Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has been working on a major overhaul to improve the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) since 2021. But as we enter another new year, these efforts may not be paying off everywhere—and they're certainly not aligning with customer expectations. Mail problems have been persistent for people across the U.S., and some now say they're waiting weeks to get mail delivered thanks to massive USPS delays.
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Inconsistent mail service is becoming an issue in multiple parts of the country. Fox-affiliate KTVI reported on Jan. 26 that some residents in the St. Louis area have been facing weeks, if not months, of mail delays.
Mary Ellen Moyland, a resident of Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis, told the news outlet that she will sometimes go weeks without having any mail, despite checking her mailbox every day.
"I [go] to my mailbox; there’s nothing there. Next day, nothing there; next day, nothing there,” Moyland said. "It might go on for three or four days; nothing’s delivered, even though I see the truck delivering to other places. It’s like, I know there’s mail being delivered. My next-door neighbors, pretty much everybody on my street and in this neighborhood, feel the same."
A similar situation is unfolding over in Overland Park, Kansas, FOX4 reported on Jan. 30. "We’ve had mail delivered twice in the last two weeks," Peter Pierson, who lives in south Overland Park, told the news outlet.
Pierson has complained to the Postal Service, claiming that his mail has only been delivered six times since Thanksgiving.
"I empathize. I know they’re doing the best they can. This has to be a difficult situation for them as well," he said. "I’ve stood in line for 45 minutes or more, and listened to other people who are very angry."
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It's not just delivery problems, however. Many Overland Park residents, including Pierson, have had to go to their local post office to pick up their mail directly. This can be an equally frustrating experience, as customers have complained that the lines can be long, and they might still go home empty-handed, according to FOX4.
"Sometimes, they have my mail and sometimes, they don’t. It’s inconsistent as well," Pierson told the outlet. "It’s pretty frustrating. Bills are being paid. All we want is for people to do their job and deliver the mail to our mailbox."
Customers in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, are also demanding answers about ongoing delays in their area, Fox-affiliate WLUK reported on Jan. 26.
"It's been all the types of mail," resident Carl Rauch told the news outlet. "For the last few months, mail deliveries have been two or three days a week."
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This has become a nationwide problem over time due to continued staffing shortages within the USPS, John McLaughlin, the City of St. Louis National Association of Letter Carriers AFL-CIO union president, told KTVI.
"We have been under staffed for quite a long time … city letter carriers have recently been able to hire more employees, [but it’s been] probably 2 or 3 years [that] we have been understaffed by about 250 people just in the St. Louis city installation," McLaughlin said.
Still, the Postal Service maintains that it is "committed to providing the best possible service" to customers, claiming that it is "aware of delivery issues" in different parts of the country, like Sturgeon Bay, and has been "taking steps to address the concerns."
"The Postal Service continues to aggressively hire new people to help us keep the mail moving," the USPS said in a statement to WLUK. "We also encourage anyone who is interested to join the U.S. Postal Service workforce and help us during this time."
