Georgia ranked worst in the nation in on-time mail delivery during the second quarter of this year, according to a new report from the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.
Only 63.7% of first-class mail in Georgia was delivered on time in April, May, and June, the agency reported. On time is defined as within two days.
Georgia’s score was well below the national average of 86.8% for the quarter and even farther below the target goal of 93%.
Still, Georgia’s second-quarter performance was an improvement over earlier in the year. At a U.S. Senate committee hearing in April, Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga. revealed statistics showing that only 36% of first-class mail processed at a regional mail processing and distribution center in Palmetto was being delivered on time.
During the April hearing, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy blamed slow mail delivery on problems encountered during the rollout of a restructuring plan last February aimed at making the postal service economically self-sufficient. The plan was first implemented at mail processing and distribution centers in Palmetto and Richmond, Va.
Responding to those delays, DeJoy announced in May that the postal service would pause the plan at least until next year to give the postal service a chance to determine what went wrong and fix it.
In the meantime, the agency brought in more than 100 additional workers from other mail processing centers to Palmetto and revised transportation schedules between the Palmetto center and other local mail processing facilities.
Capitol Beat is a nonprofit news service operated by the Georgia Press Educational Foundation that provides coverage of state government to newspapers throughout Georgia. For more information visit capitol-beat.org.