We definitely didn’t know it at the time, but when The Port Arthur News moved delivery of our publication to mail distribution, we put ourselves directly in the middle of a frustrating battle between citizens of Mid & South Jefferson County and the U.S. Postal Service.

Some say “months” — others say “years” — of poor delivery service by the Postal Service led them to feel there was no hope. Residents wouldn’t receive their mail on a regular basis, even days at a time, while their postal carrier would pass their home with nothing for them.

Residents dependent on timely delivery of financial information, medical products, government assistance, etc. felt the hopelessness most.

Calls and/or visits to their local post office rarely garnered any assistance. Postal service employees became more and more frustrated as well.

I often jest with readers by saying, “If I didn’t have any hair, I definitely wouldn’t have it now.”

When we made the move from newspaper carrier to postal delivery of our publication last September, the comment above couldn’t be more true. There’s no sugar coating it; things were bad. Subscribers not receiving their daily newspaper on a regular basis increased their frustrations and our frustrations.

All along, The Port Arthur News and the USPS have been working together to correct these issues. Each day after receiving customer complaints about missing papers, we would share that list of addresses, separated by zip code, with each postmaster at each location.

Finishing up our fourth month under this new system, I can honestly say things are getting much better. Complaints from subscribers have declined to almost none. Subscribers are telling us that their mail delivery is better than it ever has been. And subscribers, once adamant that they would be canceling their paper upon the end of their subscription, are calling to let us know not to stop them.

The USPS has made personnel changes at three of the six postal locations with which we work directly. Port Arthur, Groves and Nederland have all received a new postmaster, each of whom has implemented new procedures to handle the change. Each focuses on the “Your customers are our customers, as well” mindset.

Ultimately, better service is being seen across Mid & South Jefferson County.

I won’t go so far as to say The Port Arthur News is the reason for this improvement. But I will say that our move to postal delivery did shine a brighter light on an issue residents have been struggling with for some time. If that light helped even a little, that in itself is good.

With its willingness to help, the Postal Service and their goal to achieve quality, consistent delivery service for all citizens is continuing to improve every day.

We thank our friends and partners with the USPS on helping us get to this point. But both entities still ask residents who see a relapse, who homes are missed, or just have concerns to please reach out to us either my email or phone. We all want this improvement trend to continue, but we can only do so with your help.

And you just never know; I may be able to grow hair now.

Nah!

Rich Macke is publisher of The Port Arthur News.