Georgia mail delays: Deadline arrives for new update from postmaster general
Sen. Jon Ossoff grills Postmaster General Louis DeJoy during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on April 16, 2024.
ATLANTA - The deadline is coming up for Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to provide an update on how his agency is handling recent mail delays affecting Georgians.
Sen. Jon Ossoff said that the head of the U.S. Postal Service has until the end of Monday to share new on-time delivery statistics and explain why or why not the agency has normal service restored.
Ossoff has been very vocal about the issues the facility has allegedly presented for Georgians, saying that he is working to apply "maximum pressure" on the agency's management to resolve the issue.
"USPS is letting Georgians down," Ossoff said. "It is my role, it is my obligation, it is my duty to hold them accountable."
During one hearing on April 16, Ossoff asked DeJoy when the delays would be fixed.
Responding, DeJoy testified that he believed "we'll get to where we need to be in about 60 days."
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With DeJoy's deadline nearly up, Ossoff wrote a letter over the weekend requesting the update.
"I want to reiterate that it is urgent that the performance of USPS delivery in Georgia improve immediately. Georgians are tired of waiting. They deserve better," Ossoff wrote. "And as I have repeatedly said, postal workers working diligently every day to deliver the mail on time deserve the infrastructure and management competence to enable them to do so. As the chief executive officer of USPS, it is incumbent on you to provide that leadership."
Palmetto facility blamed for Georgia mail delays
FOX 5 Atlanta has received dozens of phone calls and messages from residents who have had items lost in the mail or severely delayed, often resulting in bills not being paid or other financial difficulties.
Many of the delays have been connected to the USPS Facility in Palmetto, which opened in February, which has seen numerous issues from stacks of delayed mail and packages to long lines of trucks lined up at the facility.
"It was not properly planned for," Ossoff said after touring the facility in May. "It was not properly managed, there was no one in charge, and the results have been devastating for Georgians."
After a group of Georgia congressmen had a tour last Monday, they said that customers could start seeing significant improvements in the next six to eight weeks.
The Palmetto location is one of 60 facilities across the country with planned changes to consolidate to increase efficiency. On Monday, the congressmen said it was a necessary change as demand for first-class mail decreases and packages increases.
USPS sent FOX 5 Atlanta a statement following the congressional representatives' visit, saying in part, "First-Class Mail Performance has improved by nearly 40 percentage points. While we are not entirely satisfied with the current levels, this positive trend indicates that the challenges we faced in March are being actively addressed."