New Postal Hires Mean More 'Return To Sender' Mail, Says Postal Officials

What carriers learn about problem addresses is supposed to be captured in the Postal Service's address-management database, but it's an imperfect process. Because of greater use of “transitional” employees instead of career carriers to deliver the mail, it’s becoming increasingly likely that a poorly addressed letter will end up in the hands of a carrier who doesn’t know how to deliver it, a postal official acknowledged.

Such recent hires are paid less than career carriers, and their hours can be adjusted more to match the peaks and valleys of mail volume.