Processing & delivering mail

When it comes to moving the mail, technology, logistics and dedicated employees make it happen.

Processing & delivering the U.S. Mail

(NAPSI)—Here’s intriguing information on how mail gets processed—something everyone should know:

The U.S. Postal Service has nearly 34,000 Post Office locations and more than 300 processing and distribution facilities nationwide. The expansive network processes nearly 430 million pieces of mail each day.

How It Works

Once you place your packages, letters or greeting cards in the U.S. Mail, Postal Service employees begin moving it through the network.

Mail is collected and moved to processing facilities. There, it’s separated into three categories—letters, flats and packages.

Once the mail is separated, automated processing equipment sorts it by ZIP Code. Machines “read” the destination address, spray bar codes on pieces to automate them, and check for postage.

Because packages come in many shapes and sizes,

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Roaring out of the Batcave in a gadget-loaded vehicle

On Jan. 13, 2013, Lot 5037 rolled smoothly onto center stage at the prestigious Barrett-Jackson car auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. The sleek, low-slung vehicle, owned by California auto customizer George Barris, glistened like a black diamond under the lights.

Moments later, furious bidding erupted among the well-heeled. After 13 minutes, it was all over, the buyer elated, the audience stunned.

TV’s original Batmobile had found a new home.

During the 1950s, American car companies held annual auto shows, where attendees were often enthralled by what the factory folks called “concept cars.” Such boldly designed vehicles were constructed to showcase new styling and technology but were never offered for sale.

A decade before the Batmobile appeared on TV’s Batman show, the LincolnMercury division of Ford Motor Company had proudly displayed its Lincoln Futura concept car at the 1955 Chicago Auto Show. Bill Schmidt, the company’s chief stylist, had been inspired to come up with the design for the Futura one day after he had scrutinized a shark while scuba-diving. Schmidt later designed what would amount to a “laboratory on wheels,” an experimental machine loaded

with advanced—really advanced—engineering and design features. Measuring nearly 19 feet in length, the Futura was 7 feet wide but stood less than 4½ feet high. It sported rakish tail fins, Plexiglas bubble canopies, a push-button gearshift, and space for a telephone behind the center console.

Most concept cars, expensive as they were to design and build, were eventually scrapped. In this case, though, the Futura was later bought by George Barris. Never titled and therefore uninsurable, the auto sat idle for years, slowly deteriorating behind Barris’s Kustom City shop in Hollywood.

In August 1965, two producers from the forthcoming TV show Batman approached another California car customizer, Dean Jeffries, about building a Batmobile for the program. Jeffries soon began working on the body of a 1959 Cadillac before realizing that he wouldn’t have time to finish the project before the three-week deadline. He was paid off, and the producers turned to Barris.

“They said, ‘You’ve got 15 days and fifteen thousand dollars,’ Barris recalled later. “But the challenge was worth it. I said, ‘Let’s go for it!’ What I had to create was a fantasy.” He rounded up five people to revamp the Futura. Barris himself painted it a gloss black and added bright red-and-orange trim to help make it “pop” on color television.

Miraculously, the project was completed on time, and the Batmobile debuted on national TV on Jan. 12, 1966. That’s when the Caped Crusader and Robin first roared out of the Batcave in a gadget-loaded vehicle meant to instill fear in the hearts of Gotham’s lawbreaking louts.

In Scottsdale, the new Batmobile owner set an auction record by paying $4.2 million (plus another $420,000 for the 10% buyer’s premium) to acquire the iconic collectible. That was quite a markup for George Barris as, decades earlier, Ford had sold him their $250,000 Futura for the princely sum of one dollar.

City of Lubbock facilities

Burgess-Rushing Tennis Center 3030 66th St. • 767-3727

Hodges Community Center 4011 University • 767-3706 Lubbock Memorial Arboretum 4111 University • 797-4520 Lubbock Adult Activity Center 2001 19th St. • 767-2710

Maxey Community Center 4020 30th St. • 767-3796

Rawlings Community Center 213 40th St. • 767-2704

Safety City 46th & Avenue U • 767-2712

Simmons Community & Activity Centers 2004 Oak Ave. • 767-2708

Trejo Supercenter 3200 Amherst • 767-2705

A Step in Time Continuing care for the aged and health challenged. Comfort and security in an elegant private home.

