Heitkamp Launches New Fix My Mail Survey to Gather Feedback on ND Mail Delivery, Service

U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a member of the Senate committee overseeing the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), today launched a new Fix My Mail survey to gather feedback from North Dakotans about challenges with their mail delivery and service.

Heitkamp's survey builds on her Fix My Mail initiative which she started in January 2014 by collecting more than 200 stories from North Dakotans across the state about problems they encounter every day with delayed mail delivery and poor service from the U.S. Postal Service. Those stories prompted the U.S. Postal Service to take action in North Dakota at Heitkamp's request, and the USPS Inspector General issued a report confirming the problems Heitkamp heard about. The stories from North Dakotans also helped inform a bill Heitkamp introduced to improve mail delivery and service in rural communities. Because many North Dakota communities still face problems with mail delivery, Heitkamp's Fix My Mail survey continues these efforts by gathering feedback from North Dakotans to identify where additional improvement is needed.

Rural communities rely heavily on the U.S. Postal Service, and have been disproportionately impacted by poor service and delivery -- a point echoed in a separate USPS Inspector General report on mail volume. Over the past few years, communities in rural America have faced increased delivery times, reduced service standards, and a distressed U.S. Postal Service workforce.

"North Dakotans have experienced mail delivery and service challenges for years -- that's why I'm working to keep the U.S. Postal Service accountable for continued improvements. But North Dakotans can and do make a difference by speaking up," said Heitkamp. "It's because hundreds of North Dakotans shared stories about their challenges with delayed mail delivery or poor service through my original Fix My Mail initiative that we were able to get the attention of the U.S. Postal Service. And it's because South Fargo residents -- who had to form a Facebook group just to sort out each other's mail -- came to me that I was able to help resolve the situation with their mail carrier. But we aren't done. Every North Dakotan should be able to get their mail, packages, and medicine on time. With this new Fix My Mail survey, I hope North Dakotans provide more feedback to help prevent mail delivery in rural America from being left behind."

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