Georgia congressional delegation pushes USPS to address mail service interruptions, delays

ATLANTA — A group of Georgia’s federal lawmakers are asking questions of the United States Postal Service after a series of complaints and concerns about mail service from state residents.

All but one of Georgia’s 14-member congressional delegation signed and sent a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy urging the postal service to address the reported interruptions of service.

According to the letter, written by Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) of Jackson, Georgia saw a breakdown of service operations ahead of the holiday season and multiple members of Congress had received complaints and concerns from constituents about mail service issues.

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The letter itself was sent on Dec. 13 to DeJoy, with a request for answers to a series of questions to come no later than Jan. 8, 2024.

In a Dec. 22 release, USPS said their delivery performance had fallen over the course of the most recent quarter.

From Oct. 1 to Dec. 15, USPS said it took about 2.6 days for mail and packages to be delivered across the U.S., on average.

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First-class mail was reportedly delivered on time just 86.1% of the time, down 4.9% since the previous fiscal quarter, according to the postal service.

Data published by the USPS regarding more regional delivery is dated for the previous quarter. However, for Georgia, the numbers were lower for all categories where data was available.

For the nation, two-day delivery was on time 90.8% of the time, while for three-to-five-day delivery, mail was delivered on time 83.4% of the time.

In Georgia, those numbers are 87.9% on time for two-day and 80.7% for three-to-five-day, putting the state lower than the national average by several points.

The only member of Georgia’s congressional delegation not to sign the letter was Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) of Athens.

Among complaints cited in the letter from Georgia’s U.S. Representatives were issues of stolen mail, misdelivered mail, closed post offices during stated business hours and “inexplicable suspensions of mail service for extended periods.”

In response to a Channel 2 Action News request for comment, the USPS said they would respond directly to the office of Rep. Collins.

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