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Six members of the 1st Ward post office Customer Advisory Council (CAC), one guest and one staff member from Alderman Manny Flores office met with five managers and supervisors along with a letter carrier from the U.S. Postal Service in the fourth meeting of the CAC at the Daniel Doffyn post office (60618). The CAC members were from three zip codes (60618, 60622 & 60647) in the 1st Ward. The post office managers included the Station Manager for Wicker Park Station (60622), the new interim Station Manager and a supervisor from Roberto Clemente Station (60647), the interim Station Manager for Daniel Doffyn Station (60618) and a representative from Chicago Postmaster Gloria Tyson's District Manager office.
The CAC noted that misdeliveries still occur at some routes in all three zip codes but that the frequency of problems is trending downward. Time-of-day delivery continues to be much better than in the past. There was some discussion of delivery problems at Daniel Doffyn Station (60618) and interim Station Manager Karen Washington pledged to investigate each issue that was presented to her. Wicker Park Station Manager Mary J. Ware reported that she has been in contact with the half-dozen (60622) customers who made specific complaints to the CAC and with the constituents who complained to the Alderman's office about specific service problems over the preceeding month. Those issues were presented to her at the August 14 meeting. Carmen Santiago of Postmaster Tyson's office noted that Chicago area Customer Service Measurement ("CSM") scores were still too low but were improving. The CSM scores are created based on reports from mystery shoppers and from test letters and packages sent to, from and within the area by an independent contractor. Mis-deliveries were discussed. Three common reasons are: >> Mislabeled or unlabeled boxes in multi-unit buildings. >> Window envelopes that are misread and then missorted by the automatic scanners due to reflectivity from the clear plastic windows; small businesses can contact USPS to meet with a consultant to learn about alternatives. >> Inattentiveness by carriers who are supposed to "finger-read", or riffle through, the bundle of mail at the last minute before it is delivered. 22 additional carriers have recently been added for 60647 and 15 have been added for 60618. This represents a mix of new hires and experienced carriers transferred from other stations. The Station Managers noted that historically approximately two-thirds of the new hires remain on the job beyond their initial ninety-day probationary period. Station Managers said that they have the same recruiting challenges that other business have and try to provide extra management oversight for young employees who may bring a work ethic to the job that is not what customers expect. Some, but not all, stations have in-house trainers. Many stations assign experienced carriers to provide mentoring to new carriers. Station Managers noted that many newly employed carriers are surprised at the physical rigors of the job and drop out early, thus adding to the overall problem of frequent use of substitute carriers and of carriers having to work overtime to finish the routes of others. Lack of familiarity with a route is a common reason for late-in-the-day delivery, along with using one or two carriers to deliver portions of another route after they complete their own. Station Managers conduct "service talks" on specific topics with all employees on a daily basis. Some topics are scheduled by the USPS and some are triggered by customer complaints or other current issues. The CAC members questioned the carrier who joined the meeting. The carrier stated that multi-unit mailbox labeling and carrier inattention - sometimes due to hurried schedules or because of new/substitute carriers - are the most common causes of poor service. Asked by the CAC what any single customer action might mean the most to a carrier, the answer was "recognition". The CAC was encouraged by the very recent (September 10 2007) change in management at Roberto Clemente Station (60647) which has been the subject of many customer complaints. Ed Kennedy, the newly installed interim Station Manager, is there on temporary assignment from out of state. No announcement has yet been made about a permanent appointment for this position. Mr. Kennedy was made aware of long-standing customer criticism including management and lobby employee attitudes, slow lobby lines, lack of supervisor availability to assist with customer issues, mis-deliveries, non-deliveries and apparent lax behavior by carriers. Mr. Kennedy has been told that his assignment here will be "at least" three months and he pledged to use his multi-state troubleshooting experience to improve each issue. The representative from Alderman Flores office advised the CAC that the Alderman has started the process of requiring that the new construction permit checklist include meeting with USPS representatives regarding correct and efficient mailbox placement. The CAC elected Anthony Perez (60647) as Chairman and Bill Murray (60622) as Secretary. Both officers and any member of the CAC can be reached by e-Mail at AdvisoryCouncil@msn.com. The next CAC meeting is scheduled for 6:30PM, Tuesday October 9 2007 at Wicker Park Station, 1635 W. Division Street (60622). |
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