Kamloops postal workers say crash proves Canada Post is out of sorts

KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Postal workers in Kamloops, B.C., say they warned their employer that trucking southern Interior mail to Vancouver for sorting would lead to delays.

Thousands of letters and packages are affected and Canada Post confirms the items will be delivered at least a day late, after the semi-trailer carrying the mail crashed near Hope, about 150 kilometres east of Vancouver.

The cab of the truck was pulled free of the wreckage soon after the Monday crash, but the 12-metre-long trailer, packed with mail, remained upside-down until Wednesday, teetering in the banks of the Coquihalla River.

Operators of heavy-duty tow-trucks needed to recover the big trailer refused to pull the rig up the bank until they were sure they would be paid by Canada Post or its mail-hauling contractor.

The local president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers in the Kamloops-area says he believes the mail was from Kamloops and surrounding areas, including Merritt, Chase and Clearwater.

Bob Mitchell says Canada Post was warned that its decision to truck southern Interior mail to Vancouver for sorting — and then ship it back to Kamloops for distribution — would add unnecessary delays and risk for customers. (CHNL)