Editor’s Note: The article is the reporter’s perspective when trying to get answers.
Over the last two weeks, the Adair County Community Voice has seen numerous complaints on social media and heard from people within the community that their mail has been running—in some cases—days or weeks behind.
We can personally attest to this: for three days, there was no mail in or out of our office. Our situation was minor compared to what others were experiencing. We have seen some people claim that they are getting late notices on bills that they have paid or never received. One user on social media says a package ordered the second week of December has still yet to arrive.
We have confirmed with a source that at least one reason for this is due to the extreme inclement weather that Louisville was in the throes of. What amounted to a few inches here effectively shut down the city further north. Any mail that could not be sorted was simply left to back up the distribution center when they next opened and once again started sorting. Another post on social media says that a family member works at Louisville and reports they are understaffed, though we cannot verify the veracity of this claim.
Still, whatever the reason, there are individuals who are receiving late notices or who have expensive packages languishing in Louisville.
So, the Voice reached out to Susan Wright with USPS Corporate Communications. Due to the volume of requests that federal communications folks receive, it was quite surprising when she answered back within the day.
Her reply was as follows:
“Our carriers are working each day and attempting to access mailboxes when it is safe to do so. We continue to ask customers to create a clear path to their mailboxes. For mailboxes located on the house, please clear a path on the sidewalk and steps leading to the mailbox. For curbside mailboxes, please clear a path to approach and exit the mailbox; generally, a car length approach and another car length to exit.”
The message concluded with contact information for the United States Postal Service, such as contacting them through their official X account.
The problem with this response is that it does not address the root problem many are alleging—that the distribution center in Louisville is not sending out their packages in a timely fashion. Further, Adair County is a more southern county. With some exceptions, such as in the alley behind out office at time of writing, the snow is largely melted. If people are experiencing weeks-long delays, it is surely not the fault of a layer of snow covering the top of the mailbox.
Our follow-up to Wright’s email clarified and specifically asked about any delays with the Louisville distribution center. Wright wrote back, “If customers are experiencing any issues, we recommend they contact us. The contact information is included in the original statement.”
It is safe to say that this exchange is frustrating but may not be entirely Wright’s fault. She is, as far as can be ascertained from the USPS website directory, the sole media communications liaison for Indiana, West Virginia, and Kentucky. It is impossible to know how many scores of inquiries and requests that Wright receives each day.
Still, it does not exactly provide answers to those seeking them. The typical “stock” answer should be about how delays and closures due to weather snowballed into affecting the incomprehensible number of moving parts that the USPS has. The passing of President Jimmy Carter also meant a day with no mail, further adding to what carriers have to distribute when service resumes. But that was not said.
Mail has been trickling back in. At the time of writing, though, it is unclear how long the remaining mail will take to be delivered.
By Kenley Godby
kenley@adairvoice.com
