KTTC
By Ryder Blair
ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – Minnesota senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, after recent delays in mail service across the state and here at home.
The senators sent the letter of concern following an Inspector General report of more than 130,000 missing or delayed mail pieces over two days, across six post offices in Minnesota and North Dakota.
The senators found reports of mail being delayed four or more days in Rochester.
USPS customer Jim Blackwell has experienced mail delivery issues during the holiday season.
“I have had mail that is come a few days later than I expected. I haven’t had anything that I’ve missed completely. It’s just been on a slower basis,” Blackwell stated.
One USPS customer claimed mail carriers are overworked and not paid well enough. She said the Postmaster General is to blame.
“I think there’s a higher level that isn’t dealing with the issue,” a USPS customer mentioned. “[Carriers] are overburdened. They’re working extra-long hours. As I said, it used to be a good job. I’m amazed at their unselfishness.”
Sen. Klobuchar and Sen. Smith pressed USPS also looking for answers about a payroll error that led to 53,000 rural letter carriers missing or receiving only a partial paycheck.
“I just realized that they are very short-staffed right now and I do see the postage truck sometimes out of my apartment complex late like 7 or 8, 9, 10 at night,” Blackwell said.
Sue Benson has recently experienced issues sending mail to the southern United States from Rochester.
“It can take weeks or even a simple letter to finally be delivered to my family down there,” Benson mentioned.
USPS declined to interview but the communications department stated they are working to fix mailing delays and staffing issues.
The Postal Service is committed to providing the best possible service to our customers and we apologize for any inconvenience that may have been experienced. Local management and district leadership are aware of delivery issues in Rochester and taking steps to address the concerns. We will continue flexing our available resources to match the workload and are proud of the efforts of postal employees as they define essential public service every day.
The Postal Service continues to aggressively hire new people to help us keep the mail moving. We also encourage anyone who is interested to join the U.S. Postal Service workforce and help us during this time. Those interested in employment with the USPS should visit //USPS.com/careers.
When mail service issues occur, we take steps to quickly resolve customer concerns. We gladly work to address any specific issue from the community when brought to our attention and we encourage customers to reach out to their local postal station. Customers can also go to our website usps.com and click on “Contact us” at the bottom of our homepage, or utilize this direct web address: https://usps.force.com/emailus/s/. Every email will be carefully documented and appropriate action taken to strengthen service.
In addition, the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the United States Postal Service, managed by the Social Media staff at USPS HQ, can provide help. For customer service, please tweet @USPSHelp. The Postal Service will diligently continue to investigate customer’s concerns and correct deficiencies to improve service to our communities.
Regarding Senators Klobuchar’s and Smith’s letter to the Postmaster General, we will respond directly to them.
- USPS Corporate Communications