Mail delivery falls casualty to 2021 staff crunch

Dec. 17, 2021  |  By Lisa Scagliotti 

The informal creed of the U.S. Postal Service has long been associated with the words inscribed on New York City’s General Post Office Building which opened on 8th Avenue in 1914: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." 

The passage comes from a translation by Harvard professor George Herbert Palmer of a 5th century BCE history, The Persian Wars, by Herodotus. The original text described  mounted Persian postal couriers serving in the wars between the Greeks and Persians (500-449 BCE). 

The U.S. Mail adopted the sentiment as an unofficial code, albeit not a guarantee, to which carriers in the 20th century could aspire. 

The concept today, however, appears to be more ancient history than modern reality as the 2021 holiday mail crunch exacerbated by COVID-19 era staff shortages and the proliferation of online shopping are colliding, making daily mail delivery one of the casualties. 

At least that seems to be the case in Waterbury Center where only one carrier is currently on duty, forcing staff to make some tough choices to prioritize the daily workload. “We don’t deliver mail every day” right now, said post office staffer Joe Mongeur. Parcels are the priority, he explained, so some days volume dictates that mail stays behind. 

There’s no set schedule as to which days mail delivery waits, Mongeur said. It varies based on the flow of mail. “We had 1,000 packages [last] Tuesday and one carrier,” he said. “Something's got to give.”

The post office typically has three carriers, he said, but it’s been unable to fill openings. 

U.S. Postal Service spokesman Stephen Doherty in the Boston regional office said that there are currently 100 Postal Service jobs open across Vermont and listed online at usps.com/careers.

“These positions range from city and rural carriers and retail clerks for local post offices to mail processing clerks, mail handlers and custodians for our regional distribution facilities,” he said.

The Waterbury village post office is handling the workload better with just one vacancy. Deliveries are still happening six days a week and “Amazon Sundays,” said Postmaster Bill Hannon, Jr. The U.S. Postal Service has a contract with Amazon.com to deliver packages on Sundays, he explained. “If it comes in, it goes out,” he said. 

In an email to Waterbury Roundabout, however, Doherty wasn’t able to explain the curtailed deliveries and critically low staffing. The postal service usually makes many adjustments to ensure mail is delivered on time during the holidays, he offered.  

“It is typical for carriers to go out on overtime during the week or even on Sunday to deliver packages to keep up with the holiday surge in parcels. We also routinely move personnel from their local office to neighboring communities to backfill temporary vacancies,” Doherty said. 

He could not clarify why the latter is not happening in the case of the smaller Waterbury post office that apparently needs help. “Customers may see their mail arriving at a different time of day than they’re used to, but that’s normal during the holiday period,” he said. 

Meanwhile in Waterbury Center, Mongeon said customers are welcome to call 802-244-6381 if they are expecting an important piece of mail and he can check for it should patrons want to stop by to pick it up. 

So far, customers have been understanding of the circumstances. “Most people have been pretty good about it,” he said.