Are you missing mail or having it arrive later than it was sent? How about 10 days later or more? After all, the holidays are over and most of the roads are clear since the early January blizzard and winter storm that impacted Midwestern states.
However, when you call USPS to report the delay—either the toll-free national number or your local post office phone number—the toll-free number automated message reports delays due to the fires in California and monitoring of upcoming winter storm conditions in eastern states—legitimate reasons for mail delays, especially coming from businesses and agencies located on either coast. The messages will also tell you either to file a report online or at your nearest post office location.
If so, you are not alone as North Missourians and rural communities nationwide have experienced mail delays this month, and the dilemma goes beyond and further than January’s winter blast which temporarily closed interstate and state highways. After receiving numerous complaints and grievance reports from their constituents, three Missouri Congressmen say that enough is enough.
Congressmen Sam Graves (R-MO-6th District), Mark Alford (R-MO-4th District), and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO-4th District joined together last Thursday, Jan. 16, to re-introduce bipartisan legislation that calls on the United States Postal Service to “pony up” for late fees imposed on customers because of delayed mail—hence called the Pony Up Act. This act would require the postal service to reimburse people if there is a late charge. Last year in March, Rep. Graves introduced H.R. 7631 to address and provide relief particularly to customers in rural areas, as these communities are harder hit when there are mail delays.
This year, mail delays have been reported to be by 13 days or longer. For example, official mail from the Internal Revenue Service and other federal and state agencies that were sent out on Jan. 3 just arrived last week to some recipients in north Missouri counties.
Last August, Rep. Graves called for an audit of mail delays at the Kansas City and St. Louis processing centers. That audit found Kansas City had “some of the slowest and worst mail service in the nation”, according to a Jan. 16 online report on the Yahoo.com website—including mail sitting at Kansas City postal stations for as many as 13 days without being delivered. The audit and report also cited “late and canceled trips and low compliance with scanning requirements contributing to inaccurate data”. Most of the mail that arrives to towns along the Highway 36 corridor goes through Kansas City and then is rerouted to Chillicothe for prompt delivery to towns with zip codes beginning with “646”—that is, many towns and rural communities in Linn County.
In August 2024, Graves also called for USPS to audit the St. Louis Processing and Delivery Center, answer for their absentee ballot delivery issues and present a report on potential effects of their misguided proposal to reduce rural mail pickup times.
“USPS says they couldn’t get their trucks out of the Kansas City and St. Louis processing centers for a few days… There were some definite delays in clearing some roads,” said Rep. Graves in last week’s email newsletter to area constituents. Meanwhile, Congressional offices continue to receive phone calls and emails from constituents regarding mail delays which include essential services.
On top of that, according to complaints from local area utilities and entities, their payment notices have not been delivered on time to customers. Rural businesses, including farms and businesses that ship perishable or live animals, such as chickens, requiring essential timely delivery, lose money when their goods and services perish or expire en route. “Terrible mail service affects everybody, and it costs real money,” added Graves.
“What’s happening now is people are sending in their checks to the mortgage company, people still do that. If those checks don’t get there, they are charged a late fee. Sometimes it adversely affects their credit. That’s wrong,” said Rep. Cleaver in a recent news statement. “We need bipartisan action to ensure these costs are not levied on hardworking Americans who have no ability to prevent these delays, and I’m proud to introduce the Pony Up Act with Reps. Graves and Alford to provide relief.”
The legislation would allow anyone who incurred a late fee due to late delivery of a bill to file a claim for a late fee repayment. Filing for the repayment could be done either online or at any post office. It would also require a report on delayed mail and give Congress accurate information identifying what average delays look like.
What Customers Can Do Meantime
Concerned and interested customers may view information on H.R.7631 at https://graves.house.gov and https://www.congress.gov. If a mail piece has not arrived within a week to two weeks, customers are usually advised to contact the toll-free customer service number at USPS (1-800-275-8777 or 1-800-ASK-USPS) or to complete an online form stating the issue of concern. However, the best plan of action for now is either to submit a complaint/claim form to USPS via online (https://www.usps.com) or in person at your local post office. For specific mail, such as prescriptions, contact your primary care providers and pharmacies for alternate and temporary assistance. If you have a tracking number, use that to locate your specific parcels and registered mail. Contact businesses and services regarding payment arrangements if necessary or for other temporary one-time solutions.
If you are expecting essential goods and services, including perishable items, contact the businesses and services to track where your parcels and mail are located and check into refund or replacement policies.
Paying taxes or catching up on payments? Your tax preparer service can also help with obtaining copies of tax documents if a mailed document is lost or delayed, and the IRS also manages a database for looking up needed forms that are mailed out to taxpayers. For customer service inquiries through online companies, also check with the company in which you placed an order or are expecting an order, as a tracking number assigned to the order can be used to locate where the item is located en route.
Mail Delays in Rural America– A Congressional Timeline
Last year around February, the Linn County Leader ran a report on mail delays due to inclement weather, but there was a quicker turnaround within a week. A postal employee at the Chillicothe post office mentioned a delay in mail being routed to Chillicothe for towns with the “646” zip code prefix and that area residents from those towns had reported mail delays—with some receiving mail later than usual or not at all. Some Linn Countians reported a delay in receiving their mail by about 5-7 days, including paychecks and official state and federal mail notices regarding Social Security and other benefits.
In addition to recent audits of mail delays and delivery at the Kansas City and St. Louis processing centers, Congressmen Graves and Cleaver have voiced numerous concerns with the USPS about performance issues, from mail delays to rural American communies to price increases on postage stamps. Starting in October 2022, Reps. Graves and Cleaver sent a letter to the Postmaster General expressing concerns about USPS failure to fulfill their congressionally mandated duty to provide 6-day mail delivery.
In March 2023, Reps. Graves and Cleaver called on USPS to come up with a plan to address mail delivery delays, fulfill the USPS’s legal obligation to deliver mail 6 days per week, and listen to residents’ concerns that had been frustrated with the performance of their local USPS branches. In January 2024, Graves and Cleaver, along with other fellow legislators, spearheaded a call on USPS to halt price increases on stamps, following the agency’s record-breaking fourth rate increase in the last eighteen months. The legislators demanded USPS address the failings of the Delivering for America Plan and turn around performance issues of the USPS in order to legitimize a price hike for consumers.
Following the August 2024 audit, Graves, Cleaver, and other legislators called on the USPS to implement the audit recommendations from the audit report.
“No one should put their life in jeopardy if it’s not necessary. However, we’re at least 10 days out now. The roads have improved. It’s time to get the mail delivered. It’s up to management to make sure the mail gets out of the processing center and to the post offices,” said Rep. Graves.
