Since last fall, residents in the 22204 zip code, which includes a large swath of south Arlington around Columbia Pike, say they’ve been getting their mail two to three times a week or not at all.
“Our mail delivery in 22204 had been irregular, sporadic or often non existent for past 5 or so years,” writes resident Nancy Miller. “Frustration abounds! Meanwhile in other Zip Codes in Arlington, mail delivery has not been a problem.”
While this wave of complaints started last fall, Douglas Park neighborhood in particular has had a history of spotty service. Problems back in 2015 are the same problems the neighborhood has today: staffing and topography. Many of the residents who spoke with ARLnow for this story live in that area.
There have been reports of “perennially” bad service in the Ballston and Virginia Square neighborhoods as well, supposedly because it is considered a training route.
“U.S. Mail delivery is in crisis in Douglas Park, after many years of inconsistent service,” resident Rebecca Kraft says.
The issue can, in part, be chalked up to staffing, says Aaron Fritschner, Deputy Chief of Staff for Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), who has been engaging with residents about the mail issue for a number of years.
“The main issues leadership at Arlington branches have raised to us recently are hiring and retention,” he said. “They specifically point to losing workforce to private competitors because of differences in pay and benefits. Rep. Beyer cosponsored legislation to boost recruitment and retention for this reason.”
Recruitment and retention might be expected to be a more widespread problem, resulting in mail delivery issues in other neighborhoods, but the complaints ARLnow has seen online were mainly concentrated in certain neighborhoods within the 22204 zip code and at the post office at 1210 S. Glebe Road.
The intractable problem has to do with topography, according to Douglas Park resident Thomas Schaad. The last house on a hilly, residential route with few businesses and apartment buildings, he said when they did receive mail, it was late in the evening.
“The postmaster basically told us the routes are antiquated in terms of how they’re laid out, but they can’t be changed,” Schaad said. “As a result there are some routes that are good, and others that are considered ‘bad,’ the ones nobody wants.”
Another neighbor, who just wanted to be referred to as Molly, said “we’re pretty much chopped liver.”
Mail carriers bid for their routes based on seniority, and the more difficult routes, with more houses or hills or walking, are typically assigned last. Improving the routes requires a study with recommendations, which may happen but likely not until the end of this year, depending on funding. A study was planned for 2020 but got axed due to Covid.
“Until the last two weeks, when it improved to daily delivery, we were getting someone who had completed their route and had come back and been told to finish this route,” Schaad said. “During the Christmas holiday season, they couldn’t hire anyone… the employment pool was being absorbed for the holiday rush by private entities, and the post office suffered in terms of hiring.”
When reached for comment, the local postmaster seemed eager to share the changes he had made, but said he needed approvals from higher up in the agency to speak openly. We’re told one plan he has is to hold a job fair.
Beyer, for his part, meets regularly with postmasters from his jurisdiction, including Arlington, and fields complaints from residents, Fritschner said.
“Early in February, Rep. Beyer’s team reported an uptick of issues in 22204 to the postmaster who said that they were stepping up staffing and overtime to get deliveries made in a timely manner which they expected to yield improvements in short order,” he said. “Complaints to us have declined subsequently.”
Indeed, residents who spoke to ARLnow said there are some signs of improvement, including more daily deliveries.
“It got pretty desperate for a lot people who were expecting checks or bills and were concerned about whether or not their mail was ever going to get delivered,” said Alcova Heights resident Mitzi Williams, reporting she went four to five days a row without mail many times before things started to improve.
Until then, Douglas Park resident Kristin Francis has some recommendations for workarounds.
“I’ll have things delivered to my office instead and will use UPS or Fedex to send or receive items,” Francis said. “I created my own stamps.com account and bought a postage printer so I don’t have to deal with our local office.”