Ossoff visits site at heart of Atlanta postal woes, vows ‘maximum pressure’

For months, metro Atlanta postal customers have been complaining of slow and late mail. It’s an annoying problem, leaving some folks not being able to send wedding invitations or birthday cards. Even worse, it affects vital items like bill payments and receiving medication on time.

The persistent delays have been stemming from the Atlanta Regional Processing and Distribution Center in Palmetto, a facility that opened in February.

Earlier this month, Channel 2 Action News obtained a video that showed a mail machine spewing packages onto the floor at the facility. The video showed a Matrix Regional Sorter spitting out mail so fast that workers couldn’t keep up.

But, after the inspection, Ossoff said he practically found nothing wrong.

“There were no obvious and immediately apparent and highly visible examples of malfunction,” Ossoff said. But he added that he was not there during peak operating hours, which are overnight.

The “good behavior” could also be a result of employees knowing about his visit.

“When a member of Congress visits any facility, it’s always prudent to assume that there’s been some preparation for your arrival,” he said.

Citing the poor performance at the facility, Ossoff said postal workers are not at fault; instead, it’s bad management and poor planning.

“Today, I inspected this facility, I sat down with local USPS leaders to gain additional information about the causes of abysmal performance in metro Atlanta and Georgia. And what became even clearer is that this transition was not well thought through, not well planned, and not competently executed,” Ossoff said.

“I know and believe that postal workers across our state are working their hearts out every day with the best intentions of public service,” he added.

On May 9, Ossoff sent DeJoy a letter asking for updates regarding improvements made since an April 16 Senate committee hearing, where Ossoff battered him with questions.

At the hearing, DeJoy said that the problems at the facility were due to several changes being implemented, such as having to move 2,000 employees there from other locations, and the Postal Service’s “strict requirements as to when they move,” as well as “inbound transportation issues.”

The Postal Regulatory Commission’s chairman, Michael Kubayanda, also testified, telling committee members that on-time delivery for first-class mail was being met only 36% of the time.

On May 14, in a letter addressed to Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., DeJoy agreed to put a pause to those changes at the facility, and about 60 other mail processing facilities in the United States.

“In response to the concerns you and your colleagues have expressed,” DeJoy said in the letter. “I will commit to pause any implementation of these moves at least until after January 1, 2025.”

DeJoy responded to Ossoff on May 17, admitting the shortcomings at the Palmetto facility.

“Unfortunately, the initiation of the Atlanta RPDC led to a significant drop in performance, which was unanticipated,” DeJoy wrote.

He also added that staffing problems should improve soon, stating that the Postal Service continues to experience “poor and variable” employee availability at plants around the city.

Ossoff made it clear Thursday that the problem is far from solved: “USPS states that from a low in March of on-time delivery, a low of 30%, that they’re now around 60%; 60% is still abysmal.”

Ossoff said leaders he spoke with Thursday said on-time mail delivery should be fixed by next month.

“The local and regional staff with whom I spoke today stated that they believe they would meet that mid-June deadline for restoration of on-time delivery to its level prior to this transition,” Ossoff said.