Here's What Caused The Problems At The Chatham Post Office

CHATHAM, NJ — Chatham Township Deputy Mayor Karen Swartz confirmed to Patch that Chatham's much-anticipated meeting with the U.S. Postal Service over its beleaguered mail service happened this past Friday morning, Dec. 8.

"(The meeting) was productive and reassuring," said Swartz.

Keith Reid, a manager of post office operations, attributed the problems at the Chatham branch to several different things, including increased online shopping, recent departures among staff, the hiring of a new postmaster, new carriers with no local knowledge and the Veterans Day/Thanksgiving holidays back to back, she recounted from the meeting.

For the past few months, Chatham residents have suffered very poor mail delivery, with many saying that mail arrives late or is not even delivered at all. Related: Chatham Mayor To Meet With Postal Service About Mail Problems

"Reid brought in as many as 15 extra workers during this recent time to get our ZIP code back up to speed," Swartz said. "There have been extra carriers added for early morning parcel delivery separate from regular mail delivery. This will continue. Reid is confident that the community is 100 percent caught up following the recent downturn in delivery service."

Beginning today, Monday, Dec. 11, there will be a post office employee at the service window in Post Office Plaza from 11-3 p.m. to discuss issues with Chatham residents, Swartz said. This person will also be available throughout the business day to answer the call button for packages.

The U.S. Postal Service also has an app available for Apple and Android devices called Informed Delivery, which will provide scanned images of mail received by the USPS at sorting time in the Chatham facility prior to each day's delivery. There is also a GPS function available that can locate a carrier who said they delivered a package when the recipient claims he or she did not receive it. That app is available here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/ap...

Friday morning's meeting was facilitated by Aura Dunn of U.S. Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen’s office, and was attended by U.S. postal officials (Keith Reid), Chatham Borough Councilman Len Resto and Borough Administrator Steve Williams. Chatham Mayor Bruce Harris called in.

Image via Google Earth of the area on Passaic Avenue around the Chatham post office.