BELGRADE, MT — Chalet Market in Belgrade has been shipping its products across the country since 1977. Recently, however, it has been finding it harder to do so because of unreliable mail delivery.
Mark Croghan has owned Chalet Market for the past 14 years. He says in the past month or two he has seen a decline in his mail service. He says last week the only mail he received came from the tire shop next door, because his mail had been delivered to them instead of to him. Croghan says that included several thousand dollars in checks.
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Croghan says Chalet Market ships out 6,000-7,000 gift packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas every year. He says they will take the packages to the post office themselves to make sure they go out on time. However, he says he can’t deliver his own mail.
I tried to call the Belgrade Post Office but was unable to reach anyone. I then went to the post office and talked with Yudelca Read, Belgrade’s Customer Service Supervisor. She tells me she’s aware of the problem because the problem is a lack of mail carriers.
Read says a job fair last week helped them hire two new carriers, but Belgrade is still 4 short of what it needs. She says that means extra work for current carriers, and quite often they leave because of that.
Croghan says he’s not angry with the Belgrade Post Office. He says he knows they are short-staffed and overworked. He also says he’s frustrated because he still needs to reliably get his mail.
During my conversation with Read, she talked with the carrier who covers Chalet Market. She gave me assurances that Chalet’s mail will be delivered to them and not the tire shop. However, the shortage of mail carriers continues in Belgrade, and until it's solved, she says reliability will be a challenge.
