Postal Service pledges ‘best holiday season ever’

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service expects to deliver just as much holiday mail as last year, and officials on Tuesday asked mailers to help curb anthrax anxiety by printing clearly and using return addresses on letters and packages.

The agency will move about 20 billion pieces of mail between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, said Pat Donahoe, chief operating officer.

"The Postal Service and all of its 800,000 employees plan to make this the best holiday season ever," Donahoe said. "We know that America — as well as the Postal Service — really needs this."

The Postal Service has been on alert since October, when the first of four anthrax-contaminated letters surfaced. Postal inspectors, the FBI and local law enforcement agencies have been sweeping mail processing centers daily, flagging suspicious mail, Donahoe said.

"One of the things we’ve been encouraging everyone to do is use a return address," Donahoe said.

Bracing for the seasonal barrage of mail, the Postal Service is adding 86 airlines, increasing ground transportation, extending hours at local offices and hiring 5,000 to 10,000 temporary workers.

Electronic devices read and process most cards and letters at a rate of 35,000 pieces an hour, so the agency will need only a fraction of the temporary workers hired in recent years, Donahoe said.

The volume of the mail has dipped since last December, mainly due to the economy. Standard mail has declined by 6 percent, and first class mail by 2 percent, Donahoe said.

Donahoe said the Postal Service has made progress in its efforts to detect and prevent another anthrax outbreak. "We’ve got a written protocol now that says: If this happens, this is exactly how you deal with it," he said.

The agency has been working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local unions to ensure that "the right people are making the right calls at the right time," Donahoe said.

Two postal workers are among the five people who have died from inhalation anthrax, the most deadly form of the disease.