Jessica Webb
editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com
Visit the Bryson City Post Office during office hours and it’s not unlikely you’ll hear frustrated customers who have questions about why their mail, mostly packages from Amazon, weren’t delivered to their home or business.
Justin Garrett was fed up but seeking answers hasn’t provided much relief. Amazon said his packages were arriving and then the post office wasn’t bringing them to his house, leaving notes instead that he would have to pick them up at the office. This is nearly impossible due to his work schedule. He talked to the local postmaster, USPS fraud department and Amazon. A postal clerk told him the post office isn’t getting paid enough by Amazon to pay for to-the-door delivery, that they are short staffed and can’t fit large boxes in their vehicles for delivery.
Tracking on Amazon often states “customer has requested the package be held for collection” once it reaches the post office, but Garrett hasn’t made such requests himself. Other messages say things like “mailbox was full” and “delivery attempted.”
Unfortunately, going up the chain of command, Garrett got redirected back to the local postmaster. As he pressed the matter, USPS sent him to the USPS Consumer and Industry office in Greensboro but there was never a response.
Amazon has agreed to reship through a different carrier, Garrett said, but then if he ends up getting the other package he has to send that back or get charged for both.
“I kind of just stopped fighting with Amazon, and I just tried ordering something again recently and was surprised that some of the stuff actually got delivered today,” he said, when it was set to.
One emailed response from Bryson City postmaster Chip Hendricks reads, “Depending on what day packages come in and how much volume there is depends on whether packages can be delivered or whether the customer may have to be notified that they will need to pick it up. The heavier the volume, the more packages are notice left instead of delivered.”
When Garrett further explained he needs the packaged delivered even if it’s a day later, postmaster Hendricks responded he would personally see to it. While that package was delivered, the issue is ongoing.
Renee Bradley said she’s had the same experience, receiving messages that the USPS can’t deliver and that Amazon reads the “customer has requested the shipment be held for collection.” Like Garrett, her work schedule makes getting to the post office during regular hours unrealistic.
Recently, one of those packages she had to chase down from the post office was an Epipen bag for her daughter. Bradley and Garrett believe when packages that could be for medical concerns aren’t being delivered, it could have dangerous consequences.
Staffing issues
With staffing issues and truckloads of packages delivered daily from Amazon, the Bryson City postal workers are barely keeping their heads above water. Postmaster Chip Hendricks said they are doing all they can to keep mail going out on time.
“These carriers are committed to giving the best quality of service they can,” Hendricks said.
With volume increasing, many are putting in later days and making multiple trips.
“Late days are the norm now. It’s not for lack of trying; the volume has increased, and we’re short staffed,” he said.
Most days, Hendricks is out delivering packages himself. The office has five regular carries and should have five substitute carriers but only has two. The good news? Three new subs are in the hiring process.
When people aren’t getting their packages as anticipated, he said, it’s due to a logistics problem and a volume problem.
He estimates packages, particularly from Amazon, have doubled if not tripled in the past few years as people order more online, from toilet paper to energy drinks.
The USPS has an agreement with Amazon to handle the “last mile” of delivery, which is beneficial to the bottom line but the weight to deliver on postal carriers. Estimates are that the USPS delivers at least 30 but as much as 60 percent of Amazon packages—with packages skyrocketing during the pandemic and hardly letting up. The holiday season is a particularly busy one for the post office.
Despite being short staffed, there’s no local option to communicate to Amazon that they can’t deliver, according to Hendricks.
“We get two trucks from Amazon every morning, and what comes through here, we’re responsible for delivery,” Hendricks said.
There are some factors where postal carriers do not deliver packages. For example, if your box is more than a half mile from or if you live on a gravel drive that is not well maintained. Also, if packages weigh more than 70 pounds they don’t have to deliver to the door. Hendricks said Amazon packages often exceed this weight limit.
“I’ve had furniture show up here, and we’re not able to deliver that,” he said.
When it comes to the comparison of package deliveries from FedEx or UPS, Hendricks points out they don’t handle mail. Most USPS have over 700 stops a day and deliver regular mail, newspapers, bills and pick up outgoing mail.
The USPS operates as an enterprise and relies on revenue from its services for its budget and the agreement with Amazon came during a period when letter mail was declining.
There’s some hope the Postal Reform Act of 2022 that mandates mail delivery six days a week and has budgeted $45 billion in savings for improved services overall in the United States could bring some relief, but Hendricks said he hasn’t heard anything as of yet to how this might be beneficial at the local level.