Automation helps customers process their own packages.
By: Leon Tovey
MONROE Customers mailing holiday packages out of the township post office on Perrineville Road this year had the opportunity to take advantage of one of the U.S. Postal Service’s newest weapons in its war on long lines: the Automated Postal Center.
But Postmaster Robert Reese said Monday that so far, few people have used the APC, which the post office received on Nov. 15 and allows customers to personally weigh, calculate and purchase postage for items weighing up to 70 pounds.
"We’re trying to get the word out," Mr. Reese said. "We’ve done a mailing to local homes and businesses telling them about the APC and how it works, but I think we just have to wait for people to familiarize themselves with it before it really takes off."
Mr. Reese said the township post office received the APC because it is rated one of the nation’s 2,500 busiest in terms of coverage area and the number of pieces handled.
He said the introduction of APCs in the township and at other top-tier post offices is an effort by the Postal Service to meet the demands of tech-savvy customers who may be unwilling to stand in lines.
Mr. Reese said that while he doesn’t think machines will ever entirely replace people at post offices (services like passport applications should always be handled by people, he said), the Postal Service is also concerned about the bottom line.
"First Class mail volume is down 4 to 5 percent across the country over the last two to three years," he said. "This year for the first time ever, bulk business mail third class mail exceeded first class mail. Frankly, that’s troubling for the Postal Service."
Mr. Reese blamed the decrease in First Class mail on the ascension of online banking and billing systems and, naturally, e-mailing. He said the APC seems to have been most popular among younger customers, who are used to such 21st-century conveniences, but that he thought it would soon catch on among older customers as well just as ATMs have.
"Once you use it, you’ll always use it," Mr. Reese said. "It’s just more convenient.
On Monday, in an effort to show customers the APC’s convenience the busiest mailing day of the year, according to postal officials postal employee Erika Micklos was on hand to steer customers to the 3-by-4-foot machine and give them a brief tutorial.
Ms. Micklos, a retail specialist from the Kilmer General Mail Facility in Edison, said that by 1:30 p.m. around 40 people had used the APC, which crouches just inside the post office’s main entrance beneath a large yellow banner that advises people to try it out.
In addition to weighing and selling postage for packages and letters requiring additional postage, the APC also allows customers to buy stamps, look up ZIP codes, check delivery status and buy insurance, Ms. Micklos said.
"You can also use it for international mail weighing up to 1 pound letters, pictures," she said. "But you can’t send anything that requires filling out a customs form."
The APC is also open longer than the standard post office window; it can be used from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

