Today, Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-01) joined Sen. Tim Kaine, Sen. Mark Warner, Rep. Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Rep. Bobby Scott (VA-03), Rep. Abigail Spanberger (VA-07), Rep. Bob Good (VA-05), and Rep. Jen Kiggans (VA-02) in sending a letter to the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) Inspector General (IG), sharing stories of Postal Service disruptions and delays across Virginia. The USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG) is currently auditing the Richmond Regional Processing and Distribution Center (RPDC) in Sandston because the center is one of the first processing centers in the country that was opened to centralize outgoing mail and package processing. The USPS OIG is expected to release their report and recommendations soon that will assess the efficacy and operational impacts of the changes.
“Since last summer, we have seen a significant uptick in mail disruptions and delays within the Richmond RPDC’s covered area,” write the lawmakers. “These developments are especially concerning as the Richmond RPDC was one of the first implemented consolidation projects as a part of USPS’s Delivering for America initiative. While we are always open to changes to longstanding practices to improve efficiency, the ongoing stream of reports we get suggests that the opposite is happening.”
“In an effort to advocate for our constituents and help inform your investigation, we would like to highlight some examples that our offices have received of mail problems that have cost people significant time, money, and frustration,” the lawmakers continue.
In the letter, they highlighted recent examples of USPS delivery issues, including from a constituent in Mechanicsville, a medical supply business owner in Richmond, county officials in the Northern Neck, and a student at Virginia Commonwealth University.
The members wrote:
- “Ron, a Vietnam veteran from Mechanicsville, Virginia, placed an order through the Department of Veterans Affairs for medication and was told to expect a 7–10-day delivery time. Over six weeks later, he had still not received his medications despite verification from the Department of Veterans Affairs that it was mailed on December 28, 2023.”
- “Lys, who operates a medical supply business in Richmond, Virginia, notified us that over $1,000 of medical supplies were never delivered after having been traced to the Richmond RPDC on December 18, 2023. After multiple inquiries with the USPS, the constituent not only never recovered the supplies, but their business relationship with a key distributor ended as a result.”
- “County officials in the Northern Neck region of Virginia reported receiving mail a month after it had been initially postmarked, and in some cases where mail was not delivered at all. These disruptions have had significant impacts on tax collections and operations.”
- “Micah, a PhD student at Virginia Commonwealth University, counted on USPS to deliver his visa application to the Italian Consulate as is needed to acquire a student visa to Italy. However, the entire package, including his passport, were lost in transit having never left Richmond. The significant delays in delivery necessitates him to obtain a new passport and while his package including his old passport was eventually delivered to the Italian consulate, the resulting delays cost Micah hundreds of dollars and weeks of uncertainty about his academic future.”
In August, Congressman Wittman sent a letter to the Postmaster General DeJoy requesting information following outreach from constituents with concerns about mail delays and their effects. After the Postal Service gave an insufficient response, the congressman pressed USPS again for declining to provide answers to the Virginians they are supposed to serve. He met with USPS officials in December to continue advocating for constituents impacted by these delays.
In January, the congressman joined Virginia delegation colleagues to demand answers from the Postmaster General after the Richmond VA received hundreds of cancer test samples that were unusable due to mail delays. Next week, Congressman Wittman will visit the Richmond distribution facility to see firsthand the issues that are causing delays.
Full text of the letter is available here and below:
Dear Inspector General Hull:
We write regarding your current audit of the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) Richmond Regional Processing and Distribution Center (Richmond RPDC) located in Sandston, Virginia. Since last summer, we have seen a significant uptick in mail disruptions and delays within the Richmond RPDC’s covered area. These developments are especially concerning as the Richmond RPDC was one of the first implemented consolidation projects as a part of USPS’s Delivering for America initiative. While we are always open to changes to longstanding practices to improve efficiency, the ongoing stream of reports we get suggests that the opposite is happening. In an effort to advocate for our constituents and help inform your investigation, we would like to highlight some examples that our offices have received of mail problems that have cost people significant time, money, and frustration. We are also sharing details of these cases with USPS to allow the agency to track them down, but we feel it is important to provide these examples as you conduct your investigation, as additional data points that could hopefully shed light on the source of these ongoing problems.
Ron, a Vietnam veteran from Mechanicsville, Virginia, placed an order through the Department of Veterans Affairs for medication and was told to expect a 7–10-day delivery time. Over six weeks later, he had still not received his medications despite verification from the Department of Veterans Affairs that it was mailed on December 28, 2023.
Lys, who operates a medical supply business in Richmond, Virginia, notified us that over $1,000 of medical supplies were never delivered after having been traced to the Richmond RPDC on December 18, 2023. After multiple inquiries with the USPS, the constituent not only never recovered the supplies, but their business relationship with a key distributor ended as a result:
“The inventory was never received, never located, and it was necessary for me to seek a refund or replacement from my distributor who cancelled my account after 14 years of doing business with me, because the USPS managed to lose or misplace my deliveries often, affecting my business transactions, affecting my distributor's pocket book and my clients. I have contacted everyone up and down the food chain without result.”
These mail delays have also impacted local governments. County officials in the Northern Neck region of Virginia reported receiving mail a month after it had been initially postmarked, and in some cases where mail was not delivered at all. These disruptions have had significant impacts on tax collections and operations. In the words of one county administrator:
“The Treasurer also noted the numerous calls from taxpayers who have called her office stating that their payments were returned to them with the yellow label noting that they were undeliverable and others stating that they never received their tax bill entirely.”
Mail delays have also had a significant impact on our constituents’ academic careers. Micah, a PhD student at Virginia Commonwealth University, counted on USPS to timely deliver his visa application to the Italian Consulate as is needed to acquire a student visa to Italy. However, the entire package, including his passport, were lost in transit having never left Richmond. The significant delays in delivery necessitates him to obtain a new passport and while his package including his old passport was eventually delivered to the Italian consulate, the resulting delays cost Micah hundreds of dollars and weeks of uncertainty about his academic future.
These are only a few stories that highlight the severity of these mail disruptions and delays that have impacted our constituents, businesses, and localities. While we have communicated these concerns with USPS directly, we believe sharing them with you could help inform your audit and contribute to a better understanding of what is going on and how to fix it.
We are grateful for your continued work and attention to these issues and look forward to receiving the audit report and recommendations for the Richmond RPDC. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to assist in your efforts.
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