Today's Mail becomes tomorrows possibility

Today's Mail, the U.S. Postal Service's test of delivering customers' mail in plastic bags, has come to an end - in Carson City at least.

I'd like to thank the Carson City residents who participated in the Today's Mail surveys as well as those who wrote letters expressing their thoughts on the test. Every bit of feedback was appreciated and has been shared with the project coordinators at postal headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The postal service is assessing the final operational and customer opinion data on the test that ended Friday. Encouraged by the test's successes and armed with information on where the test didn't excel, the postal service is considering further study into the concept.

While many of our letter carriers will miss the ease of delivering the bagged mail, few will miss the bagging process - the part of the program that needs the most improvement. I believe our customers will have equally mixed opinions on the end of the test. I've heard from many customers who loved the service and many who didn't.

Even though the Today's Mail test has ended, the Carson City Post Office is still participating in testing of delivery operations refinements, most of which are transparent to the customer.

Being one of 14 post offices in the nation testing new concepts in mail delivery can be challenging - both for the postal employees involved and the customers they serve. I've found the residents of Carson City to be patient and enthusiastic in helping the postal service investigate new and better ways to deliver the mail.

Speaking of new ways to deliver mail ... For those looking forward to participating in the postal service's next innovation, your wait is over.

Last week the postal service began a new service called USPSeBillPay. The service allows anyone with Internet access to pay their bills electronically. Now the postal service provides the nation with the same secure, reliable service in electronic bill payment that it has delivered on paper for more than 200 years.

USPSeBillPay is free for six months. To give it a try, go to www.ups.com to sign up.

Doug Hval is Carson City's postmaster.