to join her at 7am at the OMPP to physically sort the mail and prepare the mail bags, the powers-that-be would not let me back into the plant for security reasons and so we made arrangements to meet at the start of her route in an area of the city known as The Glebe......a hip/trendy/somewhat wealthier neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Lisa has been working this route for the past year and a half. Routes are measured on distance and mail volume. It is quite a process and there are many factors involved. A mathematical equation determines the amount of time it should take to complete a route. This equation looks at your pace in which you sort and walk. Every little thing is counted......every stair, every door, every piece of mail. The routes change every 3-5 years to accommodate for growth or shrinkage.


I was told to wear comfortable shoes and to be prepared to walk......a lot. I was pretty excited especially when the forecast called for sunshine and 15 degrees. A perfect autumn day in Ontario. Lisa completed a couple of blocks prior to meeting me but I essentially accompanied her on the entire route. We started by going to a locked, grey mailbox located on a street corner which was loaded with four canvas mailbags. Each individual mailbag was filled with the pre-sorted mail from the earlier portion of Lisa's shift. She thought that I should wear the mail bag and actually experience it firsthand and allowed me to do the first short street. The bag weighed around 15 lbs, perhaps, and had two pockets with bundles of mail in each. Lisa adjusted the straps and made sure I was comfortable. Canda Postal Workers have pretty strict guidelines on worker safety and injury prevention.


Lisa Dupuis, Canada Post Letter Carrier
Ottawa, ON



Loaded up like a pack horse with the mail



I have to say, I felt really excited about getting to do the job even if it was only for one shift. I have always thought it to be a fairly positive job for several reasons. One is that you get your exercise in while working and so scheduling time for working out is no longer necessary. Two, you are working relatively independently and so while on your route you are not having to deal with a boss or gossipy co-workers. Granted it is extra convenient if you work in a "good" neighbourhood as opposed to the trashy/rough side of town. Three, you can get the one thing I have always longed for......tanned legs. You are allowed to wear shorts in the summer and warm weather. There are down sides to every job/career and this is also the case for Letter Carriers. I will get to those in a moment.

I learned very quickly that movement is critical....no standing on a customer's porch picking through the mail to see where you are going next and what letter belongs where. Always moving, always moving. But you must watch where you are going to prevent falling down the stairs, slipping on damp leaves, tripping over a rock or walking into a tree while sorting mail. There is indeed a skill involved in making the mail delivery efficient and smooth.

 

That's me actually delivering mail! C-O-O-L.....

 

This yard was so beautiful with the leaves, I had to have a photo!



I, apparently, lacked in those attributes as upon our return to the grey box for another load of mail, Lisa happily strapped on the mail bags and suggested that I observe while she delivered the mail to the businesses that are a part of her route.

I found it interesting to be in a city and yet so many people knew her. She would say. "Hello!" and then quietly tell me that he or she was a customer on her route. While she was getting more mail from the grey box, a man approached us who looked somewhat destitute and asked so politely if the GST cheques were in this day to which Lisa replied, "Yes, they are being delivered today." He seemed very relieved. For those of you who live outside of Canada, the GST/HST (Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax) program issues payments to Canadians with low and modest incomes to help offset all or part of the GST/HST they pay on the purchase of goods and services. My point with this illustration is that the Letter Carrier is such an important, trusted and constant fixture in the neighbourhood and community.

 I was grateful that the sun was shining and the breeze was cool. I have been a bit lazy in the exercise department and I was certainly feeling it on this day walking alongside Lisa observing the mail delivery. Again, I really think that having a job that forces you to walk for three hours or more per day is ideal.

Canada Post Letter Carrier in action!

Lisa has some interaction with her customers. A few of the letters required a signature before delivery and of course, anyone who was outside raking the leaves or doing autumn renovations, stopped for a moment to say, "Hello." As the bag was emptied and we filled up one last time, I was a bit relieved that the end was in sight. My legs were tired and I felt like having a nap. I asked Lisa if she had ever calculated how far she walked in one day and she told me that on average, she hits about 500-600 points of call (addresses), delivers approximately 10,000 pieces of mail and walks about 16km!!! Unbelievable!!

Lisa receiving a signature from one of her customers (by the way,
this customer gave me permission to take and use this photo in this blog).

