Cheektowaga, N.Y. (WBEN) - When the Western New York weather gets tough each winter, there's no one who battles the elements more than letter carriers with the United States Postal Service.
Conditions this week across the region may prove to be the most challenging for letter carriers when you factor in bitter cold temperatures and blustery wind conditions.
"What we're dealing with here is the air temperature and the wind chill, those can get extremely dangerous, especially that wind chill. So when the carriers are out there, they're layering up, they're preparing up for that," said Dave Grosskopf, president of the local branch for the National Association of Letter Carriers.
Grosskopf says carriers get acclimated to the winter weather conditions quickly, as the United States Postal Service spends plenty of time training carriers to handle whatever is thrown their way.
"Folks like myself - senior letter carriers - we spend an exorbitant amount of time talking to our younger folks to prepare them for being out there, because there's ways to be out there and maneuver in these conditions and be successful and be safe, and come back and you got 10 fingers, 10 toes, your eyes, your ears and your nose," Grosskopf said in an interview with WBEN.
No matter what the conditions or - in the case of Western New York - how bad the conditions are, it is letter carriers who are constantly on the job braving the elements.
"For the United States Postal Service, we're exempt from travel bans, state of emergency, you name it. When that thing is scrolling across the bottom of your screen and it says, 'Everybody stay home, nobody go outside,' we still have to make an attempt to show up to work," Groddkopf noted. "And many of us like myself - next month, I've been a letter carrier for 34 years - we take great pride in servicing the community, and we do attempt to go above and beyond every circumstance to get the mail delivered for our customers.
"We're seven days a week, every delivery point in the country. Mail delivery is Monday through Saturday, and then on Sunday, we're delivering parcels. So every single day of the week, it doesn't matter what day it is, there's a letter carrier out there servicing this network."
What are some of the tips and tricks of staying warm for letter carriers on some of the coldest days in the region? The first step for Grosskopf is layer up, and make sure they're breathable layers.
"The last thing you want to do, as somebody working outside, is being out there and starting to sweat. At that point, moisture is the enemy, because of the air temperature, because of the cold temperature. So when you're layering up, make sure that base layer and those other layers are breathable," Grosskopf said. "Have yourself a good solid pair of work boots that are waterproof, bring yourself an extra change of clothes, bring yourself, especially, an extra change of socks so you can swap those out during the day. A lot of times on our lunch and our breaks, we may stop to a McDonald's, a Burger King, something where we can get in there, sit down, pull some of that stuff off that's wet, put the new stuff on us."
Another nice new option that many carriers are taking advantage of is the more high tech winter gear to keep warm.
"We've got the old school heated hand packs, and now you can get gloves that heat up automatically and jackets that heat up automatically and all these other things. There's a variety of tools that we're using," Grosskopf added. "I always laugh - because I'm old enough at this point - but the younger carriers would ask us, 'How do we keep our feet warm?' And we'd tell them, 'Get a couple of Wonder bread bags and rubber bands, and put those on your feet. They'll keep you nice and dry.'"
With the winter weather providing enough challenges for letter carriers, Grosskopf is asking homeowners and residents across the region to help as much as possible to make their jobs as safe and efficient as possible.
"Make sure that sidewalk is clear, make sure that driveway is clear, get some salt on that. If it's above the appropriate temperature - because once it gets too low, the salt doesn't do any good - but try to keep that area clear when we're coming onto their property and coming off of their property," Grosskopf said. "We want to remain upright, we don't want to fall down, we don't want to be injured on the job. So stuff like that, just making sure that area is clear and protected in these conditions.
"I know as a homeowner, they're at work all day too, and probably the last thing they want to do when they come home is shovel their driveway. But just remember: You've got us, FedEx, UPS, the paper boy - if they still even deliver papers - those types of things coming onto the property, so make sure your property is safe for other people that are coming on to it."
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