Re: (erielack) Diamond and USPS delays

[Hhaines_@_aol.com]

Dear Jim,

I cannot tell where the Diamonds were mailed, but if it was New Jersey, many of those parcels are checked and "irradiated" for anthrax on the way out of the state. I bet someone on the list works for the U. S. Postal Service and can explain this better, but following is what I was told regarding mail to and from my Dad in New Jersey. 

Depending on the mail center, this process will heat the mail up to 140F.  There was an NBC news article about the Santa Claus mail being "yellowed" from NJ and NY arriving in Florida because of this process, but nothing can be done.  

I live in Montana, and the envelope and the Diamond were just fine.  There is a Rutherford NJ return address, but that does not mean that is where it was mailed.  According to my inquiry at the USPS, and a friend at USPS there in NJ, my mail from NJ only gets a single delay for the screening process.

There is (or was) a possibility for an additional delay for mail sent from NJ being delivered to the NY-NJ area because it could go back through a NJ sort (and screen) center. The mail may have gotten screened and checked again for anthrax before delivery. The delay for delivery seems to be 3 to 5 days across the East Coast as of last week, and USPS seem to be catching up. 

Some of these screening centers are totally electronic, and do not heat the mail.  The process at some centers  raises the temperature of the mail for extended periods. The criteria are general, and sometimes, any package that is not standard and flat will be screened, whether it has a return address, printed mail label, or not. During the Christmas rush, there is no guarantee of the location where the mail will be processed. 

Although the Diamond, mail from Dad, the Extra Board, and a book got to me safely from New Jersy, another used book from a store there has been in the USPS system for over 5 weeks, and may be lost.  If worried, check with your local USPS.

Howard Haines, 
ELHS 1447

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