Members of Congress tour mail processing facility plagued by delays

ATLANTA — Three members of Georgia’s congressional delegation got a first-hand look this week at what’s being done to improve mail processing at the United States Postal Service’s regional center in Palmetto.

U.S. Reps. Mike Collins of Jackson, Austin Scott of Tifton, and Andrew Clyde of Athens toured the facility less than two weeks after U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., made a similar visit.

Ossoff is a member of a Senate committee that questioned Postmaster General Louis DeJoy at a hearing in April about delays in mail processing at the center that began last winter after the launching of a restructuring program aimed at making the postal service financially self-sufficient. The program was rolled out first at the Palmetto facility and at a mail processing center in Richmond, Va.

During the hearing, Ossoff cited statistics showing that only 36% of the first-class mail processed at the facility was being delivered on time.

After visiting the Palmetto center on May 30, Ossoff said on-time mail delivery has improved to about 60%.

“While metrics are moving in the right direction, improving transparency and communications between the USPS and our constituents remain top of mind,” Collins posted Monday on social media after touring the Palmetto center with Scott and Clyde. “I will be staying in touch with Postmaster General DeJoy to ensure that the necessary steps to improve USPS issues are being taken.”

After being bombarded with complaints about service at the Palmetto regional mail processing center, DeJoy first put the nationwide restructuring initiative on hold, then announced a plan to address delays at the Georgia facility by bringing in more than 100 personnel from other centers and revising transportation schedules between the Palmetto facility and other local mail processing centers.

Like the three Republican congressmen, Ossoff has vowed to keep up the pressure on DeJoy until the problem is brought under control.

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