Many small post offices are struggling with mail delays, in part because of delivering Amazon packages

A postal worker loads Amazon packages for delivery to
rural areas. (Photo by Dan Koeck, The Washington Post)

It's not the most wonderful time of year for some small post offices facing multiple mail delays when stacks of Amazon packages get delivery priority. "When Delbert Mikelson's mail started showing up late — and sometimes not showing up at all — he blamed it on the opening of deer season," report Caroline O'Donovan and Jacob Bogage of The Washington Post. "But it wasn't the buck hunt delaying the mail in Bemidji, Minnesota, a small town 100 miles south of the Canadian border. . . . Since early November, Bemidji has been bombarded by a sudden onslaught of Amazon packages — and local postal workers say they have been ordered to deliver those packages first."

Shouldn't first-class mail be delivered first? Not necessarily. "The U.S. Postal Service has had a contract with Amazon since 2013, when it started delivering packages on Sundays," the Post reports. "But in recent years, that business has exploded as Amazon has increasingly come to rely on postal carriers to make 'last-mile' deliveries in harder-to-reach rural locations."

In Bemidji, "chaos has ensued," with packages stacked so high the town's fire marshal tried to intervene. Meanwhile, the town's regular mail routes are neglected, leaving residents waiting for "checks, credit card statements, health insurance documents, and tax rebates," O'Donovan and Bogage write. "Routes meant to take eight or nine hours are stretching to 10 or 12. At least five carriers have quit. . . ." One Bemidji post office employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect her job, told the Post, "If we keep getting this volume. . . .We won't survive. We aren't equipped for this."

The Bemidji post office is one of many facing challenging piles of Amazon packages. "Carriers and local officials say mail service has been disrupted in rural communities from Portland, Maine, to Washington state's San Juan Islands," the Post reports. Bemidj's mayor "has complained to local members of Congress, who say their ability to control the post office is limited. Last week, Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis) DeJoy to ask about reports that 'Amazon is interfering with timely deliveries and stretching the agency's already-overburdened workers too thin. . . . As Postmaster General, you are responsible for ensuring that the Postal Service meets its service standards, and it is clear right now that things are not working as they should. . . Entering into contracts that your system cannot support is a breach of your responsibilities.'"

Postal Service spokesperson David Partenheimer told the Post, "'Like any prudent business, we do not publicly discuss specifics of our business relationships.' . . . After this story was published, he added that the agency 'does not prioritize the delivery of packages from Amazon or other customers.'"