MAIL IN MOTION

foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] box you probably don't give a thought as to how it reaches its destination behind the delivery of your letter is the story of the postal transportation service often referred to as the backbone of the postal system we hope that through this film you will come to have a clearer understanding of the work postal Transportation clerks perform and the skills required to keep the male in motion this is Bob Smith future postal Transportation Clerk six months ago Bob took a civil service Examination for employment in the postal transportation service and achieved a high grade he also passed a rigid physical examination the letter he is reading is an offer of employment as substitute postal Transportation Clerk following the instructions in the letter Bob reports to The District transportation manager's office the district manager explains that the basic function of the postal transportation service is to transport the United States mail to keep the mail moving toward its destination that this work is performed in terminals air mail Fields moving Highway post offices and Railway post office cars Bob learns that life in the postal transportation service is one of continuous study and fight against time to get the mail home as swiftly as possible is advised that the work is arduous and for the most part performed during the night that he will have to travel and be away from home a good part of the time he is also told of the many advantages of federal employment Bob accepts the appointment and immediately takes a note to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States he has given the equipment necessary to protect the mail to identify himself as a postal Transportation Service employee and a commission for travel Bob is now a substitute postal Transportation clerk ready to undertake a period of training Bob's first session with the training officer a cleansing with the fact that postal Transportation clerks must study as well as work the training officer instructs Bob in the use of the books he will study to qualify for the examinations he will take throughout his career the book of instructions which contains the rules of employment the scheme books which list in great detail The Roots serving each post office and the schedules of railroads Airlines Highway post offices and truck routes the geographical location of each office is studied and the route serving the offices are traced and checked through scheme books and schedules this is the heart of the training program through this process the correct routing for each post office is worked out so that the mail may be dispatched to reach its destination in the shortest possible time the correct route is noted on the back of the card containing the Post Office Clerks must memorize not only the names of five thousand post offices but the correct routes for each the various types of equipment in their use is explained by the training officer as well as the proper method of locking and labeling Bob is also informed that within 30 days he will be required to pass two written Nations and within 60 days he must pass an examination on approximately 800 post offices Bob Fields this task is impossible he is told that all postal Transportation clerks passed these examinations and if he applies himself he can do it too under the supervision of the examiner Bob takes his first examination on postal laws and regulations it consists of 50 Questions Bob studied hard for this examination and answered 48 correctly receiving a mark of 96 throughout his career he will be required to take written and case examinations every year every day of his working life he will be learning new distribution and regulations and there will be no rest from this continual process of accumulating knowledge the first job to which Bob is assigned is in a postal transportation service terminal these terminals are usually located at railroad stations the mail is loaded onto belts which carry it to the first section for the primary breakdown in the process of distribution these terminals are a maze of belts shoots corridors elevators and moving trucks 70 terminals manned by more than ten thousand postal Transportation clerks are located throughout the United States these clerks keep the mail in motion from the time it is loaded onto the belts until it leaves the terminals properly dispatched VIA trains and trucks in this terminal located in Washington DC ten thousand sacks of mail are processed daily this job requires hundreds of Highly skilled Distributors who work around the clock 365 days a year as Bob has no knowledge of distribution he can only perform the moral laborious work in the terminal this consists of pulling sacks from one truck to another and dumping up mail on a portable belt for distribution by experienced employees it is a question of pull and lift and dump and dump a tired substitute finally realizes that if he is to get away from this laborious work he must learn something about the distribution and dispatch of males like other postal Transportation clerks Bob spends countless hours studying the geographical locations and scheming out the correct route for each of the 800 post offices in his examination assignment the following month Bob takes his first case examination he must know how to distribute and dispatch correctly mail for approximately 800 post offices postal Transportation clerks must make a grade of at least 95 to pass he presents his equipment revolver Keys scheme book and schedule to The Examiner who inspects them to see that they're in good condition and kept up to date every week there are Supply and schedule changes clerks must revise and