For several years, mail clerks at Kokomo’s branch of the United States Post Office sorted packages by hand.
That meant a clerk, like Ignacio Macias who has been with the organization for the past five years, could sort about 300 to 500 packages per hour, USPS officials say.
But that was then.
These days, under the direction of clerks like Macias, approximately 5,000 packages are sorted per hour, thanks to Kokomo’s new Sorting and Delivery Center, part of USPS’ 10-year transformation plan called “Delivering for America.”
According to a recent USPS media release, the $40 billion Delivering for America initiative is a nationwide program called to “modernize the postal network, restore long-term financial sustainability, dramatically improve service across all mail and shipping categories and maintain the organization as one of America’s most valued and trusted brands.”
And many of those new changes were on full display Thursday during a tour of Kokomo’s new S&DC facility.
Kokomo is just the latest in a long line of S&DC facilities set up throughout the United States, per Robert Hanlon, director of S&DC planning and implementation.
Speaking during a short presentation at Kokomo’s USPS branch Thursday morning, Hanlon said 83 S&DC Centers across the nation will be up and running by the end of next week, with 300 more planned over the next few years.
“By creating S&DCs, we’re enhancing the postal service so that it not only survives but thrives,” he told the crowd. … The S&DCs have reimagined delivery and have become both a powerhouse for commerce and guiding lights for operational efficiency. The benefits of these S&DCs like the one here in Kokomo have proven to be quite significant.”
And these S&DC centers work too, Hanlon noted, because of new and efficient machines like the Small Delivery Unit Sorter.
The machine is pretty simple to work, Hanlon noted, much better than the often tedious work of having mail clerks manually going through packages and placing them in proper containers by hand.
The Small Delivery Unit Sorter allows clerks to place packages one at a time on a conveyor belt, with a bar code facing up.
The machine then reads that bar code, automatically scans that package to the correct address and then deposits that package into the proper container for carriers to eventually deliver.
Mark Inglett is a strategic communications specialist for USPS, and he also helped lead the tour during Thursday’s S&DC presentation.
“I mentioned this several times before, but there’s a reason Santa Claus has us on speed dial,” he told the Tribune with a smile on his face. “We’re the nation’s most trusted federal agency year after year. We want to continue to earn that trust, and I’m incredibly proud of this.”
So is Macias.
“This (machine) has made a huge impact,” he told the Tribune on Thursday after showing those in attendance how the Small Delivery Unit Sorter worked. “The way we used to do it (sort packages by hand), it was a little bit harder. With this machine, everything goes faster. The way we process everything, it makes it so much easier.”
Along with the new machinery, Kokomo’s new S&DC center has updated amenities for the employees too, such as breakroom space, locker room updates and renovated bathrooms.
And perhaps just as important as how packages get sorted is how they get delivered.
According to Patrick Ecker, USPS’ executive manager of fleet strategy and support, the current fleet of mail delivery vehicles at Kokomo’s facility is anchored by what USPS officials call Long Life Vehicles, or LLVs.
Many of those vehicles have been on the road for over 30 years, Ecker said.
“They’ve been workhorses for us, no doubt,” he said, “but they no longer effectively meet our needs.”
So again, that’s where the Delivering for America initiative comes into play.
It’s out with the old and in with the new.
Ecker estimates that within the next year, all the LLV mail delivery vehicles on site at Kokomo’s post office will be replaced by new electric powered or fuel-efficient vehicles (Ford E-transit vans and Next Generation Delivery Vehicle mail trucks).
And along with being more eco-friendly, Ecker noted the new vehicles will be more comfortable and safer for the letter carriers themselves, equipped with everything from air conditioning and a larger space to move around to rear cameras and increased visibility.
Because at the end of the day, the mail must go through, Indiana District Manager Christi Johnson-Kennedy said.
And now it can go through with more style and efficiency.
“The investment goes beyond just the infrastructure,” Johnson-Kennedy said during Thursday’s presentation and tour. “It’s about empowering the employees, the very heart of our organization. … They need to excel in their role. …. We understand our employees are the driving force behind every letter delivered, every package dispatched and every customer interaction. Therefore, this investment is to provide them state-of-the-art facilities and vehicles.”
After Thursday’s tour, Johnson-Kennedy took a few moments to expound on those same thoughts with the Tribune.
“I’m excited about so many things,” she said. “For years and years, we focused on everything expect our facilities, and I think we discounted the importance of bright lights and clean and fresh things and all of the things that we now have. And it makes our employees’ jobs so much easier, and they’re so much happier.
“The community should be excited too because happier employees do much better work,” Johnson-Kennedy added. “We’re able to get out and reach more people more quickly and give the customers what they need.”
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