The Richmond Processing and Distribution Center of the U.S. Postal Service has made significant progress in response to public outcry, facility audit, and criticism from Virginia’s congressional members.
On Wednesday, the postmaster general had a meeting with Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, along with several representatives. They were informed that the center had implemented additional improvements since the first quarter. As a result, the on-time delivery rate has increased from 66% to 77.4%. However, the USPS goal remains at 93%.
In a joint statement, the members emphasized that although they are pleased with the progress made in Virginia’s on-time delivery rate, there is still a lot of work to be done. They stated their commitment to advocating for greater transparency, increased public engagement, and a higher level of service for all communities in Virginia.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy implemented a plan to modernize the postal service and prevent it from experiencing financial losses. As part of this plan, the center was established to consolidate local USPS facilities into larger regional sorting and delivery hubs. It was the first initiative of its kind in the country.
The consolidation, unfortunately, was executed poorly and resulted in lengthy mail delays, and even worse, lost mail. A prominent example involves hundreds of veterans who mailed colon cancer screening tests to a medical center, only to find out that some of the tests had expired in transit.
In May, the audit report revealed that the center was facing several challenges due to understaffing, lack of proper training for the adoption of new changes, employee absenteeism, and instability in plant leadership. The consolidation process also faced glitches with new processing equipment, adding to the challenges faced by the center.
Other locations have faced similar challenges in their efforts to transform under the “Delivering for America” initiative, just like Richmond. The complications have been so significant that the Postal Regulatory Commission has advised the USPS to temporarily halt any further reforms.
