USPS Is Suspending Services in These States, Effective Immediately
iStock
Employees of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) work hard to meet our mail needs—whether that means facing aggressive animals or handling letters and packages in the extreme heat . But that doesn’t mean that the USPS is willing to put its employees through just anything in order to keep postal operations running. In fact, the agency will often halt deliveries and close post offices when concerning circumstances arise. Right now, postal customers in three different states are experiencing this firsthand. Read on to find out more about the latest USPS closures.
RELATED: USPS Is Making These Changes to Your Mail .
iStock
Unexpected circumstances can make it unavoidable for the USPS not to step in. But the Postal Service doesn’t like to leave its customers in the dark when this happens. The agency has two online tools to inform the public about residential service disruptions. Through its Service Alerts website and local press releases posted for each state, people can find out if their mail is being delivered or whether their local post office has been shuttered.
According to the most recent Service Alerts and local press releases, customers in Illinois, Colorado, and Vermont are dealing with new post office closures.
RELATED: See a Sticker on Your Mailbox? Don’t Touch It, USPS Says .
Shutterstock
Northern Illinois residents got hit with inconvenient postal news earlier this week. In a July 24 local press release , the Postal Service announced that it was temporarily suspending retail operations at the Broadway Post Office in Rockford, Illinois. According to the release, the facility has been closed “due to structural issues.”
The agency hasn’t elaborated on what the specific issues are, but it said the decision to shut down the Broadway Post Office’s retail operations on a temporary basis was made “to ensure the safety of both postal customers and employees.”
Best Life reached out to the USPS to get more information on the structural concerns, and we will update this story with their response.
During the closure, Broadway Post Office customers are being directed to the East Rockwood Post Office for retail services and P.O. Box mail pick-up.
“No timetable has yet been established for the resumption of retail services,” the agency said in its release. “USPS appreciates the public’s understanding and patience and apologizes for any inconvenience this situation may have caused.”
RELATED: USPS Is Relocating Post Offices in These States .
iStock
Building issues are also contributing to another post office closure right now. In a July 27 local press release , the USPS revealed that it had been forced to close a post office in Fountain, Colorado, after a vehicle crash.
“A vehicle drove into the Fountain Post Office forcing postal officials to relocate retail services and PO Box customer services,” the agency said.
The incident occurred just before 10:30 a.m. on July 27, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported. A spokesperson with the Fountain Police Department told the newspaper that no injuries were reported and no one was arrested for the crash, as they suspect a “possible brake failure” is to blame.
Best Life reached out to the USPS to find out the extent of the damage, as well as when the facility will reopen, and we will update this story with their response.
During the closure, Fountain Post Office customers are being directed to go to the Security Post Office in Colorado Springs to pick up their mail and access retail operations.
iStock
Meanwhile, postal customers in Vermont are dealing with a different problem altogether. Since the second week of July, the USPS has been shuttering post offices across the state amid severe storms. Most recently, the agency issued a new update to its Service Alerts website on July 27 to inform residents about a facility closure in Montpelier, Vermont.
According to the news outlet, the Postal Service has set up mobile units at the Vermont College of Fine Arts on 43 College Street to help affected customers.
“During this closure, PO Box mail, Caller Service and any item requiring a signature will be available at College of Fine Arts,” the USPS said in its release.
When Best Life reached out to the agency, USPS spokesperson Stephen Doherty shared that the Montpelier Post Office took quite a hit from the natural disaster.
“We’re hoping to reoccupy the Montpelier facility as quickly as feasible,” Doherty said. “However it did suffer extensive damage from recent flooding and there is no timetable established as yet.”
- Source: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/
- Source: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/local-releases/
- Source: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/local-releases/il/2023/0724-rockfords-broadway-po-retail-operations-temporarily-closed.htm
- Source: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/local-releases/co/2023/0727-closure-of-fountain-po.htm
See a Sticker on Your Mailbox? Don’t Touch It, USPS Says
Shutterstock
Your mailbox serves a very simple purpose: receiving mail and leaving outgoing mail for a carrier to pick up. Still, some of us enjoy sprucing up our mailboxes, adding personal flair, color, or even decals to help an otherwise standard mailbox stand out. But if you notice a paw print sticker on your mailbox that you didn’t add, don’t start peeling it off just yet—it’s likely part of a program run by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to help keep carriers safe. Read on to find out what these stickers mean and why you shouldn’t remove them.
