Staffing struggles, contract transition continued into Big Sky USPS Post Office’s first holiday season
By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER
When the USPS Big Sky Post Office opened in July 2024, the Montana Postal Workers Union, a branch of the American Postal Workers Union representing about 400 USPS employees across the state, recommended hiring three clerks and a postmaster.
Bart Riddle is the clerk for the Montana Postal Workers Union and has worked for the USPS for 10 years. Part of his role in the union is to visit post offices like the one in Big Sky to assess the facility as it gears up for opening. From the assessment in 2024, the union concluded that three clerks and a postmaster should be hired in Big Sky’s new post office.
He hasn’t seen the Big Sky office since before the holidays, but understands that as of Jan. 2, the USPS has only hired one clerk and the postmaster.
It’s likely that the gap in union recommended staffing and the present employee numbers explains what Big Sky community members describe as long lines, lost packages and frustration, concerns that only grew in the post office’s first busy holiday season. Locals seem to be in agreement with the USPS and the union in one belief: the staff are doing the best they possibly can with the resources they have.
“The management up there is doing the best they can with what they have for right now,” Riddle told EBS on the phone. “Right now, and they’ve only hired one because they just opened in July … the hours are such that that person has to commute from Bozeman to there. She is not local.”
According to Sherry Patterson, a communications specialist at USPS, the USPS provided Big Sky with “borrowed” employees from nearby regions to assist in mail and parcel management as items flooded into the office around the holidays. Riddle explained that using borrowed staff is expensive for the USPS—it requires the agency to cover housing expenses and transportation.
A combination of schedule needs and housing costs make it difficult for the post office to recruit new employees to Big Sky, Riddle explained. “If people that live there aren’t working [for USPS], then people have to come in from out of state or somewhere else to try to work there and there’s no housing,” Riddle said.
He added that surrounding areas like Bozeman and Gallatin Gateway are not only not cheap, but also require a commute through the Gallatin Canyon, a drive that can range anywhere from 50 minutes to hours, depending on traffic, crashes and conditions on the single-lane highway.
“You don’t get paid for that travel time,” Riddle said. “You don’t get paid for mileage. You just have to commute and that’s your job.”
USPS echoed the hurdles to hiring new employees. Patterson oversees communications for Washington, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana and said that cost of living and housing expenses are among the problems that make recruitment difficult in the region.
“However, we continue to work diligently on the hiring process,” Patterson wrote in an email to EBS.
Open job positions in Big Sky are not listed on USPS’ career website as of Jan. 13, but Big Sky postmaster Rhonda Weber has previously encouraged interested applicants to go to the Big Sky Post Office in person to ask about open jobs.
Locals learn to schedule it in
Dana, a resident who asked EBS to withhold her last name for privacy, has accepted the longer waits at the post office as part of the process. She finds there is one positive: she’s met some new faces while waiting in line, and has held a line neighbor’s spot when they went to grab coffee for the wait.
Community members like Dana understand that the staff are doing the best they can. Over the holidays, she, her husband and her kids spent eight to 10 hours in the post office over a two-and-a-half-week period. She’s tried all times of the day to catch a lucky quiet morning or afternoon, but each visit is about the same. She’s primarily concerned for Big Sky residents with non-flexible jobs and for the postal office workers who, to her, seem overwhelmed.
“I think we’re all just getting to that mindset of: it’s going to be a long time,” Dana said.
Andy Haynes, a Big Sky resident for nearly 15 years, said he’s disappointed by community members who become angry with USPS employees at the counter. He remembered a scene over the holidays.
“Like there’s a woman wearing a Santa Claus hat and I mean, people are really swearing at her,” Haynes recalled.
Another day while he was waiting in line he decided to make a satirical Facebook page, one to remind customers to remain kind and have a sense of humor. Called “Current Big Sky Post Office Conditions,” the page is a play on the popular Gallatin Canyon Road Conditions page.
So far, the Facebook group has 61 members. He hopes it dissolves some of the disdain he’s felt from the community, and said that the post office staff are just government employees doing their best.
Gary Phillipe, president of Montana’s postal union, understands where frustrations are coming from. “First of all, nobody likes standing in long lines,” Phillipe said. He emphasized that employees are well-intentioned in their service.
“The person working is more than likely giving 110%. And I can promise you … I represent about 400 employees in Montana,” Phillipe said. “So the people that are actually working in those offices really, really care about the public.”
For individuals having service issues, Patterson recommends contacting the Postal Service by calling 1-800-ASK-USPS or visiting their website for assistance.
The U.S. General Services Administration also lists the USPS Consumer Advocate office, among other options for assistance.
Nationwide changes could impact Big Sky
Rural post office operations like the one in Big Sky are also at the mercy of state and national USPS decisions. In July 2024, the same month of the Big Sky Post Office’s opening, USPS ended a three-decade strong partnership with Alpine Air, the air cargo transporter in Montana according to reporting by the Daily Montanan’s Keila Szpaller.
Both Sen. Steve Daines and former Sen. Jon Tester appealed to the USPS following the news. In a July 22 statement, Daines described the impact of the decision.
“While I appreciate the continued work of the USPS to find innovative solutions and to maximize efficiency and cost effectiveness, I am concerned that this decision will lead to the continued degradation of service standards” Daines stated.
Right now, the USPS is awaiting an advisory opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission about a new transportation plan.
The USPS’ planned regional transportation optimization, or “RTO,” is an extension of a previously piloted program called local transportation optimization, or “LTO.” The plan promises to streamline transportation and cut costs compared to current services.
A Dec. 18 USPS audit report found that LTO data in six regions across the country showed changes “negatively impacted customers,” particularly in rural areas. The report concluded, “the service performance scores for First‑Class Mail declined for all LTO regions while Single Piece First‑Class Mail service performance to the rural population had an even greater decline.”
A public comment hearing with USPS, a part of the advisory opinion process, on proposed changes including RTO was held in September.
Patterson outlined how the plan would improve operations nationwide.
“In regard to the proposed operational improvements, these changes position us to better utilize our existing ground network, streamlining our approach to delivering both mail and packages efficiently and on time, while enabling us to adhere to the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 mandates on the continued transportation of letters and packages within an integrated network,” Patterson stated.
According to Patterson, the refinements are estimated to reduce costs by about $3 billion annually, and are a step toward the USPS achieving financial stability.
It could be a while before the local post office is able to meet the needs of a seasonally fluctuating Big Sky. A positive takeaway from this holiday season is fresh data about mail and parcel volume that could inform operations moving forward for the USPS Big Sky Post Office.
