Community Chat

[songbird]

For the last 7 months or so, we've been getting mail very late.  By late, I mean after 5PM till 6:00PM.  There were a couple of times after 6:00PM.  Such as was the case after labor day.  I finally called the local post office.  She asked me where I lived and she said they have been short staffed.  One of our carrier had left.  There is a hiring freeze, so they can't hire someone else. After the other mailman finished their route, one of them gets our mail and then distributes them.  The carrier gets over time.  They rotate who gets our mail.   I guess it makes sense.  They really can't do anything about it.  Anyway, anyone have a similar problem?  What is frustrating is I see the mail truck stopped our our intersection at the usual time between 11:00AM and Noon.  But it's the other streets that are getting the mail.  Not us. 

[viva923]

we have had this problem for years many years.

I want to put this nicely. Live on the poor side of tracks so no one wants to come into the developments on this side of town. So when the mailman goes on vacation, or some other day off, we have to wait forever to get out mail. they have to beg people to deliver on our side of town. there have been times, that the head post lady (she is in charge of our postal office here in town) will have to deliver. 

Sometimes we don't get our mail till very late been sometimes 8:00PM.  During winter months even with regular mail man when he is on, we rarely get mail before 6-7pm.

[ALRATIBA]

That happens around here occasionally when the usual carrier is on vacation ... as he is now.

I don't even bother going down to check until after 4:00 pm.

[gidgetgh]

Ours normally comes around 5:30. 

Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, we routinely get our mail at 10:00 at night and have gotten it later. 

[songbird]

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@ALRATIBA wrote:

That happens around here occasionally when the usual carrier is on vacation ... as he is now.

I don't even bother going down to check until after 4:00 pm.

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That's whats so confusing.  If I forget to check (after 5 or so) it's there the next morning as yesterday's mail.  

It's all so annoying.  It only started some months ago, when our regular mail person suddenly left.  Up till them, no problem ever with the mail.  Always delivered at 11:000AM. When this all started during last winter, there was the mailman doing his rounds with a flash light.  It was already dark (this was in January)    Not so bad in the summer, but coming winter.....really depressing.

[Spurt]

@songbird 

We have a bank of Community Mailboxes as most subdivisions do in our city these days.  And we used to get our mail delivered at 6PM or a little later. It was interesting because we got a new Mail Person and the mail is now delivered by 3:00 PM. 

A neighbor and I were walking up to our Mail Center and we saw the new Mail Person and complimented her on getting our mail delivered earlier.   And what she told us was that she worked with our previous Mail Carrier and she said, "that guy is an idiot!!!!"  And that was our answer

[BirkiLady]

@songbird @Spurt @gidgetgh @ALRATIBA @viva923  Carriers have their own routes. Longetivy has earned them the right to keep those routes, as well as put in for their vacations and time off first. The younger carriers with newer routes (and making less money) usually are the ones willing to fill in with overtime. They are also not as familiar with the various routes of other carriers, but are doing the best job possible under the current circumstances of not hiring replacements. It IS less expensive to pay overtime than to pay full benefits for another employee.

However, it has nothing to do with where you live or the part of town. If your carrier retired, his/her position was not replaced and other carriers are forced to fill in after doing their eight-hour shift. I think most of us have been in the same situation when our carrier has been on vacation. It's annoying to have late delivery, but think how it discombulates his/her entire home life. My heart goes out to their spouse and children!

If I don't pick up my mail until after the late news (in my nightgown and robe), my life is still normal. Their lives are disrupted without their husband/wife and dad/mom home until very late. Children need the security of both parents home on a regular schedule if possible. It seems to be a rough life for conducive family harmony.    

[Krimpette]

I'm an early riser, so I often tend to check my mail first thing in the morning after I come downstairs.  Our daily delivery times are very unpredictable.  Sometimes between 4:15PM and 5:00PM, but it's not unusual for it to come after 6:00PM.  (UPS often comes between 7:30PM and 9:00 PM.  Once in awhile, UPS will deliver mid-afternoon, but thst'd not the norm.)

[homedecor1]

When I lived up north our mail lady delivered between 4-5.  If she was on vacation, someone else took the route.  We sometimes got our mail after 7:30 pm.  Many complaints they finally put a postal supervisor on the route and it was determined eventhough the "fill in carrier" left the p.o. at 3:30 he/she was not starting the route until 5.

Now, I'm spoiled by "informed delivery" I never have to wait to know what I'm getting but our mail is in the mailbox no later than 11am.  If our carrier is off it's around 1.   Most the mail is "junk" flyers, etc. anyway because we get everything online.

[IslanderGirl62]

I would just be happy they are still delivering the mail.  In some towns here, they don't deliver mail at all - all the residents have to go to the post office to pick it up.