re-study these supplies and routes to conform to these changes Bob is naturally apprehensive he gives the signal and begins casing the cards off to a slow start he gains speed and finishes the examination at a rate of 32 cards a minute The Examiner checks the cards through the use of a code on the back he finds eight errors in Bob's examination and points out the correct supply for each officero thus Bob receives a mark of 99 on his first case examination as he continues to take examinations his confidence will grow within three years he will have a working knowledge of approximately 5 000 post offices Bob has now acquired considerable knowledge of distribution and is temporarily assigned to a terminal where bulk mails are handled this is a simple distribution rack where Sykes are made up for States and other postal transportation service terminals although Bob is working alone on his rack he is part of a vast team where the performance of each individual affects every other individual in the organization the process of distribution is like an endless belt a jam up at any one point can cause serious problems throughout the entire organization as the sacks are filled they are labeled tied out and dispatched to the correct train for transportation to destination saxophuzzle poster dumped up on a portable belt where clerks working at high speed make the primary breakdown for the various racks in the section Parcels of all sizes and shapes are thrown into tubs which go to the racks for distribution it is easy to see the wisdom of the post office department and cautioning its patrons to wrap Parcels firmly and securely during an eight-hour day Bob processes the equivalent of 166 of parcel posts for the states and terminals contained in his distribution the tubs from the portable belt are brought to him along with a word of encouragement and advice when the mail is kept in motion this bass terminal is a smooth and efficient operation however the flow of mail varies and the Distributors are continually fighting against time to keep the male moving when the volume becomes too great and over taxes the facilities of the terminal it results in delays and increased costs the most economical and expeditious method of handling bulk mails is to keep them in motion that is the job these people are trying to do 12 billion pieces of third and fourth class mail are distributed and transported each year to perform this tremendous task requires expert knowledge and close teamwork by postal Transportation Clerks the transportation of mail by air is one of the responsibilities of the Bureau of Transportation airmail fields are located at principal airports throughout the country airmail is preferred service it cost more but if desired is well worth the money it is possible to mail an air mail letter in New York City and have it delivered in London England as quickly as a letter at the regular rate mailed in New York is delivered in Chicago incoming air mail is delivered to the postal transportation service by the airlines two important tools a postal Transportation clerk users are the twine cutter and the thumb stall the twine cutter is used to cut open and tie out packages and the thumb stall is to put the letters into pigeon holes but now has sufficient knowledge to work airmail into a complex distribution case the jargon used in the postal transportation service is peculiar for example filled in North number one and two means male in these pigeonholes will be dispatched to a railway post office train running between Philadelphia and Norfolk the number one packages to be worked first because it includes cities near the beginning of the run while the number two package contains mail for cities near the end of the Run Bob receives on-the-job training under the guidance of regular Clerks here he is being shown the correct way to tie up a package of letters he still hasn't learned how to hold on to a package with one hand while tying with the other much to the amusement of his co-workers it is embarrassing to have to pick up the letters under the eyes of 50 fellow employees but it will not happen too frequently because Bob is determined to learn how to tie out properly as quickly as possible after the air mail has been distributed into the cases the packages are tied out and sent to the pouch table where they are thrown into pouches of destination life in an air mail field is never static flight patterns are constantly changing which sometimes makes it necessary to use alternate routes in Expediting air mail planes are grounded and mail must be routed to trains and trucks the airmail clerk must not only know the proper Supply and disprayer mail flights but he must hold the proper distribution dispatch for surface Transportation as well this complex system of looting requires specialized skill and flexibility which is peculiar to the industry their mail field clerks distribute mail not only for domestic delivery but also for many foreign countries for its own fund distribution here again the clerks work around the clock and against time to distribute and dispatch as much mail as possible on each flight eight hundred thousand authorized airmail flights serving 550 cities carry one and a half billion pieces of airmail yearly the post office Department's latest innovation in transporting mail is the highway post office with more and more people leaving the cities to live in Suburban areas the highway post office is becoming an increasingly important media in male Transportation Highway post office is not only transport mail but also provide facilities for distribution on Route clerks are assigned to Highway post offices and Railway post offices and carried Firearms to protect the mail