For Tonia Morrell, the U.S. mail is a lifeline.
But the 51-year-old disabled woman living on Springfield’s
north side is finding that lifeline is becoming frayed. For the past three
months, her Social Security check has arrived several days late.
“I’ve called down there to the post office and said, ‘Hey,
I’m looking for my Social Security check that should be here by now.’ And I’ve
been told, ‘Well, it’s not here.’ It isn’t there? So, why isn’t it in my
mailbox? Because the federal government isn’t going to sit there and go, ‘Oh, I
forgot to mail your check.’ You know?”
She is not alone. A shortage of letter carriers is causing
mail to be delivered late, and on some days, not at all to certain addresses.
Chad Ludwig, president of the Springfield-area branch of the
National Association of Letter Carriers, said carriers are working hard but
just can’t keep up with the demand – particularly during the holiday season.
“We’re just not getting enough (job) applicants,” he said.
“We only get a handful of applicants and not everybody makes it. It is long
hours. It is very labor intensive – hard on the body. You’re out in all the elements,
up and down stairs and whatnot. So, it’s not for everybody.”
In a social media response to an Illinois Times inquiry, Stormy Zwiefel of Sherman said she has recently gone three days without any
mail service. Others responding said
mail is often delivered as late as 8 p.m.
“There’s only so many bodies to cover the routes,” Ludwig
said. “If you don’t have enough bodies you have to split the routes and then
people carry them after they carry their own assignment. You just do the best
you can to try to get it all out. Some days you come up short. I’m not seeing mail not being delivered very
often. It’s just later at times.”
Ludwig said the nature of what is being delivered has
changed over the years.
“The mail mix is different today. When I first started, it
was a different time. There was much, much more mail and much less packages,”
he said.
The change in what is being delivered has sparked concern
that Amazon deliveries may be taking priority over other mail.
Mail carriers in northern Minnesota recently staged a
symbolic strike outside a post office, protesting the heavy workloads and long
hours caused by the arrival of thousands of Amazon packages. The Washington
Post reported that the U.S. Postal Service ordered employees not to blame
Amazon for late mail deliveries.
“The Postal Service does not prioritize the delivery of
packages from Amazon or other customers,” Timothy Norman, Illinois spokesman
for the service, told IT.
Ludwig agreed,
saying, “There’s just not enough people applying for jobs and we’re not getting
people to stick around. We are struggling to get help. As far as Amazon goes,
nothing’s really changed. It’s not anything to do with that.”
In a statement to IT, U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield,
said, “I’m concerned by issues with USPS delivery times that have been
impacting folks in our communities. Even small delays in mail services can have
huge impacts on our families. My team has been in contact with USPS about these
issues and our Illinois team has worked with constituents on dozens of USPS-related
case requests over the past year. We’re continuing to monitor and investigate
casework requests about delivery issues, and I encourage any constituent who is
having trouble with mail delivery to contact my office for assistance.”
Jonathan Eberle, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Mary Miller,
R-Oakland, added the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the busiest season
for the postal service.
“We want to ensure the USPS is accounting for the needs of
rural communities because we rely heavily on USPS, especially seniors,” he
said.
Morrell, who has been receiving her Social Security checks
late in the mail, said it has a domino effect on her finances.
“It’s not just an inconvenience,” she said. “We’ve got bills that have to be paid on time
–especially rent. And when you’re not paying your rent on time, then you’re
getting charged for late rent, all because the mail carrier doesn’t want to
bring the mail or misses the mail or whatever the case may be.”
Scott Reeder, a staff writer for Illinois Times, can be
reached at sreeder@illinoistimes.com.
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This article appears in Book of Lists 2024.