Photo Courtesy of U.S. House of Representatives
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy
By Forum Staff
As New Yorkers continue to experience significant mail delays, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), in a letter penned alongside Senate colleagues, pressed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy about operational changes to the U.S. Postal Service that have slowed down mail and compromised service for veterans, seniors, and other New Yorkers who depend on the mail for prescription medications, package deliveries for small businesses, and other critical needs.
“Months after Postmaster General DeJoy implemented disastrous changes in the USPS, families, seniors, and veterans across New York State continue to face significant delays for vital deliveries. We know that households are relying on timely USPS services more than ever due the pandemic, and DeJoy’s failure to address lagging operations have placed a great burden on those hit hardest by the pandemic,” said Gillibrand. “The postmaster general must provide full transparency to Congress about the operations of the USPS so that Americans can once again rely on efficient mail delivery.”
Last summer, Postmaster General DeJoy imposed destructive changes that compromised services and resulted in widespread delays — especially over the holiday season when on time delivery plummeted to 64 percent for First-Class Mail. Even after the holiday “peak season”, New Yorkers continue to experience missed paychecks and court notices, delayed critical prescriptions, lost rent and delayed credit card payments resulting in late fees, breakdowns in service to their communities, late personal mail, increased challenges for small businesses, and more. While USPS attributed these delays to historically high volume of packages during peak season, a shortage of airlift and trucking capacity, and employee shortages due to COVID-19, Gillibrand and her colleagues expressed concern that directives from DeJoy — including rejected overtime requests, limited transportation, and reduced office time — continue to hinder on-time delivery. In a letter, the senators demanded that DeJoy refrain from making additional changes that will harm service for the American people and urged him to address the massive delays at hand.
“We urge you to be fully transparent with the public about Postal Service operations and the reasons they are still facing delays,” the senators wrote. “To that end, we ask that you answer the following by February 26, 2021:
Please describe the specific steps you have taken to identify each cause of mail delays, including measuring the impacts of management actions.
Please describe in detail the steps you took to prepare for expected high package volumes and employee shortages during the peak season. Please explain why you were unable to complete necessary steps to prevent delays, such as hiring sufficient temporary workers.
Please list steps you have taken to respond to customers who have been harmed by these mail delays.
Have any nationwide or regional operational changes, other than those listed in previous USPS statements, exacerbated mail delays during and since the peak season? Please describe.
Please explain any nationwide and regional operational directives you or other Postal Service executives have made since November 2020.
Will you commit to not reducing service standards, and to not enacting other changes that will reduce the level of service to our constituents, as part of your strategic plan?”
