For the “very” short-term future, according to U.S. Postal Service spokesperson David Rupert, customers at the Silver Creek and Salkum post offices will need to head elsewhere to send their mail.
“It’s very, very temporary until we can get someone to open them up,” Rupert said. “We’re getting help from nearby communities. … We’re working really hard to re-establish the hours with temporary help.”
The Silver Creek office, located at 140 Gershick Road, and the Salkum office, at 142 Salkum Road, are both open from 8 a.m. to noon and 2 to 4 p.m. on normal days and are manned by single postmasters.
Due to unexpected absences, both had to close for several days over the last week, with Salkum being closed for a week and Silver Creek being closed the last two days.
Rupert said the service was “scrambling” to figure out how to reestablish the offices, at least part time, as the holidays have increased demand.
“The U.S. Postal Service apologizes to our customers at the Salkum and Silver Creek stations who have been inconvenienced. These are small offices manned by a single employee and unfortunately both clerks are unavailable for duty,” wrote Lecia Hall, spokesperson for the USPS in Washington, in an email to The Chronicle. “Local management has taken steps to assist our postal customers as the holidays are quickly approaching. We appreciate the patience of our customers and the efforts of the neighboring postal employees, who are assisting these stations on a day-to-day basis.”
Hall added that for privacy, especially due to the size of the offices’ staff, the service would not be sharing the exact nature of the cause for the absences. She continued, “we can confirm that our workforce, like others, is not immune to the human impacts … of staffing shortages.”
A sign on the door outside the offices has reportedly been informing customers to visit Chehalis or Mossyrock post offices in the meantime.
“We will continue flexing our available resources to match the workload, and we are proud of the efforts of postal employees throughout the state, as they define essential public service every day,” Hall said.
