NBC12: Rep. Spanberger wants to hear latest mail problems following USPS audit

NBC12, MADISON MCNAMEE

The United States Postal Service is under more pressure as Congresswoman Abigal Spanberger launches a new survey to hear Virginians’ latest mail-related concerns.

In less than 12 hours, it got more than 1,100 responses, and people expressed frustration with the constant delays.

It’s an effort to find out what else needs to be done following the release of an audit of the Richmond USPS Regional Processing and Distribution Center in Sandston, which revealed that a reformat of the facility made it less efficient.

Spanberger says she wants to assess the effectiveness and operational impacts of the new Richmond RPDC.

In a release, she says, “The report highlights various issues on the local, regional, and national levels that have impacted service in Virginia — including an egregious lack of attention to detail, poor synchronization between machines processing mail at the facility and the schedules of trucks transporting mail to and from the facility, and broader questions about whether the RPDC model is generating the cost savings and efficiency improvements this model has promised.”

Blair Boze moved to Henrico in 2023, right around the time the changes in Sandston started.

“They’ve got a ways to go. From what I’ve read, I know they have growing pains with their new system and machinery, staffing shortages, and whatnot, but not what you expect from the USPS,” Boze said.

He says he has had mail delivery problems ever since, and it did not happen to him when he lived in Goochland before that. He has notifications to alert him where his deliveries should be, but he says they are constantly delayed, and the way his mail is dropped off is never right.

“I know what mail is supposed to be delivered to me, you know, that day or the next couple of days and sometimes things were weeks are, in some cases, even six weeks late. In one case, that was a check that was six weeks late,” Boze said.

He says there has been a slight improvement in the past month, with lawmakers putting pressure on USPS. He still wants more transparency from the postal service on what is going on.

“It’s far from perfect. Right now, I’ve got stuff that’s overdue from over a week ago,” Boze said.

Problems like that occur all year across the Commonwealth. Spanberger’s last survey had around 1,300 responses with similar stories to Boze’s.

“Someone is getting their medication potentially late, or they mean that someone’s bill pay is not arriving on time, and they’re incurring late fees,” Rep. Spanberger previously told 12 On Your Side.

Boze has gone to his local post office before to try to figure out what is going on. He says the people there are always extremely friendly and want answers, too. However, he believes it is a problem with USPS staff higher up who are not answering his questions.

Now, he is willing to take Spanberger’s survey, even though he felt like he did not have time for it in the past.

“I feel like the public needs to be heard on this subject, and if Abigail is going to make that happen, then I should participate,” Boze said.

The survey can be found here.