In the news - Ruralinfo.net (2024)

The United States Postal Service reported on progress of the Delivering for America (DFA) Plan for the first and second quarters of Fiscal Year 2024 on May 31, as required by Section 207 of the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022. They report an 82% on-time service performance for periodicals.

Have you ever wondered what a day at work is like for the people who fill up your mailbox? For the latest installment of our At Work With series, we delivered on a listener suggestion and spent the day with rural letter carrier Connie Gunn in Scappoose.

WASHINGTON — Incidents involving dog attacks on Postal Service employees rose to more than 5,800 cases last year. As part of the USPS 2024 National Dog Bite Awareness Campaign, the organization is offering crucial information on how dog owners can be good stewards for safe mail delivery and ensure the safety of our employees. The … Read more

Many of us have been the victims of porch piracy—the theft of packages and mail left at our door. But you may be surprised to hear that U.S. Postal Service workers themselves, as well as USPS buildings, are also targeted for theft. Serious crimes, including robberies against Postal Service letter carriers, have increased in recent … Read more

Brian Sime was recently named South Dakota’s Rural Letter Carrier of the Year. Sime has driven his mail route around Revillo, South Dakota, for 35 years. Before that, his father drove the route, so the route has been in his family for 70 years. He joins “In the Moment” to talk about staying safe on … Read more

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has agreed to pause planned further consolidation of the postal service’s processing network after a bipartisan group of senators raised concerns about the impact on mail deliveries. In a letter to Senator Gary Peters made public on Monday, DeJoy said he would pause the consolidation of processing … Read more

MELROSE, Fla.– A postal office in Melrose will be renamed to honor the life of a mail carrier who was fatally mauled by a pack of dogs in Putnam County in 2022. When Pam Rock’s postal car broke down on Aug. 21, 2022, while she was delivering mail on a dirt road,five dogs escaped their … Read more

Four years in, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has had one of the most controversial and high-profile tenures in the office’s history. DeJoy was put in place by a Trump appointee-led Board of Governors in 2020 while under scrutiny for securinglucrative contractsfor his former transportation company XPO Logistics, as well as for his investments in14 companieswith … Read more

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — A mail carrier in Port Charlotte formed an unlikely friendship with a 93-year-old widow that will take the pair to the Philippines. Theresa Fenelon has been delivering mail for around 10 years and said she always looks out for the residents on her routes. “The joke is that we know more … Read more

Howard Eugene Woodswas driving his rural mail route late in the afternoon of March 15, 2019, whenAndrew Michael Schilperoortran a stop sign at the intersection of two Lower Yakima Valley roads. Airbagcontrol module dataindicated Schilperoort was driving 86 miles per hour when his vehicle T-boned Woods’ car at the intersection of Harrah and Progressive roads … Read more

According to authorities, Garay broke into a home on Spring Drive, where he encountered the homeowner. He took her cell phone from her and according to law enforcement, “stomped on the cell phone and tried to break it but was unable to do so.” Garay threatened to shoot the homeowner’s dog and told her to … Read more

The Postal Service is reminding employees that it has a zero-tolerance policy regarding workplace threats and violence. The organization is committed to cultivating a positive and safe work environment that’s free of threats, intimidation, bullying and violence for all employees. To help fulfill this commitment, a threat assessment team is available to respond to threats, … Read more

WELLSBORO — Households outside Wellsboro were surprised last Wednesday to see their mail delivered in a Ghostbusters van. Rural carrier Christopher Neal purchased the 1996 Nissan Caravan to deliver mail to households along his 65-mile route serving the Hills Creek area. Rural carriers, said Neal, must provide their own vehicle. The Wellsboro Post Office has … Read more

He said that “something completely different” encompasses a lot of interconnected problems, one of which is an agency that’s understaffed. “They haven’t kept up with the times in hiring people…And when they do hire—they spend a lot of money training people, but then they don’t treat them very well and they don’t stay. And so … Read more

MOUNT OLIVET — Randol Thomas, a carrier at the United States Postal Office in Mount Olivet, recently retired after 43 years of service. “After 43 years at the Mount Olivet post office, it’s time to say goodbye,” Thomas began. According to Thomas, he has lived in Mount Olivet his entire life. He graduated from Deming … Read more

Across the country, and especially in rural parts of Missouri, staffing shortages at the U.S. Postal Service are being blamed by some for delays in mail delivery. Some postal carriers say the lack of staffing hampers the ability to split overloaded routes and is at the heart of the issue affecting prompt mail delivery. Bryce … Read more

Imagine if the Postal Service announced that it would continue providing 6-day delivery to urban areas but could no longer afford to do the same for rural communities because their relatively low mail volumes don’t justify the costs. People living in these communities would undoubtedly complain that the plan was unfair, and elected officials who … Read more