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USPS has been blasted by frustrated customers after thousands of letters and packages have been found abandoned at mail centers.
To make matters worse, this was only found during an inspection in one part of the country and only over a few days.
An investigation conducted by the USPS Inspector General at four mail centers within North Carolina’s Charlotte area uncovered that approximately 74,000 pieces of mail had been neglected and abandoned.
The majority of the already-delayed packages and letters had not even been processed or entered into the tracking system.
“It’s a failed system,” one angry USPS customer told WSOC-TV in response to the report.
He is a dedicated USPS user, saying he visits the post office around five times a week and is getting frustrated with huge delays.
In one instance, a package intended for delivery in Greenville was successfully sent to Gastonia, located around 270 miles apart, and then traced to a distribution center in Charlotte.
However, it was then abruptly sent to Anaheim, California, the following day.
“I think it’s abysmal,” he told the news outlet.
Miriam Bell, president of the local American Postal Workers Union, called the findings in the USPS report “embarrassing”.
She noted issues with inexperienced management, understaffing, and tight time constraints to make deliveries.
“Our employees are hard workers that care about their job,” she said.
USPS officials have said they are working with the four mail centers noted in the Inspector General’s report to resolve the issues they are facing.
But the report suggests there could be even worse situations at other USPS centers across the country.
The postal service grades its service in each state out of 80, with North Carolina currently ranking at 69.9, a seemingly average score.
Georgia, Ohio, and Louisiana are graded the lowest for their service, raising questions about even more severe delays and mail center issues there.
Four changes needed at USPS
The head of the US Postal Service has issued a pressing warning concerning necessary reforms within the organization. In a letter to Congress in March, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy identified four significant challenges facing the agency:
- Retail Leases: DeJoy asked for help reviewing nearly 31,000 retail centers and the challenges of renewing leases due to ownership consolidation, urban development, and rising rental rates as long-term leases expire.
- Counterfeit Postage Crackdown: DeJoy highlighted USPS is combating an estimated $1 billion issue with counterfeit postage and called for “additional innovative solutions” to tackle the problem.
- Federal Law: DeJoy stated unfunded congressional mandates imposed by legislation are costing USPS between $6 billion and $11 billion annually.
- Regulations: DeJoy criticized “burdensome regulatory requirements” that limit USPS’s ability to operate normally, estimating that the Postal Regulatory Commission has caused over $50 billion in damage with defective pricing models.
Source: AXIOS
California and Hawaii are noted as having the best scores.
Meanwhile, USPS customers have just days left until sweeping service changes come in on July 1.
This includes price hikes on certain packages.
It is the final stage of a two-part roll out to improve the mail service with the first phase hitting customers on April 1.
The Postal Service adjusted first-class mail, periodicals, marketing mail, and package services to cut costs.
In addition to this, there will be a 24-hour mail blackout as all USPS facilities closed down for Fourth of July, adding even longer waits for deliveries.
