Via Shutterstock.

Via Shutterstock.

We did it, you guys. We’re number one! In late mail delivery, that is.

The Post reports that a new investigation released by U.S. Postal Service Inspector General David Williams found that the D.C. region ranks as the worst in the nation for late mail delivery. In D.C. and the Maryland suburbs, mail is being delivered after 5 p.m. about two-thirds of the time. Moreover, the Northern Virginia region also ranks high in late mail delivery, with the investigation finding that 69 percent of postal carriers were still delivering mail after dark in 2013.

But the big issue, this study presents, is the serious safety concerns of postal carriers delivering mail after dark. In November of 2013, Tyson Barnette—a part-time Postal Service employee in Prince George’s County—was shot and killed while delivering letters at night. Last January, Postal Service from across the region rallied by the MLK Memorial to protest safer working conditions, primarily not having to deliver letters after dark. The problem has gotten so bad that Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton pressed the agency about what they’re going to do in regards to late mail delivery shortly after Barnette’s murder.

According to many of the workers at the rally, budget cuts and mail processing plant closures have caused letter carriers to become “overburdened” in their routes, often making it impossible for them to finish before it gets dark.

Another cause of late mail in the D.C. area, the Post reports, is that “auditors found that supervisors didn’t plan properly for a flood of new pieces of mail and didn’t effectively ensure that it got to local post offices early enough in the morning for letter carriers to get out on their routes.”

In a statement, the Postal service said that “employee safety is a top priority” to them. “We have a robust safety program to heighten awareness of the range of situations carriers may face while performing their duties, and we teach techniques to minimize risks to them.”