This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Postal workers — and by extension employees of UPS, FedEx, DHL Express, etc. — are on my list of Top 10 Most Important Jobs in the World.

Note: If you don't think mail delivery isn't important enough to be in the Top 10, you can go pound sand in your … never mind. This is my list. Go make your own.

Another note: The Internet has not made postal carriers obsolete. One sizable nuclear pop in the atmosphere and you'll be Facebooking via smoke signals.

I rank postal workers at No. 5 during most of the year, but during the holidays, they climb to No. 4 or No. 3. It's impossible to imagine a happy Christmas without someone delivering packages.

It's true that no system is perfect. I've had moments of poor USPS service myself, but not enough to damn everyone in it. I was still in elementary school when I figured out that the mailman was infinitely more reliable than wishful thinking.

A test? OK, if you're waiting for a special delivery right now, stand at your door and watch for the shipping company and Santa. See which one shows up first. Better yet, see which one shows up at all.

The postal carrier in our neighborhood is a woman. I'm not telling you her name because I want her to keep bringing my mail, even though 30 percent of it is junk mail and the rest is 90 percent bills.

Occasionally, she brings something nice. Last week she delivered the "20 Rude Christmas Carols" CD I'd been waiting for.

I've been behind the scenes at postal sweat shops — huge operational centers where the mail gets sorted by machines at blinding speed.

Off to one side is always an enormous pile of mail that was carefully wrapped, lovingly addressed and timely posted in a mailbox by either squirrels or mules.

I called the Centerville Post Office, where my friend Mike Redford is the postmaster. Mike ages at least a dozen years during the holidays. He asked — pleaded with me, actually — to let you know what you can do to speed up the mail.

1. Verify your mailing and return addresses on every package. Regardless of how smart you think you are, do not guess at a zip code. Your package could end up in the Congo.

2. If you're mailing for someone else, know what's in the package. Certain items have to be declared when being mailed. Plutonium is one of them, but so are human body parts and the live weasel you want your mother-in-law to have.

3. Use strong boxes and extra cushioning for fragile items. Mailing a set of cut crystal champagne glasses in a manila envelope is just plain stupid. You'll get a bag of sparkly sand back.

4. Mail early. Yesterday, if possible. Delivery service is more successful when there's plenty of time to get it there. If you're mailing a giant teddy bear to your missionary boyfriend in Chechnya, it's already too late.

5. No time to go to the post office? No problem. Go to usps.com and use CLICK & SHIP. Your carrier will pick up the package at your home or business and mail it for you. You save money and postal workers like Mike save wear and tear on their emotional well-being.

6. Finally, be nice to postal carriers and delivery drivers. They get it right far more often than not. And it's entirely possible that they keep naughty and nice lists just like Santa.

Robert Kirby can be reached at rkirby@sltrib.com or facebook.com/stillnotpatbagley.