RELATED: USPS Wants to Raise the Price of Your Mail Again—Here’s When It Could Happen .
Shutterstock
In 2023, more than 5,800 Postal Service workers were attacked by dogs while delivering mail, up from 5,300 in 2022, according to a USPS press release.
Larger cities had the highest numbers of attacks, with Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, St. Louis, and Cleveland claiming the top five spots.
“Even though a customer’s dog is friendly to most people, it can always have a bad day,” said letter carrier Tara Snyder . “I know, from experience, even when a dog is in the house, customers need to make sure their door is secure so their dog can’t push it open and bite the letter carrier.”
To her point, the USPS writes that “all dogs can bite, even those perceived as nonaggressive.” In fact, many of the attacks that letter carriers report are by dogs whose owners told them, “My dog won’t bite.”
Such an attack can result in consequences for the homeowner, too. According to data from the Insurance Information Institute, the average cost per insurance claim for a dog bite is $64,555, the USPS states.
“When a postal employee suffers an injury, the owner could be responsible for medical bills, lost wages, uniform replacement costs, and pain and suffering for the employee,” they explain.
RELATED: USPS Is Making These Changes to Your Mail, Starting Now .
Shutterstock
To combat dog bites, the Postal Service shared tips on how pet owners can “support safe mail delivery.” These include keeping dogs inside the house or behind a fence, away from the door or in another room, or on a leash.
“Pet owners also should remind children not to take mail directly from a letter carrier as the dog may view the carrier as a threat to the child,” they state.
Mail carriers also follow protocol to keep them aware of areas where dogs might be present, and they’re equipped with scanners to remind them of possible dog hazards, as well as dog warning cards that are added during mail sorting.
In 2020, the USPS added another preventive measure: the PAWS Program . First introduced in Pennsylvania, the program uses mailbox stickers to keep carriers safe.
Canva
The PAWS Program uses color-coded stickers affixed to mailboxes to inform mail carriers about dogs in the area. An orange sticker with a black paw print tells carriers that there is a dog at this home, while a yellow sticker with a black paw print tells them there is a dog at the next house.
Citizens are informed ahead of time that the stickers may appear on their mailboxes. In a notice sent to Lakewood, Ohio, residents, the Postal Service wrote, “Carriers will soon be placing a paw sticker on mailboxes to indicate that a dog or dogs live in the area —yellow indicates dog nearby/orange indicates dog at residence. The sticker will act as a reminder to the carrier that they should proceed with caution, especially when delivering packages to the door.”
RELATED: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Resigns—What It Means for the USPS and Your Mail .
iStock
Removing these stickers may do more harm than good, as your mail service can be halted if your carrier feels unsafe. Not only does this affect the home of the dog owner, but it also applies to the entire neighborhood, the USPS said in a previous press release . Service isn’t restored in these instances “until the aggressive dog is properly restrained.”
At the end of the day, these stickers are put in place to “reduce the risk of dog bites and attacks that occur while delivering mail,” which is just another reason you should leave the sticker on your mailbox.
“We all love our dogs,” Kimberly Tilley , acting postmaster for Winston-Salem, told WGHP. “We love our animals, but we … have to take responsibility to protect the carrier and the people around us as well from our animals.”
Tilley added that dog bites are more common than you think, and they can be traumatic for carriers. “Once a carrier has been bit, it sets some fear in them long term for the rest of their life,” she told the outlet.
However, although these stickers are strongly recommended, if you object to having a sticker placed on your mailbox, you can opt out , Kyle Stevens , Southwest Carrier Annex station manager in South Dakota, told KELO in 2021. To do so, the first step would be to contact your local post office.
This story has been updated to include additional entries, fact-checking, and copy-editing.
