The United States Post Office on First Avenue North in Escanaba is shown. Many postal customers thoughout the Upper Peninsula have expressed frustration and unusually long delays recently. The most extreme known reports originated in the Iron Mountain area. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)

HOUGHTON – Over the past number of weeks, various Upper Peninsula newspapers have received numerous complaints regarding subscribers not receiving their newspaper in the mail. According to U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, this problem is not limited to newspaper subscribers.

“My office continues to hear from constituents who are experiencing significant delays and other disruptions in mail delivery across the area,” Bergman said in a Jan. 20 letter to the U.S. Postmaster General and CEO David Steiner.

Bergman’s recent letter is not the first time he has expressed concerns with the USPS, and he is not alone.

In July 2025, Bergman was one of four members of the U.S. House to form the bipartisan Congressional Postal Service Caucus which, it says, is committed to improving the United States Postal Service and supporting the more than 600,000 USPS employees across the country.

The caucus lacks legislative or regulatory authority. Its power is limited to influence, advocacy and oversight, such as promoting legislation on service standards, protecting workers and opposing facility consolidation. It is also concerned with the USPS Delivering for America plan.

In March 2021, the USPS announced Delivering for America, a ten-year plan it says includes initiatives to improve organizational and operational processes and actively make the Postal Service an efficient, high-performing, world class logistics and delivery provider.

As part of the plan, in January 2024, the USPS proposed relocating mail processing operations from the Iron Mountain Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) in Kingsford, to Green Bay, Wis.

On March 15, 2024, the USPS announced that as part of a $40 billion investment strategy to upgrade and improve the Postal processing, transportation and delivery networks, it is conducting an evaluation of current operations and potential future uses of its Iron Mountain P&DC facility in Kingsford.

However, in response to local opposition, the plan was reconsidered. In February 2025, it was announced that the Iron Mountain facility would remain open, with a $3.75 million investment to transform it into a Local Processing Center (LPC), preventing the loss of local processing services.

At the time, the USPS said it would not go back to providing overnight service in the Upper Peninsula, which ended in January 2024. The move affected delivery of items, such as prescription medicines and water testing.

On Jan. 24 of this year, the Iron Mountain Daily News reported that, like the Daily Press and Daily Mining Gazette, local complaints have been numerous, as these newspapers are also delivered through the mail. Some subscribers say they now receive mail only once a week, sometimes on Sundays as their carriers struggle to catch up. Others claim they’ve been advised to pick up their mail at the post office.

The slowdown began before Christmas as carriers were told to focus on delivering packages. That created a backlog that, coupled with staffing shortages, has left some areas with sporadic service, according to reports and customer feedback.