The United States Post Office in South Burlington on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Dan Bowles first noticed the issue when his father sent him a birthday card from Florida and told Bowles to expect it in the mail in the next few days.  The card took more than a mon th to arrive, he said.  At the time, the South Burlington resident chalked it up to post-Christmas holiday delays that are typical around that time of year. But in mid-February, he ordered a package and noticed it was taking awhile to arrive. So he checked its status online.  “It basically was set for delivery, and then the status changed to something like, ‘We don’t know when we’re gonna deliver this,’” he said.  Bowles is not alone. Several South Burlington residents have told VTDigger and posted on social media that over the past three months, they’ve experienced a significant reduction in the number of deliveries they receive each week, as well as delays in getting packages and other big mail items.  The city is the latest in a series of Vermont communities that have reported challenges with the state’s branch of the U.S. Postal Service. Earlier this year, Montpelier also complained of weekslong mail delays and packages not arriving. Postal advocates have warned that recent USPS changes to its mail delivery policy might be affecting delivery times.  In an email, a representative from the Postal Service blamed staffing difficulties for the delays, as with Montpelier’s situation.  “There are routes in South Burlington impacted due to employee availability issues,” said Judy Ferriera, a spokesperson for the New England districts of USPS. “The Postal Service has implemented contingency plans to cover the routes on most days, including splitting or staggering the routes, until permanent carriers can be assigned.” Mail trucks are parked at the United States Post Office in South Burlington on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger She added that the Postal Service is hiring and that anyone interested in a career with the service could attend a weekly job fair that takes place at the Homewood Suites in South Burlington.  Ferriera said most Burlington area residents are still getting their mail on time. Data from the Postal Service shows that 82% of first-class mail for South Burlington’s 05403 ZIP code has been on time so far in fiscal year 2026, below the 89% on-time performance standard. However, the service does not have data for that ZIP code for just most recent time period that residents have complained about.  Ferriera said most Burlington area residents are still getting their mail on time. Data from the Postal Service shows that 82% of first-class mail for South Burlington’s 05403 ZIP code was on time between July and December of 2025, which was 7% below the on-time performance standard. However, the service does not have ZIP code-level data for the specific time period residents have complained about. South Burlington residents shared with VTDigger how the mail delays have affected them. Roger Herod said he seemed to be receiving mail “no more than once every four or five days,” and he’s still missing an important letter that was definitely mailed to him.  Jane and Bob Miller said via email that their neighborhood gets mail deliveries twice a month. The pair is forced to travel to the Pine Street post office to try to get their parcels within a reasonable timeframe.  But Andreas Eriksson, another local, said via email that when you go to the post office, the mail isn’t organized there, so it’s hard for the employees to find it.  Bowles said one of his frustrations with the mail delays is that it is often a “black box” where the mail is. “I don’t even know” who to call when a package or a piece of mail is delayed, he said. Some days, he’s received 30 to 40 pieces of mail all arriving at once.  “You don’t really know when we’ll get what, which is OK most of the time, but we’ve got pressing things in the mail for work or tax season,” he said. He’s had to wait for his dentist bill to arrive when it’s being mailed from just down the road. He’s had to hold off on changes to his retirement finances while he waited for the paperwork to arrive.  But he’s most concerned for people who may not realize that they could miss out on a bill or important notice. While his household pays bills electronically, “there’s still people that you know that pay via check, or they can’t really miss payments, or they can’t miss bills,” he said.  “You have this idea that the post office is very reliable, it’s always been there and it always is there,” he said. “But there’s this, you know, general theme in the past couple years of, a lot of our institutions are not doing well.” Read the story on VTDigger here: South Burlington mail delivery woes are caused by short staffing, says Postal Service. ...read more read less