The U.S. Postal Service has failed to deliver on Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s pledge to restore on-time mail delivery in Georgia, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff said Thursday.
While DeJoy promised last April to fix the problem within 60 days, mail is still being delivered on time only 75% of the time, Ossoff said during a hearing held by the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
“For my constituents in Georgia, the mail being delivered on time 75% of the time is not where we need to be,” Ossoff said as he questioned DeJoy. “You have not recovered as you said you would.”
Delays in delivering mail in Georgia first surfaced last winter after the postal service opened a new regional mail distribution center in Palmetto. In April, Ossoff reported that only 36% of inbound mail handled by the center was being delivered on time.
DeJoy attributed the delays to problems starting up a postal service restructuring plan aimed at making the agency financially self-sufficient. He put the plan on hold while the postal service works to resolve the issues encountered in Georgia and assured Ossoff the problems would be fixed within about 60 days.
On Thursday, Ossoff said he is continuing to receive complaints of delays in delivering important mail.
“(This is) about whether or not seniors in Georgia are receiving prescriptions,” he said. “It’s small businesses that are not able to get products to market. … It’s death notices not delivered to family members.”
DeJoy said the postal service is continuing to work through the initial difficulties with the restructuring plan, which it must keep pursuing to ensure the agency’s long-term financial viability. The postal service lost $6.5 billion in fiscal 2023 and $9.5 billion during the last fiscal year.
“Within less than three days, people will get all of their mail and packages,” DeJoy said. “That will be the target we’re shooting for.”
Ossoff responded that three days is lowering the target for on-time mail delivery.
“Delivery in Georgia has been abysmal this year,” he told DeJoy. “You need to do better.”