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Ready to Where

Local program expands to more districts

Employees participate in a recent Where is My Package? training session in Greater South Carolina District. From left are Baltimore Letter Carrier Stan McLaughlin; Columbia, SC, carrier technicians Curtis Hilton and Gebraiel Hamm; and Greater South Carolina Business Development Specialist Darcus Gordon.

Several districts are adding a local program that allows letter carriers to quickly investigate and resolve parcel delivery complaints from residential customers.

The Where is My Package? program began last year in Baltimore District, where the initiative has helped reduce parcel complaints by about 20 percent.

The program has been replicated in a dozen districts, including Northern Virginia, Mid-Carolinas and Atlanta in Capital Metro Area and Dallas, Houston and New Orleans in Southern Area.

“Peer-to-peer interaction between management and employees is what makes this program successful,” said Chief Operating Officer David Williams.

The initiative helps the Postal Service meet its goals of growing its package business and giving employees more flexibility to solve customers’ problems.

Baltimore District worked with the National Association of Letter Carriers branch in Baltimore to create the program, which uses call center inquiries and customer surveys to identify delivery issues.

Letter carrier coordinators then meet with the employee to review the issues. Because the threat of disciplinary action isn’t involved, employees are more willing to admit mistakes.

“It turns into a mentoring moment,” said Baltimore Lead Carrier Coordinator Michelle Wakefield, who helps train employees for the program.

“A carrier will listen to another carrier tell them how to do something the correct way. That’s been the key to our success.”

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