Mail freeze: Latest frigid weather is adding to the postal service's delivery woes

A bombardment of deadly storms that halted mail deliveries across the United States is the latest havoc befalling the U.S. Postal Service amid complaints in multiple states of chronic delays.

Local news outlets in Iowa, Kansas and Tennessee reported U.S. Postal Service delays related to weather in last week's storms. And USPS isn't the only delivery service having problems. FedEx said this week that hundreds of towns across six states were without FedEx deliveries due to the storms.

Delivery delays in January’s winter weather mayhem is the latest in a series of mail woes across the nation. Lawmakers from Washington state to Texas have expressed concerns in recent months about chronic mail delays, including one Houston-area facility where U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-TX, told USA TODAY a local resident’s $1,600 wedding dress went missing at a Postal Service facility under recent scrutiny.

The mounting grievances come as USPS reported a net income loss of $6.5 billion in fiscal year 2023. Postal Service spokesperson Jim McKean blamed the drop on inflation and Civil Service Retirement System costs.

The Postal Service announced a 10-year plan in 2021 to get the debt-ridden company’s finances turned around. It planned to build back its financial viability through slower delivery, price hikes and optimizing processes. The service maintains it generally delivers promptly, noting the average delivery takes under three days.

Winter weather slows mail deliveries across states

The brutal January storms that left hundreds of thousands of homes without power, dumped several inches of rain and snow across the U.S., and is responsible for at least 55 deaths brought mail deliveries to a crawl across the country. FedEx said winter storms continued to affect the company’s deliveries Wednesday. 

The Postal Service also alerted residents that hazardous weather could cause delays in an alert Wednesday, as heavy rainfall and the threat of flash flooding persisted across the lower Mississippi Valley, southern Plains, Southeast and the Gulf Coast. The service said last week it issued statements in several states asking residents to clear snow and ice from sidewalks and around mailboxes. 

McKean said deliveries may continue to be affected through January as storms persist in some regions.

Texas candle shop owner frustrated with delivery delays

Shannon Wilpitz, co-founder of the Texas-based Upper Room Candle Co., said she has “completely lost faith” in the Postal Service after a tumultuous month of late deliveries. 

About 10 packages have been delayed for over a week, Wilpitz said, including a Spring, Texas customer’s order that traveled to Dallas, Houston and out of state to Atlanta, according to the online tracker. Wilpitz said she dropped off the order as Priority Mail at the post office on Jan. 9, and it still hadn’t delivered two weeks later.

Wilpitz said several of the online orders that were delayed came from first-time customers as her business was growing. 

“It’s those people I’m concerned about,” Wilpitz said. “They don’t know if that’s just the way we do business.”

Left frustrated with USPS, Wilpitz said she has switched to the United Parcel Service, or UPS, this week and doesn’t foresee going back. 

“You don’t want to be burning your bridges,” Wilpitz said. “Because we’re so small, every single customer matters.” 

Houston-area post office mayhem draws wide concern

Green, the U.S. representative in Texas, said he has received nearly 100 calls from people dismayed about USPS delays. He told USA TODAY the cases he has seen largely boil down to one office – the Missouri City center roughly 20 miles southwest of Houston.

Green said he is seeking a tour of the facility and has urged the Postal Service to open a customer service line for the Missouri City branch to address concerns. He said a wedding dress, and multiple other packages, seemed to arrive at the Missouri City post office according to online tracking updates, but then “somehow get lost in ways that are inexplicable.”

The wedding dress that appeared to arrive at the Missouri City branch was never found, Green said, and the woman had to purchase another one for her ceremony.

“I am not going to contend that this was stolen, but I do think it’s an unusual circumstance,” Green told USA TODAY.

The congressman said he hopes to get the issue resolved before primary elections in March to prevent issues with mail-in ballots.

“It would be a shame for the election to be thrown into some sort of questionable circumstances, because the Postal Service did not deliver mail timely and appropriately,” Green said.

He added that he still supported USPS, blaming the recent mayhem on policy and administration. 

“The Postal Service can’t be a closed society. It needs to have transparency,” Green said.

McKean told USA TODAY the Postal Service had added staff and implemented new processes to address “root causes of sporadic issues" for mail delivery in the Houston area.

“We want customers to know that we continue the expansion of our operations in the Houston area because of increased volume and we are adding additional capacity with a new facility to improve service,” McKean said.

He added Houston was impacted by the recent storms.

“We express our apologies to those who experienced a deviation from our normal dependable service and customers should already see improvements in delivery as we work though these issues,” McKean said.

Lawmakers across states raise concerns to USPS

Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-VA, said in December she received more than 1,300 complaints about mail delays. WTVR-TV reported last week that a second request from Virginia elected officials for the USPS to hold a town hall to address concerns about mail theft and chronic delays was denied.

McKean told USA TODAY most packages in the Richmond area were arriving on time, but recent staffing issues where the regular carrier was out for an extended time caused “sporadic” deliveries on some routes. He said the Postal Service used substitute carriers, seasonal employees and pulled staff from other offices to fill gaps in the area and shifted some mail processing from the Richmond facility to other branches. 

McKean added the Postal Service launched an initiative last year to address postal crime across the nation, including the installation of high-security blue collection boxes and law enforcement partnerships.

In Washington state, U.S. Reps. Suzan DelBene and Rick Larsen, both D-WA, sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy about “persistent mail delays” during the December holiday season, DelBene said on Jan. 13. She added lawmakers had previously written to DeJoy in July about widespread delays in the region.

Last month, U.S. senators from Minnesota introduced legislation aimed at improving USPS delivery tracking and accountability following complaints of mail delays across the state. U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, D-MN, introduced the bill in the House in October.

Total mail and package volume dropped by about 9% in one year, according to the Postal Service's 2023 report to Congress. The Postal Service hasn’t collected enough revenues to cover its expenses and debt for more than 15 years.

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