Widespread delays in mail delivery leave Columbus residents frustrated

On Feb 21, 2022

Postal carrier William Talley carries armfuls of mail through the snow in January along his route in South Linden.

Chronic staff shortages at the U.S. Postal Service have led to widespread delays in mail delivery in and around Columbus, with some customers saying they have gone several days or weeks without receiving their mail.

Sean McGovern, 53, of North Linden, said Thursday he and his wife have received mail only twice in the last two weeks at their home. When their mail was delivered Wednesday, not every item they were expecting was there.

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“And it normally comes on Sunday now,” McGovern said. “I don’t know why that is.”

Social media from Reddit to Nextdoor is also awash with complaints from area residents of slow or nonexistent delivery.

“I have not gotten any mail for the better part of a month,” one Reddit user from Grandview Heights posted last week. A resident near Clintonville indicated that their mail had stopped for two weeks.

And Greater Columbus residents are not alone. Similar reports of little to no mail being delivered have surfaced in places like Chicago, Kansas City, Missouri; St. Louis and parts of Maryland.

Post office lines that last more than an hour

McGovern said he recently went to his local Columbus post office on Innis Road and was told that a carrier was no longer assigned to his part of town.

“I don’t know if that’s true or not, or whether that’s the stock answer they give everybody,” he said.

McGovern, a communications specialist who has lived on Norris Road for the last 17 years, said he was able to collect his mail from the post office, but only after waiting for more than an hour in line.

Some people can’t afford to do that.

“The people I’m talking to in line … they’re waiting for tax documents, medications, checks and money,” McGovern said. “My wife has been waiting for an insurance payment since the first of the year.”

USPS holding weekly local job fairs through March to fill openings

Naddia Dhalai, a Postal Service spokesperson, said the agency is experiencing staff shortages due to the pandemic.

“We are flexing our available resources to match the workload, including fully utilizing overtime,” Dhalai said in an email.

The Postal Service also is holding job fairs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Wednesday through March at its Columbus Processing and Distribution Center, 2323 Citygate Drive, to fill immediate openings.

“We apologize for the inconvenience and want to share this is temporary, and we will resume regular delivery when staffing levels are back to normal,” Dhalai said.

McGovern emphasized that he doesn’t blame Postal Service employees for the delays.

“There’s obviously not enough people working … and I felt bad for (a post office employee) because people were yelling and not happy,” he said. “Some of them are a little bit panicked because they can’t get important stuff. We’re fortunate that we’re not waiting on anything that’s life or death.”

Letters carriers working 12-hour days, covering multiple routes

The ranks of mail carriers have thinned due to illness, quarantine periods and retirement, said Mark Camilli, Ohio’s representative with the National Association of Letter Carriers.

“Just like the other industries, it’s been really competitive to hire,” he said. “When we have natural attrition, it’s been really difficult to backfill those positions.”

Camilli said some carriers have been working 12-hour days and covering multiple routes in order to make up for the lack of carriers, or those out sick and quarantining.

“They leave home when its dark in the morning, and they get home at night. Some barely have time to eat dinner with their family,” Camilli said.

Beatty: USPS to conduct audit of central Ohio mail delivery

Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a Democrat who represents the Columbus area, announced Saturday that the Postal Service will conduct a series of audits to assess mail delivery and customer service complaints.

Beatty said in a news release that her office has seen a noticeable uptick in complaints and cases regarding the Postal Service in recent weeks, and has been working to “better understand why branches are failing to do their job in a timely manner.”

“These audits are the first step to restoring the rapid, reliable deliveries Americans should expect from their Postal Service,” Beatty said in the release. “We expect to receive full reports from the USPS following the completion of the audits in the coming weeks, and I will work with local officials to ensure the necessary investments and solutions are put in place.”

Beatty noted how she recently voted in favor of a bill that, according to he Washington Post, would relieve the Postal Service of tens of billions of dollars in liabilities that agency leaders say have prevented it from modernizing and providing efficient service. The bill, dubbed the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives by a margin of 342-92 and now heads to the Senate.

Although McGovern said he does not await crucial medication or a much-needed check, he remains frustrated with the level of service from the Postal Service.