Published: March 26, 2008 10:51 am      

Mail Mess

Charred letters, bills and junk may be yours

San Marcos — Residents in a big part of Central and South Texas expecting something in the mail soon — or who posted a crucial payment late last week — need to check on its status.

That’s the advise of the U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday, one day after an 18-wheeler containing an untold number of pieces of mail crashed and burned at a weigh station on IH-35.

“The mail was coming from all parts of the country destined for the processing plant at San Antonio, which means the final destination could be any of the areas we service,” said USPS spokesman James Coultress.

“It could be going to the Valley, it could be a letter going to Austin or San Marcos or San Antonio. It could be an IRS refund.”

USPS inspectors pored over the scene of the crash and salvaged more than 30 four foot by five foot hampers, all of which will be processed, Coultress said.

“All that mail was damaged in one way or another — beyond help, just partially damaged, halfway gone. What we will do is process that mail and if there’s a return address or a ‘to’ address we can read we will forward that piece of mail.”

Due to the volume of mail, he said, the service isn’t taking questions from individuals. “At this point in time there’s no way we can answer individual inquiries, in other words we don’t know if someone’s piece of mail was in there,” he said. “Our apologies to the mailing public. They have always trusted the sanctity of the mail and we certainly regret this inconvenience.”

Coultress said the mail in transit Monday would most likely have been put in a postal slot three to four days prior. “If it falls within that time period, there’s reason for concern,” he said.

“Again, we apologize for the inconvenience. It will probably take us weeks and months to go through all that mail.”

Those expecting an IRS refund can track that at the agency’s site www.irs.gov.