Some of you live in small towns or out in the country and do not have this mail delivery service. For those of you in rural places, your mail may be delivered to your mailbox at the end of your laneway via car/truck. I walk to our town post office to get my mail from a post office box. If you live in a city and have door-to-door mail delivery service, there are some things you can do to keep your Letter Carrier happy and safe. Please consider the following:

Winter:

• Keep the walkway from the sidewalk to your mailbox clear of ice and snow. Clear it before you leave for work so that the Letter Carrier can deliver your mail safely during the day while you are away.
• Use salt to keep the stairs free of ice.
• Make sure that the icicles are cleared overhead. They are extremely dangerous.

Summer:

• Dogs should be kept where there is no chance of them getting at the Letter Carrier.
• If your storm door is open, make sure that your screen door is locked, so your dog cannot push it open and that the screen is closed enough that your dog cannot come through it.
• Make sure that if you keep your dog in your backyard and that the gate cannot be opened. Make sure that the fence is in good repair.

And a couple of more tips:

• If you have painted stairs, put a carpet down. Wet painted stairs are incredibly dangerous.





An example of a safe staircase.


• Make sure your mailbox accommodates the type of mail you receive (ie. if you get a lot of magazines, you should probably have a bigger mailbox). Your mailbox should also be at a good height. The Letter Carrier's bags are not designed to allow for bending downwards.

Lisa having to bend down with her mail bag to place the mail
in the wooden box set out by the customer.

The difference between delivery in the summer as opposed to the winter is significant and not for obvious reasons (snow, ice, cold vrs. dry, sun, warm). Lisa says that the volume of mail is almost doubled in winter due to holiday catalogues and fliers and of course the increase in snail mail with the annual sending of Christmas/holiday greetings. This added volume of mail can add an additional 1-2 hours onto your route. The greatest seasonal hazards of the job are simple: dogs in summer and ice/snow in the winter. If you have the privilege of having your mail personally delivered, be aware of all of these things and be kind to your Letter Carrier as well. Keep him/her safe so that they can continue to do their job.

A re-enactment of what can happen if your property is unsafe
and hazardous to your Letter Carrier!!

I asked Lisa if she had any interesting stories to share and she told me the following:

"I found a lost dog and after knocking on all the doors in the area with no luck, I put him in my mail bag and finished my route. It was pretty cute. I walked him to his Vet's office, which was identified on his dog tags and he was reunited with his family later that night."

Job shadowing Lisa was a great experience. Originally when I asked Lisa if I could come along for a day, she agreed BUT there was a catch.................I also had to promise that I would return in the dead of winter to experience mail delivery in the blowing snow/ice and minus 25 degree Celcius weather. Of course, I have given her my word. Watch for Part 2 of "Blessed Be The Letter Carrier" coming to you this February!

A final photo Lisa,  Letter Carrier:

Field Trip #1: Ottawa Mail Processing Plant

Let me just say that I was under the impression that once you drop the letter into the mailbox, it passes through several hands before arriving at its destination. I imagined my letter arriving at a Post Office in Ottawa, for example, and getting dumped into a large bin with all of the other letters getting mailed that day in this area. People would stand around hand sorting the letters and eventually the letter would get into smaller and smaller bins until it was brought to the post office where it would either be put into a post office box or would be hand delivered by a mail carrier. Yes, I know, very naive.

Canvas mail bags.....some dated as far back as 1921!

So, when I was offered the opportunity to participate in a guided tour of the Ottawa Mail Processing Plant (OMPP) on September 17th, I signed up.  The OMPP opened in October, 1970 and is the first mechanized plant of its kind in Canada. It is one of 21 similar facilities in the country and  is operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with the exception of Saturday night and holidays. It employs 900 people!

In front of the Ottawa Mail Processing Plant (OMPP)

 Canada Post has strict guidelines when it comes to allowing non-Canada Post employees into this facility. It was by chance that I mentioned TLWR in a prenatal class. It turned out that one of the dads-to-be worked for a company that is partially owned by Canada Post. He thought that Canada Post should know about TLWR blog and he made arrangements for me to tour the plant. Since my mom was with me that day, they graciously allowed her to join the tour. We were met by Mr. Dean Ryan and proceeded to strap on steel-toed shoe covers and enter the ground floor of the OMPP. The ground floor is used for sortation for Priority Courier, Xpresspost and parcels. The main floor has 35 loading bays, Fleet offices, Receipt Verification Unit and a Retail Postal Outlet. During the day, the floor is relatively quiet but at night, it is buzzing with activity....letters galore and parcels being sorted and ready for delivery by morning.

