Mail delays: Deadline approaches for DeJoy to respond to Ossoff
Sen. Jon Ossoff grills Postmaster General Louis DeJoy during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on April 16, 2024.
ATLANTA - U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is waiting for Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to respond to his questions about the ongoing mail delivery problems in Georgia.
Last week, the Georgia senator sent a letter to DeJoy asking for an update on the Atlanta Regional Processing and Distribution Center, giving him a deadline of one week to respond.
"It has been nearly a month since we spoke at the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on April 16 concerning service failures at the Atlanta Regional Processing and Distribution Center in Palmetto," Ossoff wrote. "As we have discussed throughout the past few weeks, it is urgent that the performance of USPS delivery in Georgia improve immediately."
FOX 5 has been reporting for months about delays in the mail service stemming from the Palmetto center.
In a previous statement, the post office apologized for the problems stating, "Local management has been made aware of the concerns of some local customers regarding their mail delivery and are working quickly to resolve any issues." They also shared a contact number for customers experiencing problems: 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777).
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USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy grilled at hearing
Last month during a hearing, DeJoy told a Senate committee the inbound mail delivery on-time rate was at 36 percent.
At the hearing, DeJoy admitted that he had not read a letter that Ossoff sent him on March 14 about the delays.
"Let me, let me just give you just a friendly piece of advice. You should personally read letters from members of the U.S. Senate Committee that funds and oversees your operations, particularly where you are failing abysmally to fulfill your core mission in my state," Ossoff said. "The amount of distress this is causing my constituents is massive. And I want to know what you are going to do, what specific steps you are going to take to fix this within two weeks?"
DeJoy replied that they are looking at staffing, truck schedules, machinery, and other transportation aspects. DeJoy told the senator that his team is "working very hard" and that "in the long run," the facility in Georgia should be one of the best.
"The long run is too long. You've got weeks, not months to fix this. And if you don't fix it, 36% on-time delivery, I don't think you're fit for this job," Ossoff replied.
The postmaster general also told the senators that the Palmetto facility went from processing mail by hand to processing a million pieces a night.
DeJoy estimated that about 60 days would be needed to get back to full service.