Du Quoin postal carriers staying ahead of sluggish first class deliveries out of St. Louis

Intrepid Du Quoin postal carriers have been staying ahead of the rest of the system this week as trucks carrying first class mail failed to make it out of the St. Louis distribution center Monday and Tuesday.

In fact, local carriers were so far ahead of the rest of system on Saturday, they were given the day off on Monday as other parts of the country played catch-up.

Postmaster Steve Dinkins was hoping for both the 5:30 a.m. truck from St. Louis carrying second and third class magazine mail. priority mail and parcel post packages as well as the later 7:30 a.m. truck containing first class mail.

Both trucks arrived on time Saturday at the onset of the weekend snowstorm, but Monday and Tuesday came and went with the Du Quoin post office receiving only the second and third class mail and parcel post packages.

Dinkins said tracking software on his system indicated that machines were not processing mail at the St. Louis distribution center on Monday. "I don't know if the machines were down or the employees couldn't get in to work," Postmaster Dinkins added.

"Everybody is out working today," he said as postal Jeeps and the Du Quoin office's 10 carriers criss-crossed Du Quoin and delivered the surrounding motor routes.

"We kept all of the first class mail from Du Quoin in Du Quoin Monday for local delivery on Tuesday," he said.

He said it wasn't worth calling anyone in on Monday to fight the bitter cold with little or no first class mail to deliver.

"There was no pick up or delivery on Monday," he said.

Postmaster Dinkins said he hopes full truck service resumes Wednesday morning and extended his appreciation to postal patrons for keeping their walks and approaches to street-side boxes clear during this extreme weather.

The Pinckneyville Post Office said there were no inbound trucks at all on Monday. "We got all of our mail today," a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

"We are delivering everything that we have."