Computer May Have Caused Mail Delay

Postal officials said Thursday a computer glitch may have caused Valleywide mail delays for thousands of people who were having their mail forwarded between July 5 and July 12.

Such computer problems are extremely rare, postal officials said, and there usually are backups when they do occur.

The nationwide computerized forwarding system was updated less than two years ago to make it faster and more efficient.

But mail delays are particularly devastating six months after the Northridge earthquake. Many people--especially San Fernando Valley residents--forced out of their homes are still living in temporary quarters.

Before the Jan. 17 temblor, the Van Nuys facility forwarded 80,000 pieces of mail a day. That volume is now up to 106,000 pieces a day, a 33% increase. The facility has been staffed around the clock since the quake.

The recent computer problems may have affected Valley residents who were forwarding mail from addresses in the 91300 to 91699 ZIP code area, which includes among other communities, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Van Nuys and Woodland Hills.

Local post office branches began having trouble delivering forwarded mail to new addresses when a mainframe computer at the Van Nuys forwarding unit crashed July 5. The unit serves postal branches throughout the San Fernando Valley, which deliver mail to 672,000 homes and businesses each day.

It took postal workers at the Van Nuys facility until July 12 to reload forwarding addresses that had been dropped from the system when the crash occurred, said Terry Bouffiou, spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service in Southern California.

During that week, some forwarded mail may have been delayed a couple of days. It should all have been delivered by now, she said.

Bouffiou stressed that mail forwarded while the Van Nuys unit was impaired was not lost. The forwarding addresses are in the system now. Everyone’s mail is being forwarded, and no one should be experiencing any problems, Bouffiou said.

She added, however, that anyone who thinks their mail is being delayed should call the station manager of their local post office branch.

When people notify their local post office branch that they are moving, the branch forwards their first-class mail and packages, as well as anything sent parcel post, for a full year, Bouffiou said. Bulk-rate mail, such as advertising flyers, is not forwarded.

Forwarding addresses remain in the computer system for 18 months and then are purged, said Bouffiou. Local mail carriers are also supposed to keep a record of forwarding addresses for 18 months.

On average, 20% of all Americans move every year, Bouffiou said. “If we kept all of that forwarding information any longer, no system would be big enough to handle it.”