GREENE JOURNAL

U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger and a bipartisan group of Virginia congressional lawmakers released the following statement after meeting in Washington, DC, with U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to receive a status update on the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) ongoing work to improve service in Virginia while implementing new efficiency reforms.

“Yesterday, we met with Postmaster DeJoy for a productive conversation on the progress made since our last meeting — and continued to voice the concerns of Virginians who know there is still significant room for improvement,” said Spanberger and her colleagues. “While we are glad to see some gains in the on-time delivery rate in Virginia, there’s much more work to do. We will continue to press for increased transparency, greater engagement with the public, and a higher standard of service for communities across Virginia.”

Following advocacy by the Virginia congressional delegation, the on-time delivery rate of first-class mail in Virginia improved from 66 percent to 77.4 percent during the first quarter of this year.

More recent data shows additional improvement. But there is still much work necessary to meet the USPS goal of 93 percent.

Wednesday’s meeting came after the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG) released an audit report earlier this year assessing the effectiveness and operational impacts of the Richmond Regional Processing and Distribution Center (RPDC) in Sandston.

The report highlighted various issues including an egregious lack of attention to detail, such as pieces of mail falling off conveyor belts and being lost; poor synchronizing between machines processing mail at the facility and the trucks transporting mail to and from the facility; and broader questions about whether the RPDC model is generating the promised cost savings and efficiency improvements.

The meeting was attended by Spanberger, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA), and U.S. Representative Rob Wittman (R-VA-01). A representative from U.S. Representative Jennifer McClellan’s (D-VA-04) office attended the meeting as well.