New London — Problems hiring and retaining carriers have hampered The Day’s delivery of its print editions in some areas, an issue it’s working to correct as soon as possible, the paper’s president and publisher said Wednesday.

“We’re working on it,” Timothy Dwyer said. “We apologize for the interruption in service. We hope to get it rectified soon.”

Over the last year, departures of some of The Day’s longtime drivers have created openings that have proven harder than usual to fill, likely due in part to the abundance of other job opportunities and high gasoline prices, according to Nadine McBride, The Day’s chief financial officer, who oversees circulation and distribution of the paper. The situation has become acute in the last couple of months.

“It’s been a perfect storm,” McBride said.

Door-to-door newspaper delivery, once accomplished by paperboys and papergirls but now almost entirely the province of adults who drive their own vehicles, is an industrywide challenge, McBride said.

“All independent newspaper groups have issues with carriers,” she said. “The availability of other jobs is part of the problem. ... In the past, we’ve always had a list of people looking for jobs and we’ve been able to fill openings a whole lot faster.”

Things have changed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our bench is not as deep as it used to be,” said Matt Dery, The Day’s circulation manager, who wanted people to know The Day is looking to hire carriers.

Before new carriers take over a route, they undergo several days of training. Sometimes, following the training or soon thereafter, they quit, prompting The Day to begin offering a bonus to those who stick with the job for three months, McBride said.

In general, carriers on The Day’s payroll deliver The Day and Hartford Courant publications in southern New London County while independent contractors hired by the Courant deliver The Day in the northern part of its circulation area, including Griswold, Lisbon, Baltic and the east side of Norwich.

While employees get a mileage reimbursement and are paid hourly, independent carriers pay for their own gas and are paid based on how many papers they deliver. All of the carriers work part-time shifts of several hours starting in the early morning. Most work seven days a week.

In April, the number of monthly complaints about missed deliveries of The Day tripled, Dery said, with nearly one-third of the callers hanging up before a customer-service representative could answer.

Dwyer said he’s been getting a number of calls every day.

“When I explain the situation, they’re usually understanding — but they want their paper,” he said. “In most cases, we can’t get the paper to them that day, so we offer them a credit.”

Generally, McBride said, a carrier who misses a customer will deliver that day’s paper the following day. The days of a “redelivery” crew running papers out to missed customers the same day are long gone, she said.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com