JAMES Magazine Online: Mail Woes Hit South Georgia
Friday, June 28th, 2024
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As reported in James a couple months ago, a new distribution center strategy from the United States Postal Service (USPS) is not exactly going swimmingly. In that case, congressmen from across north Georgia such as Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., and Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-GA, were concerned about the delivery times emanating from the Palmetto distribution center where all mail for north Georgia has been bound. Bills, medicines and other critical mail has been delayed for days or even weeks, impacting businesses with outstanding invoices or seniors waiting on meds.
It appears the problems are not limited to the Palmetto center.
This week, Rep. Buddy Carter, R-GA, joined with Reps. Kat Cammack, R-FL, Aaron Bean, R-FL, Michael Waltz, R-FL, and John Rutherford, R-FL, in a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, calling for transparency and operational improvements at the processing center in Jacksonville. Carter’s district in south Georgia and the districts in north Florida are all served by the Jacksonville Regional Processing and Distribution Center. The letter follows months of resident and commercial complaints about late or lost mail.
“Since the beginning of the new year, our offices have been inundated with complaints regarding delivery delays and lost mail,” said the representatives. “These complaints originate from members of the local newspaper industry to everyday citizens looking to mail a letter or package. Our constituents rely on the USPS for timely delivery of newspapers, life-saving medications, and all other types of parcels.”
Some of the harsh language took aim at DeJoy in particular and his leadership atop the USPS.
“Some of our constituents have lost confidence in the postal system that was established before the founding of the United States,” said the representatives. “It is unacceptable for your tenure atop this department to stain a more than two-century-old reputation.”
The data is not good. According to a report from Government Executive – something of a trade magazine for federal government managers, just 83 percent of First-Class mail has been delivered on time during the current fiscal quarter, down from 86 percent in the first quarter and 91 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. As part of the new sorting and distribution strategy, sorting has been consolidated away from hundreds of cities and towns to 60 mega-centers across the country. Tighter overtime rules and hard cut-offs for vehicles rolling are likely also impacting delivery times.
“We hope that you share our goal of ridding USPS of inefficiencies and incompetency,” said the representatives. “Our constituents rely on the postal service to deliver important and timely packages, and we hope to restore the reputation of the Jacksonville RPDC center by ensuring it has the tools and personnel necessary to operate effectively.”
Read the full letter here:
