Didn’t get your package delivered in Whatcom County? Here’s one reason why

Both a surge in COVID-19 infections and snowstorms over the holidays caused troubles with mail and package deliveries in recent weeks.

Dozens of Bellingham and Whatcom County residents have turned to social media to lament late arrivals from the U.S. Postal Service, United Parcel Service and FedEx— including Christmas gifts, government checks, perishable food items and prescription medicines.

“Our street went a week without mail,” said Connie Sadler of Birchwood, at the social media site Nextdoor.

Cornwall Park resident Jana Foor said on Nextdoor that she went to the post office to inquire about a package that never arrived, even though the online tracking app said it was “coming soon.”

“I was told that they are significantly understaffed and days behind in mail and package delivery,” Foor said.

U.S. Postal Service spokesman Ernie Swanson in Seattle told The Bellingham Herald that illness and snowstorms are to blame for missed deliveries.

“I know Whatcom County was particularly hard-hit by the weather,” Swanson told The Herald in an email.

Covid and snow

“Our carriers are directed not to attempt delivery if a road has snow and ice on it making it unsafe,” Swanson said via email.

“Carriers are also told not to deliver to individual addresses if access to the mailbox is not safe. Customers can assist USPS by clearing a path to their mailbox. We realize how important mail can be to our customers so we make every effort to deliver, if we can do so and not risk injury to our employees,” Swanson said.

UPS spokeswoman Amanda Catala also cited the snowstorms and COVID-19 for delays.

“Weather has caused some shipping delays in the area,” Catala told The Herald in an email.

“And like many employers, we are managing through potential COVID exposures. Safely delivering on our commitments is always UPS’s most important priority and we will continue servicing customers in areas where we can safely do so,” she said.

FedEx’s Shannon Davis apologized for delays and said the company was working to restore its services.

“FedEx Ground continues to navigate operational challenges due to constrained labor markets, increased package volume, weather delays and the ongoing pandemic,” Davis said in an email.

Special pickup

Some Sudden Valley residents used Facebook and Nextdoor to lament missed postal deliveries, and a few said they waited an hour or more to retrieve packages from the post office on Orleans Street in Bellingham.

UPS, FedEx and other services deliver to homes in Sudden Valley, which has many narrow, hilly streets, and residents missed deliveries from those shippers too.

But U.S. mail is delivered to cluster boxes with limited capacity In Sudden Valley.

So the postal service scheduled two mass collection days for dozens of missed deliveries, according to the Sudden Valley Community Association website.

“Due to the record-breaking number of parcels being held, the USPS, has arranged to have a pop-up package distribution event,” the website said.

Order early

Michael Tilley, owner of Pak Mail in Barkley Village, said that shipping delays seen late last year are continuing into 2022.

“There are a lot of delays, particularly with ground shipping, such as FedEx ground. Express shipments seem to be moving quite well and are generally on time, but ground shipments will continue to be late,” Tilley told The Herald in an email.

“A lot of packages are delayed and it may take as much as a week longer to get them. There are reports that some packages have been lost, but we haven’t seen that from the packages that we have sent,” he said.

“Delays have definitely gone up during the holidays and the surge in cases of COVID-19 might be partly responsible for the delays that we see now,” he said.

Tilley advised customers to order well in advance during the current crunch and to consider paying extra for faster service.

“Overnight shipping is over very expensive, but three-day express is often pretty affordable and it is much more likely to get to you on time. This is particularly true with FedEx,” he said.