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Coxsackie Post Office among hundreds looking to trim costs in tough times

By Billie Dunn

COXSACKIE — The Coxsackie Post Office has cut back - its hours, that is - and according to U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman Maureen Marion, the Coxsackie location is just one of hundreds nationwide looking to cut costs.

“Cutting operating hours is one of the difficult decisions we have to make,” said Marion who represents the Albany district which includes the Hudson Valley, Finger Lakes and Capital District. “The decision reflects changes in revenue on a broad scale, locally as well as beyond,” she said.

According to Marion, Postal Service officials routinely evaluate ways to conserve money.

“In a business where you see the cost of a stamp go up a penny, you can imagine we watch our pennies very carefully,” she said.

Marion says mail volume trends were already starting to decrease when the financial crisis hit.

Stretching an hour

The post office’s new hours began this week and according to Post Master Linda Divinetz that means the lunch period at the post office has been extended an extra half-hour, Monday through Friday. Traditionally lunch has been from 11 a.m. until noon, but now the break will extend to 12:30 p.m.

Marion points out though, that for post office employees a lunch hour isn’t necessarily an hour at all. She says a great deal of work takes place behind the scenes during that time - and all day long. She also notes that when cutting back hours at any post office, officials take care to have as little an impact on the customers as possible.

In Coxsackie she says that full-time employees will still be working eight-hour days, but the post office will be saving in two ways: in terms of overtime and by scheduling part-time employees intermittently rather than having shifts overlap.

Amid the cutbacks though, Marion says there are plenty of positive changes taking place at post offices nation wide.

Locally, she cites the convenience of being able to purchase stamps at grocery stores and ATMs, and as customers become more comfortable using the Internet she says a multitude of services are available at the Postal Service’s Web site.

“As our customers are looking to fold together their mailing habits with other errands our store front hours are taking on a new meaning,” said Marion. “We make as many services available as conveniently as possible for those who don’t work near a post office.”

Customers are able to plan shipments, order supplies, print postage and request pickups via www.usps.com. Tech savvy customers can also apply for passports, customize postage, create cards, change their address and more.

“We’ve been looking at hours in post offices nation-wide for years,” said Marion, who notes that the U.S. Postal Service conducted their first significant lunch hour adjustment in 2003.

“This is not isolated - it isn’t even county wide,” said Marion, “This change is broad and it reflects a need to for the Postal Service to be nimble.”

To reach reporter Billie Dunn, please call 518-943-2100, ext. 3323, or e-mail bdunn@thedailymail.net

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