GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Sen. Heidi Heitkamp is taking another step in her efforts to address issues North Dakotans may have with rural mail delivery service.
The U.S. senator from North Dakota initiated an online Fix My Mail survey Tuesday. The survey includes six multiple-choice questions, plus a section to share personal stories of challenges North Dakotans have had with their mail delivery and service.
"Every North Dakotan should be able to get their mail, packages, and medicine on time," Heitkamp said in a news release. "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."
Heitkamp, a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which oversees the U.S. Postal Service, began her Fix My Mail initiative in 2014. Since then, she has collected more than 200 stories from North Dakotans across the state that detail unsatisfactory experiences with the Postal Service.
Last summer, she introduced the Rural Postal Act, which included reforms specifically aimed at addressing mail delivery concerns and challenges in rural communities she heard about from North Dakotans.
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At that time, about 65 percent of nonlocal mail in the Dakotas arrived on time--within three to five days--during the previous three months. That, she said, is about 30 percent below the Postal Service's annual goal.
She said nearly 400 post offices closed across the country between 2001 and 2013. Those closings hurt mail service, particularly in rural communities, she said.
