STRAW PROJECT:
I wanted to address a suggestion that Kirsten made regarding sending the straw out by U.S. Mail to the locations that I was covering (Old Minto through Old Woman cabin) which involves three straw drops (one of which is potentially by motor vehicle). Working with the USPS is more or less a nightmare because nobody answers the phones. But, I was able to determine that we could do that. However, it does not save us money vis-à-vis Ruby since the Post office would charge approximately $45.03 per bale [ALL OF THIS IS APPROXIMATE BECAUSE THE SIZE AND WEIGHT OF THE BALES VARY, so this is the average weight/size) which translates into 90 cents per bale to Ruby. I confirmed today with Wright’s manager that they will discount the oversize rate and give us the 74 cent per pound rate to Ruby. So, it is cheaper to send by Wright, we know who we are dealing with, and they actually answer the phone. The post office will not hold the straw; just as with the airport, it needs to be picked up.

It is also 90 cents per pound to deliver to Kaltag. That is cheaper than $1.17 per pound. However, we are each shipping a bale and a half of straw out to Kaltag plus drop bags. So, figure 75 pounds in straw per musher making it $17.25 cheaper to ship through the post office. Personally, I’m not in favor of the idea given the modest cost for dealing with Wright. If we have any problems, the post office is not going to deal with us since they don’t answer the phone. Wright has been responsive throughout the process, so I’d be inclined to go with them over the post office. If the post office were charging us 48 cents a pound, that might be a different story. We simply are going to have to deal with the fact that the bales are not uniform in side and that the actual cost of shipping won’t be known until the bales are weighed. I’ve got a call into Cold Spot to see if delivering to the post office is even an option; it was not an option for bulk mailing (but we didn’t qualify anyway, so it was moot).

Wright’s requests that we give them about a two week lead for shipping to account for any weather. So, we are talking early February. They can do it in a week, but suggested two weeks to be on the safe side.