UPS Cuts Delivery Days In Some Rural Areas, Critical Medication Deliveries Not Impacted

People living in the town of Salina are concerned after UPS informed them their drivers will only be making deliveries 3 times a week instead of daily.

They said the town is growing, and they’re worried this will slow things down.

Citizens of towns in rural Mayes County are concerned their UPS delivery days are being slashed. They think it could impact businesses and livelihood for people here.

It was a busy afternoon in the small town of Salina as drivers whiz through downtown to grab lunch or stop and shop.

“We have some great things going on here," said Mayor Randall Plumlee. 

Mayor and City Manager Randall Plumlee said the town has really been working to recruit businesses, and the recent news about UPS is halting the momentum.

“We have several hundred packages a day from Amazon alone just in our town," he said. "With us being a smaller town, we don't have the Amazon trucks that deliver packages, so all that has to go through UPS, FedEx, or USPS.”

But those deliveries won't come as often.

Plumlee was informed UPS will be delivering on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday due to the “Rural Deferred Program,” which started in May.

UPS said it’s decreasing days in certain rural ZIP codes to help drivers more efficiently serve customers and ensure competitive rates.

"We heard about it a couple weeks ago," said Kathryn Hanna.

But town clerk Kathryn Hanna said daily deliveries are important for people who can't drive and for people to have more options since there aren’t many stores nearby.

“It's easier to have something shipped than go to the store.”

A big concern was refrigerated medication, but UPS says its critical healthcare deliveries are not affected by these changes.

Plumlee and Hanna are both hopeful Salina will continue its growth.

“I grew up here, I'm proud of the town, we've come a long way," Hanna said. "We encourage people to come visit the town.”

The town has no plans to slow down, even if deliveries do.

The mayor is encouraging citizens to continue reaching out to UPS to see if anything could change.