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Show Stye jlatt A it Fall Celebration r Sunday Morning, October 17, 1982 Section W I'ascOiic FeMenkrais Method W-- 2 W-- 4 Sewing Tips F-- 6 Fe -mail carriers are undaunted Cherlyn Grossenbach cases letters, Hats then stacks them according to a delivery pattern for Rural Free Delivery, Route 1, Ogden Post Office. rural routes are delivered by women. All six By Hazel S Parkinson Tribune Lifestyle Writer Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these (letter) couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds," wrote Herodotus long ago. Sometimes Mother Nature can foul up that tradition for U S Postal Sendee rural carriers. rvj. One day last year it happened. winds blowing Eighty out of the mouth of Weber Canyon stopped Rural Free Delivery Route 4 carrier, Cherlyn Grossenbach. from delivering the mail. An ice storm last winter made road conditions too hazardous for Dorene Nielsen, Ogden, Route 3. to complete her route. mile-an-hour Dorene Nielsen goes extra mile for her folks on Ogden route. WMi The majority of rural carriers delivering mail six days a week to homes along the rural roads of Utah H Lena Allen works a route, began as sub 30 years ago. six-da- y High winds last winter kept Mrs. Grossenbach off route one day. when vaca- tions or are ill. It might mean only working 20 to 75 days a year. But the part-tim- e work helps the family budget. When Route's Too Large When a regular route becomes too large, part is taken off and made into an auxiliary route. It gives the substitute an opportunity to become an aux" carrier and work 20 plus hours a week. When routes build up or a carrier gains seniority, she can qualify for a regular route when a vacancy occurs. There arg 27 communities in Utah with RFD services and approximately 99 routes. There were rural carriers during World War II. Daisy Rowley, Milford. delivered mail in the 20s from Milford to the Nevada border. Lena Allen, Ogden, began as a substitute 30 years ago. She delivered an auxiliary route and now has a regular one. Beth Beers. West Jordan, in 1968. volume route. One day she delivered 2.199 items to 527 boxes, drove 26 miles. Tribune Staff Photos by Frank Porschatis received a rural political appointment from then Sen. Frank E. Moss She worked as a window f)orV f of cpvpn v5Fc prjrtr pmv has a shopping mall on her route and a lot of mail. Dorene Nielsen, Ogden, has been driving rural routes 12 years, seven as a sub. She is secretary for the Utah Rural Letter Carriers Association. She was honored as State Letter Carrier, 1978," by the association. Jean Jones, wife of rural carrier Leon Jones, Price, is president of the Auxiliary of the National Rural Letter Carriers Association. Cherlyn Grossenbach, Ogden, also has nearly 12 years service, three as a regular. Mary Schaffer, Layton, has the largest volume route from that post office. She delivers mail to East Layton residents. IS Carriers start as substitutes regular route carriers take Layton Post Office, East Layton route Mary Schaffer, has large- - carrier, Mini-Po- Office The service given by rural mail t office. carriers is that of a Carriers sell stamps, even lick them and put them on letters, sell mini-pos- money orders; deliver certified and registered mail. They pick up parcels, take them back to the post office to be weighed, pay the charge out of their pockets, get a receipt and collect the next day. They pick up letters anH express mail They've even been known to take lost children home. Carriers are not required to get out of their vehicles to deliver mail. They sometimes do if they know a customer has a hard time getting outside, or if the package is too big for the box. Carriers know a lot about people on their regular routes. We don't try to be nosy, but awareness of mail tells a lot about a their problems, interests, person said Mrs. family and friends, Nielsen. "We get to know the people. Some see us coming and wave. Some come out to say hello and get their mail Others tell us whats going on and some tell their problems. "A warm, freshly-bake- d cookie, a hot slice of homemade bread and jam or an apple might greet us when we pull down the mail box lid." Mrs. Beers said. Some people give us a small gift or card at own Christmas Nielsen. time," said Mrs. Other Kinds of Presents There are other kinds of presents the women wish weren't dead snakes, put in mail boxes frogs, mice, cherry bombs and firecrackers Kittens are the most common. Halloween and the days after the Fourth of July and New Year's Day are the worst days for pranks. Inclement weather causes problems. Snow plows throwing snow so it is hard to drive up to the mail boxes are annoying. People who work or are infirm havent had time to or can't dig a path. Mrs. Nielsen said. It makes it hard to do the job. We do go the extra mile." Mrs. Nielsen gave an example. A letter was addressed to "Grandpa Taylor, Route 1 The carrier on that route was unable to find the right grandpa. "I said there were Taylors on my route. After a couple days of inquiry, it was delivered to the right person But 'Grandpa's' wife was upset because it took five days to get there from the date it was posted. Oh, well." said Mrs. Nielsen, shrugging her shoulders "We did our best " Another letter rame from Italy, simply addressed to Mr. Mathieu. Ogden. USA A postal supervisor asked if any rural carriers might know of someone by that name Letter Was Delivered Nielsen recalled there was an Elder Mathieu from Ogden who served a Mormon mission to Italy. Telephone calls to families by that name came up with the right man The letter was delivered. Mrs Nielsen explained there are different rural carrier routes. H. J, K and auxiliary. A carrier contracts for a low high route Wages, in pari, are considered by the type of route H route means a carrier Mrs wat ;-- v Upper part of Mrs. Schaffer's East Layton route is along Highway 89. Rural carriers furnish own vehicles, receive no . ' ; - overtime pay for extra hours to make deliveries, Wages are based in part on volume, boxes and miles. I delivers mail six days a week; J route is 5 Vi days, with every other Saturday off. K route carriers work a five-da- y week. Subs deliver on the relief day (Saturday) or vacations. An auxiliary route is part time, six days but fewer hours in the day. Contract for wages is also based on volume of mail, number of boxes on route, time it takes to get mail ready, delivered, number of days worked and seniority. Carriers arrive at the post office at 6; 30 or 7 a m. Prior to their arrival, other postal workers have sorted incoming mail by zip code or route number Mail Is Cased" Items for each rural route are given to the proper carrier. Mail is then "cased." Casing means slotting each piece of mail by hand, by family name, box numbers and delivery patterns. In the Ogden office, letters and flats magazines and advertiseare put into compartments ments. two families per box. Carriers have options of putting rubber bands around bundles or and the route using a stacker pattern. A card is inserted to flag a parcel or special mail. Rural carriers must supply their own vehicles. They must have alternate transportation available if there is car trouble so mail delivery can be completed They receive a daily gas allowance. Some carriers drive regular cars e with steering. Some drive right-sid- e driven vehicles Mrs Schaffer has a former postal truck she bought from an individual who had purchased it as postal service surplus. Regulations prohibit a rural carrier from purchasing a vehicle directly from the post office, said Mrs Schaffer Mrs. Beers drives a right-sid- e ehicle, which she ordered new from an automobile dealership The last two weeks in September are "count week Postal supervisors count every piece of mad flats and parcels on every rural route They time each carrier's work pattern A supervisor also goes out with each carrier on her rwile. This is done (or nen contract purposes Not Paid Overtime 11 it takes a earner 10 hours to drlii er her route on days when mail is heavy, she is not paid overtime. During December, rural carriers do not take packages back into the post office, nor will they put stamps on letters There is too much oliime Mrs Schaffer noted that because rural carriers deliver to the box, they often carry larger or different items than city carrier On her route is an auto leasing company. She has had in deliver tires One man was rebuilding antique ears I think all of the car parts he needed came through RFD, one piece at a time," Mrs Schaffer said two-famil- y left-sid- |