USPS clearing mail
backlog

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The presents may still be in the mail in some parts of Albuquerque although the U. S. Postal Services says it has cleared a weeks-long backlog from one post office.

Do you have holiday presents that are supposed to arrive by Christmas, and are still in the mail?

Two weeks ago viewers flooded KRQE News 13 with complaints that the post office wasn't delivering mail on time in some cases taking weeks after tracking systems showed packages had reached Albuquerque.

While the Postal Service oath from a century ago promised that even "gloom of night" would not keep carriers from their appointed rounds, it didn't say anything about staffing shortages.

"A where it arrived Nov. 21," Bill Manuel told KRQE News 13 a Thanksgiving gift for a friend took three days to get from Texas to Albuquerque and then sat for 17 days before being delivered until Dec. 9.

Complaints related to the Steve Schiff Post Office on Candelaria Road NE and other branches were common. But has the post office fixed problems in time for holiday deliveries?

"No. No. Unequivocally no," Arthur Prouse, president of American Postal Workers Union Local 380, said. Layoffs have been crippling, he added.

"The Postal Service is still, as far as I'm concerned, expecting two and three and even four employees' worth of work out of one employee," Prouse said.

However USPS spokesperson Barbara Wood said the problem has been solved.

"We have been actually caught up for several days at the Steve Schiff station," Wood said. "We have several people over there to ensure the mail does get delivered as it does get into the station."

Customer Manuel said that after the problem was exposed service got better.

"We had two mail deliveries each day," he said. "We had the stop at the mailbox outside and deliver our mail, and then we had another one come and deliver the parcels. They were obviously making an extra effort."

USPS said extra manpower and overtime have improved service over the past two weeks. Prouse said he'll be keeping tabs on what happens when the holiday pressure is over.

Wood did say some packages expected by Christmas may arrive late because of snowstorms around the country slowing deliveries.