Give us a call

What a di erence

your lunch hour can make! Once a week, or once a month, use your lunch hour to deliver a hot, nutritious meal to someone who is homebound. You will make their day, and they will make yours.

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Lubbock Meals on Wheels

Page 16 • January 2022 • Golden Gazette How to help Processing & delivering Mail

Volunteers at UMC Health System are needed now more than ever. Volunteering is great for both the volunteer and the organization.

UMC relies on the support of volunteers who generously give their time. UMC is seeking volunteers willing to fulfill various roles including: • Information Desk • Greeters • Couriers • Share Your Talent (Music Therapy, Pet Therapy, & Patient Advocacy) • Volunteer From Home by Donating (Patient Care Packages, Nurse/staff Care Packages, Books, Cards, etc.)

All shifts available. Set your own schedule. All volunteers & staff follow safety and health protocols to minimize risk. All donations can be coordinated thru the Volunteer & Guest Services Department.

If interested or for questions, call 806-775-8238.

(Continued from Page 13) they are processed on equipment specifically designed to handle a variety of boxes. These systems move packages along a series of conveyors and rollers.

Machines “read” the destination addresses, scan the bar codes to update tracking information, check for proper postage, and determine the size and weight of the packages. The packages are then sorted into bins based on their final destinations.

After the mail and packages are sorted, they are moved to the loading dock and trucked through networks of processing and distribution facilities using an extensive fleet of vehicles. The mail ultimately arrives at a local Post Office location for delivery.

Employees at the Post Office location sort the mail by carrier. Mail for PO Boxes is placed into the box. The carriers gather the remaining mail, load their delivery vehicles, and head out to deliver.

For happier days

To better handle increased holiday volume, the Postal Service has been making key network infrastructure investments. This includes, but is not limited to, installing 112 new package sorters and more than 50 additional systems to help sort larger packages, and adding space to accommodate packages by leasing more than 75 peak season annex facilities—plus more than 40 annexes on multi-year leases.

The USPS delivers

This is just one part of the Postal Service’s 10-year plan to achieve financial sustainability and service excellence.

It takes an immense network, sophisticated technology and tens of thousands of dedicated employees to get that special gift or card to friends and family for the holidays.

The Postal Service has been delivering for the holidays for 246 years. It’s what they do.

Remove 10 pieces of litter every Tuesday Keep Lubbock Beautiful

A new litter-prevention program: “10 on Tuesday” Working toward a clean, litter-free city

Learn more

For further information, visit usps.com/holidaynews.

Your elected officials

Contact your elected officials. Keep in touch during good times, offer solutions in not-so-good times.

President Joe Biden

202-456-1414, or comments line 202-456-1111

The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW,

Washington, DC 20500 whitehouse.gov

U.S. Senator John Cornyn

806-472-7533 or 202-224-2934 517 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 www.cornyn.senate.gov/contact

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz

214-599-8749 or 202-224-5922 127A Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 www.cruz.senate.gov

U.S. Representative Jodey Arrington

806-763-1611 or 202-224-3121

U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515

Arrington.house.gov Gov. Greg Abbott

512-463-1782

Office of the Governor, P.O. Box 12428,

Austin, Texas 78711-2428

Gov.texas.gov

Texas State Senator Charles Perry

806-783-9934, 512-463-0128

P.O. Box 12068, Capitol Station, Austin, Texas 78711 11003 Quaker Avenue, #101, Lubbock, Texas 79424

Texas State Representative John Frullo

806-763-2366, 512-463-0676

P.O. Box 2910, Austin, Texas 78768 5717 66th Street, Suite 116-117, Lubbock, Texas 79424

Texas State Representative Dustin Burrows

806-795-0635, 512-463-0542 P.O. Box 2910, Austin, Texas 78768 10507 Quaker Avenue, Suite 103, Lubbock, Texas 79424