Water-damaged mail and a worker found asleep on a forklift were among the issues found at a U.S. Postal Service facility by a watchdog.
The U.S. Postal Service’s inspector general investigated the facility in Richmond, Virginia, after it was turned into a new regional processing and distribution center. The watchdog found several problems in its investigation.
Photographs showed water-damaged mail, mail labeled as empty equipment, and loading docks stuffed with items.
Just 66 percent of first-class mail at the facility had been delivered within two days, well below the average across the United States of 87 percent.
The Postal Service has said the facility would save money in the long run, pegging the savings at $15 million a year, by eliminating some positions and reducing hours for others. However, according to the audit, no positions have been eliminated as of yet, and work hours have increased since the facility was converted in July 2023 into a regional center, despite a decrease in the volume of mail.
“At this time, it is unclear if the Postal Service will realize the expected savings associated with consolidating operations,” the inspector general said.
Investigators also discovered that, since its conversion, the facility had a significant amount of unauthorized overtime, insufficient manpower to effectively process and transport mail, thousands of trips not recorded in the Postal Service’s tracking system, and a drop in service performance.
Many of the problems were uncovered in previous audits but Postal Service officials failed to address them before converting the facility, the watchdog said.
The Postal Service is in the midst of revamping its network of facilities. As part of that revamp, it is planning to convert about 60 facilities into regional processing centers. The Postal Service designated $25 million to convert the Richmond facility into the first such center.
Investigators carried out the investigation from July 2023 to December 2023.
Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and Reps. Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.), Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Rob Wittman (R-Va.), Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), Bob Good (R-Va.), and Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), said in a joint statement that “it couldn’t be clearer that USPS has not been providing reliable service to Virginians.”
“This report pinpoints a number of issues,” they said, adding that the Postal Service moving forward “must provide more resources and clearer guidance to management and staff” at the Richmond facility.
Members had previously called on the Postal Service to address delays in the region after hundreds of colon cancer test samples were rendered unusable because it took too long to ship them.
Dane Coleman, the Postal Service’s vice president for processing and maintenance operations, said in a letter to the watchdog that the service would accept many of its recommendations, including the recording of all trips in its system and improved planning before turning facilities into the new regional centers.
The inspector general’s office said that further investigations into the Richmond facility and other regional facilities are planned. It also noted some successful aspects of the first conversion, including the implementation of an upgraded workroom floor layout to improve mail flow and the installation of new decking to help workers load and unload faster.