one of the great advantages of this service is that it delivers the mail direct to post offices along the Run Highway post offices are not restricted by the rigid schedules of railroads and Airlines routes can be set up to meet the individual requirements of the post offices served the direct exchange of males is not only expeditious it is also economical as it eliminates the need for motor vehicle and star route service the flexibility of the hypo is the answer to the serious problem of providing good Postal Service during periods of Shifting populations as new communities are established Highway post office routes can be revised or new routes established at Roots discontinued each year more Highway post office routes are added to meet the needs of suburban areas at present there are 140 Highway post office routes which travel 15 and a half million miles yearly the American people are on the move and the highway post office is moving with them this is Bob's first trip in a railway post office at the railroad station he meets The Crew He will work with and they report to the RTO car to perform Advanced distribution before the train leaves this Railway post office runs between Washington and Chicago the empty car is hung with pouches or diagram which accommodates the mail to be distributed and dispatched during the Run each rack contains from 10 to 16 pouches or sacks each RPO car has a different layout because the scope of distribution varies for each run letter case headers are inserted in the pigeon holes for the city and state mail which will be distributed and dispatched most postal Transportation clerks work throughout the night so that mail will reach post offices early in the morning to ensure a first delivery by letter carriers outside the car there seems to be confusion as trucks of mail to be loaded or maneuvered into position but actually everything is in order a clerk calls out pouches and a jargon familiar only to The Postal Transportation clerks each run scheduled to receive specific dispatches from post offices air mail Fields Highway post offices and other railway post offices a record is made of all pouches received and dispatched as the time of departure nears more and more mail is taken into the car and the speed of distribution is stepped up the conductor gives the high ball and the Run Begins the pouches and sacks in the car contain first class letters and newspapers nearly 18 billion pieces of first class and 6 billion pieces of second-class mail are handled by the postal transportation service year early as the momentum of the train increases letters are snapped into the pigeon holes with increased speed the pouch table becomes the center of activity letter packages are thrown up into the correct pouches there is a spree decor in the postal transportation service that is unique postal Transportation clerks work in small groups or Crews they develop a high sense of teamwork and there is competition between Crews which results in high productivity at the other end of the car our substitute Bob Smith is Distributing newspapers he flubs and hits his head on the hooks underneath the boxes when he does this about 100 times he will be a real postal Transportation clerk the speed of distribution now has reached its peak and will continue at this pace until the train nears the end of the Run they will pick up and dispatch mail all along the way here's where postal Transportation clerks use their tremendous knowledge of distribution each clerk under studies one or more assignments and can step in and fill a vacancy at a moment's notice when one clerk is current with his distribution he steps in and helps those who are behind each of these veteran clerks knows the proper distribution and dispatch for approximately 5 000 post offices and unhesitatingly flip the letters into the correct separation clerks work not only against time they also work against the sway and bounce of the speeding RPO car one of the advantages of Railway post office service is that it permits receipt and dispatch of mail on Route while the train is moving this provides good postal service for the smaller cities and towns along the run there are several offices along this route where mail must be dispatched on the Fly these are the most exciting moments of the Run particularly for our substitute Bob Smith the mail for dispatch is taken from an overhead box and enclosed in a special pouch it is securely locked and brought to the the door where the clerk will make the throw and catch clerks can easily tell at what point of the Run they are by the feel of the car beneath their feet the clerk designated to make the throw and catch is on the lookout for familiar landmarks as the train approaches the point where the males are exchanged the clerk goes to the door and looks for the crane upon which the incoming pouch is held he throws the pouch lifts the catcher arm and there is the incoming pouch the mail is brought to the pouch table and distributed swiftly so that the patrons at the next station may receive same-day delivery [Music] foreign [Music] Bob Smith has now satisfactorily completed his probationary year he has been educated by the training officer and his fellow clerks in the rudiments of the job of keeping the mail in motion a letter from his district manager offers him an assignment as a regular clerk in a postal transportation service terminal he is now ready to take his place among those who have dedicated their lives to the principle that the male must go through with our great technical knowledge and resourcefulness it may truly be said that neither snow nor rain nor heat nor Gloom of night stays these couriers from the Swift completion of their appointed rounds