Hot Pursuit

In the newspaper world, it doesn’t do us any good if readers can’t get our paper. 
Such was the case last week—at least for some of our readers. For almost three days, our newspapers mysteriously went missing in action. 
We have a large base of subscribers in Owatonna who normally get their newspapers delivered on Wednesdays. However, that didn’t happen last week and the calls began pouring in. “Where’s my paper,” caller after caller asked our office manager.
As soon as we were made aware of the issue, we quickly backtracked to figure out what was going on. We soon learned that none of our Owatonna subscribers received their papers. The post office in Owatonna reported that it had not received our bags containing the papers at all. It was Thursday already and panic began to set in on our end.
Our newspaper is printed in Rochester every week and delivered back to Blooming Prairie Tuesday afternoon. All papers are then dropped off at the BP Post Office with the out-of-town bundles sent out that evening on the mail truck. So far so good as we were able to verify that these procedures took place last week. 
But this is where it becomes a little foggy about what took place after leaving Blooming Prairie. The papers are sent to the Twin Cities and then funneled to their respective communities, Owatonna included.
Keep in mind it was late Thursday afternoon and we still had no idea where the papers ended up. It left us wondering if someone hijacked the mail truck. But no news came out about a missing mail truck.
Finally on Friday morning we received word that the papers had arrived in Owatonna and would be sent out in that day’s mail. No explanation was offered as to what happened. One can only assume the bags had either been dumped in a corner at the mail center or shipped to a wrong location. 
Major relief came upon me once I learned the lost papers had been found. It just gives me a sickening feeling whenever we have delivery issues like this. Fortunately, they don’t happen very often.
In fact, I was ready to hit the streets and deliver every one of those papers by myself if needed. It may have taken me all weekend, but I would have made it happen because I know how much our readers value their community newspaper.
Perhaps what’s most troubling about last week’s MIA papers is how the postal service messed up. We pay thousands of dollars every year to have our papers delivered. The cost of mailing is one of our highest expenses in running a newspaper. 
As a publisher, it’s one of my greatest frustrations to get stamped out by the postal service, especially for several days. 
I want to thank our readers who didn’t get their paper on time for being patient and understanding with us while the papers were tracked down. 
We are currently looking into some other delivery options, including having the paper delivered directly from our printer in Rochester to the Owatonna post office, which would cut down on at least one extra delivery location (Twin Cities) and get the paper into the hands of our readers when they expect it. 
Just as I was dealing with this issue last week, I came across something else that made my blood pressure even skyrocket more. The post office announced that the cost to mail newspapers will be going up nearly 2 percent beginning in April. 
Perhaps, if the post office considered going in hot pursuit of a little better service instead of jacking up the rates, we would all benefit more.