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Chicago carrier promotes winter safety

AccuWeather reporter Emmy Victor interviews Carilla Hayden, a Chicago letter carrier.

When the AccuWeather Network wanted to talk to a winter expert recently, producers knew exactly where to turn — a postal worker.

Carilla Hayden, a letter carrier at Englewood Station in Chicago, appeared on the TV channel to discuss how to keep ice and snow cleared from mailbox paths, sidewalks and stairs.

“It was such a wonderful experience,” Hayden said of the interview. “It’s an important story to tell because it affects so many carriers across the country whose jobs require navigating snow and ice.”

Emmy Victor, an AccuWeather reporter, interviewed Hayden during the segment, which aired as part of the channel’s “AccuReady” series.

Hayden, who has worked for the Postal Service for 15 years, is no stranger to television. She has appeared three times in USPS holiday commercials — mostly recently in a 2018 ad.

She said she enjoyed doing the interview because it allowed her to stress the importance of winter safety.

“We really need customers to clear the stairs to the walkway from property line to property line,” Hayden said. “Every winter, letters carriers experience slips, falls because we were trying to walk on surfaces that weren’t safe. There’s ice under the snow that you might not be able to see.”