The creed of the U.S. Postal Service includes the line, “nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” Recently, it seems, the local Post Office has been pushing that to the point of absurdity.

For years in my neighborhood, the mail usually came somewhere between 2:30 and 4 p.m. If it was 5, the mail was running late. In recent months, however, the mail has been coming later and later. Sometimes, the mail hasn’t been coming until well after 8 in the evening. Tonight, it was 9:45 p.m. before the mail truck stopped at my mailbox. What’s worse is we aren’t even in the thick of the holiday season yet.

I can’t help but wonder what the causes of these increasing delays are. Have there been cutbacks in manpower? Have they lost people? Have there been changes in management that have resulted in inefficiencies? What about the cost to taxpayers in overtime hours? What of the safety of postal workers making their rounds so late at night?

Is the U.S. Postal Service making efforts to fix these problems, or are they oblivious?

I admit I do not have answers, but I can’t be the only one to have noticed this growing problem. And perhaps it’s the public taking notice that will get the answers we need, and fix what needs to be fixed. What I do know, however, is a delivery time after 9 in the evening cannot become the new normal for our daily mail.

I have full confidence that our local postal workers themselves are doing the best they can. The fact that they are still making their appointed rounds so late in the evening speaks to their dedication. However, something in our local postal system is broken and must be fixed.

— Eric Shock

Salisbury