If you seem to consistently get your mail late, you’re not alone. A new inspector general’s report ranks the nation’s capitol as No. 1 in the nation for late mail delivery. The report found that more than two-thirds of the time, mail is delivered after 5 p.m. in the D.C. and Maryland suburbs, The Washington Post reports. Northern Virginia didn’t fare much better. It ranked in the top 5 areas receiving mail late. The review found 69 percent of carriers still working their routes at night last year.
Besides the frustration late delivery poses to customers, it also raises safety concerns. The investigation into late delivery was spurred by the killing of a carrier in Prince George’s County in November. He was shot in his truck at 7:30 p.m. The late hours also cost the already cash-strapped agency in overtime, which in the DMV costs about $4.5 million annually. That’s a problem for an agency dealing with multibillion dollar losses as more and more people use paperless correspondence.
But solving the problem of late mail delivery may not be easy as fewer workers try to handle the load. The Post reports the size of the Postal Service workforce has been dramatically reduced, and hundreds of mail-sorting plants have been closed. That includes two in the D.C. area.
