Post Bulletin

By Matthew Stolle

ROCHESTER — Christmas is coming. And you know what that means? Complaints about Rochester post office’s chronic mail service delays are on the rise as its undermanned staff copes with a seasonal surge of Christmas packages, parcels and cards.

On Thursday, Minnesota’s two U.S. senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, added their voices to the chorus of complaints, expressing concern in a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that mail delivery and staffing issues in the Rochester area “continue to be sources of stress and frustration.”

“We are very concerned by reports of Minnesotans going four or more days without mail delivery, including when their informed delivery tracking and local post office promise imminent deliveries,” Klobuchar and Smith state in their Dec. 12, 2024, letter.

The letter notes that Minnesota customers rely on the Postal Service to receive paychecks, Social Security benefits, and life-saving medications.

“Even delays of one day can be difficult and harmful,” they wrote. “With the Minnesota-North Dakota District currently reporting on-time deliveries at 85.76%, this leaves a significant gap for individuals who rely on the Postal Service for essential services.”

Todd Holm, Rochester’s postmaster, and Angela Bye, district manager of USPS Minnesota-North Dakota District, were unavailable for comment.

The letter comes two days after DeJoy testified before Congress on the agency’s performance and modernization efforts. The hearing descended into a yelling match when Rep. Rich McCormick, a Georgia Republican, lambasted DeJoy for his poor performance heading the agency, according to the Daily Mail Online.

“You are responsible for the fall of the Postal Service,” McCormick told DeJoy.

“No, Congress is responsible for the fall of the Postal Service,” the postmaster replied. “I am trying to fix the Postal Service.”

Under DeJoy, the agency has sought to add more than 100,000 workers to its ranks.

During the hearing, the committee’s chairman, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, noted that the USPS lost nearly $10 billion in 2024. The estimated loss for USPS next year will be $6.5 billion.

When DeJoy gave himself an “A” for his performance, McCormick exploded, “You do not get an A grade. You were graded by the United States people and they don’t use your service anymore.”

In the midst of his harangue, DeJoy held up his hands to cover his ears to mock the lawmaker.

The USPS Office of the Inspector General, in an audit released in June, revealed widespread issues with USPS management in Minnesota, citing nearly 100,000 pieces of delayed mail in the facilities inspectors visited on one day alone. The report also highlighted a shortage of 551 employees across the MN-ND district.

Last year, the Rochester Post Bulletin reported a 17% decrease in postal carriers on Rochester streets from previous years even as its coverage area has expanded as the city added more streets and people.

The mismatch between dwindling manpower and growing demand for its services prompted one Rochester mail carrier to predict postal service was set up to “fail gloriously this holiday season.”

This Christmas season looks to be no different.

A veteran Rochester mail carrier told the Post Bulletin Thursday that little headway is being made on the hiring front. At best, it is treading water as the new people hired on a monthly basis barely keep pace with those retiring.

“They’re putting next to no effort in hiring,” the carrier said. “It’s kind of basically just one step above word of mouth. No radio ads, not TV ads, no nothing.”

He said the problem is not unique to Rochester as staff in other districts are putting in 60-hour work weeks. The workload hurts retention efforts, because few people want to work a 60-hour job.

The carrier said the inadequate manpower is counterproductive financially, because unionized mail carriers are getting paid double time and almost $100 an hour when a new hire could be paid $21 an hour for straight pay.

He added that mail carriers are instructed by management to give priority to packages over Christmas cards and other holiday missives, “which are just sitting idle.”

“Our frustration — and no one in the post office will admit this on the record — but it’s Amazon that gets priority over the mail,” he said. “The packages have to be delivered. The mail can sit. They won’t officially say that, but that’s what we get yelled at for if we bring packages back.”

In their letter to DeJoy, Klobuchar and Smith ask for responses to a series of questions: Were he or his staff aware that some Rochester neighborhoods were going four or more days without deliveries? What is the U.S. Postal Service doing to address the mail delays affecting the Rochester area? What are the current staffing levels for urban and rural carriers, career and non-career, for Minnesota and Rochester? How many seasonal employees did the district aim to hire and how many were successfully onboarded, for Minnesota and Rochester?

“We appreciate the hard work that postal workers do to deliver mail, especially through the peak season and winter weather conditions,” the letter states. “However, staffing shortages continue to affect service across Minnesota, including Rochester, and this puts a heavy burden on postal workers to make up for the staffing shortages.”