SAIPAN Postmaster Harry Wilcox said there are no “secrets” when it comes to postal operations on island.
The Saipan Post Office
USPS photo
“We do our best to transport, process and deliver the mail as soon as possible,” he told Variety. “All of the mail received at our Saipan postal facilities from Monday through Saturday is dispatched to the airport at 4:30 p.m. and flies out the next day.”
He said the U.S. Postal Service is constantly assessing the needs of Saipan, “and adds additional staffing when our resources allow us to do so.”
Wilcox said USPS-Saipan has hired two additional employees to assist during the holidays this year, and is in the process of hiring more.
Asked how the Saipan post office is meeting the demand during the peak season, he said: “We expanded the hours of operation of our package pickup operation by an hour and a half daily, or nine hours weekly, throughout the month of December.”
Wilcox added, “We also monitored and refilled the parcel lockers at the Saipan Post Office several times daily in an effort to get as many packages as possible into the hands of our customers. Besides assessing our personnel needs, we are currently evaluating our customer service hours and will consider the possibility of adjusting those hours.”
As for sending Saipan/Guam mail via Honolulu, Hawaii, Wilcox said: “We transport mail from all destinations to Saipan and Guam as quickly as we can, although we are limited by the flight schedules and routing that [are] currently available.”
He said the Covid-19 pandemic “has impacted the availability of overseas flights throughout the U.S. Postal Service’s worldwide transportation network. Covid-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on postal operations.”
