MERIDEN - Almost four months after mail delivery to Speed Print, at 1232 E. Main St, became irregular, owner Tom Aresco says the problem shows no sign of abating.

"Last week I think I got mail once," he said Monday. "Usually it's once or twice a week."

The carriers are showing up at his door, but not till 7 or 8 p.m., long after the shop closes, which means crucial business correspondence isn't getting through. The carriers arrive to find Aresco's door closed, so they add that mail to the next day's delivery, but even then, it doesn't get delivered the next day unless they happen to get to his door before 5 p.m.

The post office reduced the number of carrier routes in the city in early August from 56 to 48 as part of a plan to improve efficiency and lower costs. Administrators warned of several days of delays, but residents and businesses are still receiving mail late in the day or not at all.

Last year around this time most carriers would have finished their routes by 4:30 or 5 p.m., around sunset, said Paul Daniels, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Connecticut Merged Branch 20, which represents the carriers. But this year, mail carriers, their numbers reduced, are trudging around in the dark.

Deborah Frederick, a member of the Meriden Postal Employees Safety Committee, sent a letter to the Record-Journal last week asking residents to leave their lights on and clear sidewalks and walkways of hazards so carriers can make their late deliveries.

"They don't have enough help," Daniels said. "We wouldn't be delivering this late if the routes were properly adjusted."

The union is fighting to get the post office to reinstate some of the routes, and one was restored in September.

With local businesses still suffering, the Greater Meriden Chamber of Commerce urged its members to contact the post office with their problems.

"We continue to learn of delivery issues with the United States Postal Service in Meriden," wrote chamber President Sean W. Moore in an e-mail sent to members.

U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman Maureen Marion said business people experiencing problems with mail delivery should contact Eileen Kelty, manager of post office operations, at (203) 235-5755.

"We continue to make modifications and adjustments," Marion said Monday. "Both the district leadership and the union are in conversation, and there will be a sit-down [meeting] by the second week of December. We'll look at how we're doing and look at the minor changes we need to move ahead."

The union claims its attempts to offer advice have previously been ignored by the post office, and Daniels did not want to comment on the upcoming meeting.

Marion said the meeting is not a dramatic shift of policy for the postal service but an opportunity to "clear the air and break some new ground, and to look at what we need to do to work forward."

While there are still dissatisfied residents and merchants, Marion said the silent majority is being served well, and that many of the original problems have been solved.

"We've still got pockets that are problematic, and I encourage them to be part of the solution" by contacting Kelty, she said. "But the problems have, for many reasons, subsided."

aperlot@record-journal.com

(203) 317-2234