Editorial: Local mail carriers, delivery drivers doing Santa’s work

Across Hampton Roads today, hundreds of men and women are doing all of Santa’s hard work.

Clement Clarke Moore’s famous poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” credits Jolly Old Saint Nicolas for traveling the world over to deliver presents to all the good girls and boys. But in reality, a veritable army of postal workers and delivery drivers make sure those precious holiday gifts arrive safe and sound.

Just as these men and women earned our gratitude for serving as a lifeline for so many during the pandemic, we should show our appreciation for all their hard work during this, their busiest time of the year.

Not so long ago, preparations for the holidays necessitated visiting a store — or, more likely, several stores — in search of the perfect presents. This involved close examination of toy shelves, careful inspection of locked glass cases, riffling through the clothing racks and imagining what that special someone would want dressed up in wrapping paper and ribbons.

Things are different now. Shopping continues to move from an in-person experience to online, where consumer groups expect Americans to make more than $9 billion in purchases this year.

Instead of fighting crowds on Black Friday, more people are choosing to peruse online shops, where the best deals are only a few clicks away.

Of course, completing an online purchase is only part of the process. Getting those gifts from the seller or a warehouse into the hands of the buyer depends on the logistics of the supply chain and “last mile” delivery networks.

That means it depends on people — the carriers of the U.S. Postal Service and the private package delivery companies, and those of online retailers such as Amazon, which employs its own delivery drivers and contracts with small firms to carry those packages to front doors around the world.

Any doubt about the importance of these workers was eradicated during the pandemic, when millions of Americans leaned on online purchasing for essentials during stay-at-home periods or to limit the risk of exposure to COVID. Postal workers and delivery drivers did heroic work and their contributions to the health and safety of their communities should not be forgotten.

Sadly, however, it didn’t take long before they were taken for granted again. Now, we may be quick to anger when packages don’t arrive as scheduled or incensed when drivers park catawampus on the roadside for a quick dash to a neighbor’s door.

Take a moment to consider what December means for these folks.

The USPS, which has wrestled with organizational issues for years, expects to deliver more than 50 million packages during the holiday season. It has hired thousands of new carriers and upgraded processing facilities to decrease waiting times and improve its success rate. Inside Business reported recently that Amazon delivers about 1 million packages across Hampton Roads every week, with volume increasing substantially in December.

Delivery drivers typically work 10-hour shifts and distribute between 200-360 packages per day. It can be difficult, uncomfortable and often thankless work. Not only are there obstacles such as weather, traffic and even hostile animals, but people blame individual drivers for problems over which they have no control. Those are problems known all too well by postal carriers as well.

It can be challenging to serve in a public-facing role — restaurant employees and retail clerks can tell you stories about nightmare customers — but the overwhelming number of delivery drivers handle it with grace and good humor.

Saying thanks, keeping pets indoors and even leaving snacks or drinks by the front door are simple gestures that can mean a lot to those women and men exhausting themselves to deliver all those gifts this holiday season.

Contrary to the myth, Santa can’t do it all by himself so let’s make sure to be appreciative to all of those who help ensure this Christmas is merry and bright.