Early morning on the main floor. Any minute the trucks will back up to the
 loading bays and start loading these parcels to take to their destinations

Bins and bins of parcels as far as the eye can see!

The parcels below this sign are coming to our neck of the woods!

I was actuallly quite overwhelmed by the size of this one floor. It was the size of a football field and there were two more floors to be visited. Basically, the letters leave this floor and go to the third floor of the facility which is the letter sorting floor.  The OMPP processes approximately two million pieces of mail every day for Ottawa, Eastern Ontario (up to and including Kingston, Cornwall and Hawkesbury) and the Outaouais; an area of approximately 50,000 sq. km. Amazing!!

So, it turns out that I was way off with my vision of people standing around bins hand sorting the letters. Here is a list of some of the machines you might see while visiting the OMPP:

The EFM (Edger, Facer Machine) was designed by Canada Post’s Engineers. It places S/L envelopes on their edge, then “faces them up” by using cameras to determine the orientation of the letter. The EFM processes 18,000 pieces/hour.

The Multi Line Optical Character Reader (MLOCR) sorts S/L lettermail by taking a digital image of the letter. The OCR software is capable of reading and interpreting several lines of an address and processes 28,000 pieces/hour.

The Video Encoding System (VES) transmits images of letters, which cannot be deciphered by the MLOCR to remote keying stations, where clerks key-in the postal code. - 2,000 pieces/hour.

The Bar Code Sorter (BCS) is used to sort mail to a letter carrier walk or town/village. It sorts the mail by reading the barcode on the front of the envelope that was printed by the MLOCR. - 30,000 pieces/hour.

The Alcatel Flat Sorting Machine (AFSM) sorts oversize letters mechanically. It determines the postal code and prints a barcode on the front of the letter then sorts it directly into containers - 15,000 pieces/hour.

The Cubiscan measures the external dimensions of parcels, weighs and scans the barcode for postage verification. It also scans the parcel as part of the Track and Trace system. This information is cross-referenced against the customer’s Statement of Mailing. Parcels are then hand sorted (I knew there was some hand sorting!!) into cages or loose-loaded onto trucks for dispatch.
 
All parcels are placed on the Parcel Conveyor System as soon as they enter the plant and are sorted immediately to their destination.
 
After visiting the first and third floors, we were taken to the second floor which houses five letter carrier depots which make up the Caledon Depot and administrative offices. I was pretty stoked about this floor as one of my friends who is from our hometown works as a Letter Carrier in Ottawa. I was thrilled to see her in action loading up her mail bags for the day. She was shocked to see mom and me in her high security workplace. This is Lisa. Check out her legs :-)

Lisa...one of Ottawa's 300 Letter Carriers

After two hours, the tour came to an end. I was completely boggled by the details of mail processing. I suppose I had never given it much thought. If you ever get the chance to visit a mail processing plant, I encourage you to check it out. You may start thinking that stamps are relatively cheap when you see what is involved with mailing one letter. The OMPP opens its doors to the public twice a year. If you are in the Ottawa area, I would highly recommend it.



Bins of sorted letters getting ready to send out for delivery

   Another cool fact: each evening the Canada Post trucks drive around the city emptying the street mailboxes. It turns out that it's not only letters that end up in those boxes. The OMPP receives on average 50 wallets, 30 cell phones and lots of keys daily among other undesirables like dog poop, cold pizza, dirty kleenex, spilled coffee. I suppose people mistake the mailboxes for garbage bins at times. But, good to know that if you find a wallet or keys or a cell phone, you can drop them into a mailbox and there is a person at the OMPP whose job is to get these items back to their rightful owners.

 
So, this concludes my first field trip. I hope you enjoyed my report. I am going on another field trip this Friday. Stay tuned as field trip #2 includes TLWR's first GIVEAWAY.......................