Report ties postmaster to delays

Policies slowed 7% of mail deliveries, Michigan senator finds

WASHINGTON — Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s midsummer operational directives delayed nearly 350 million pieces, or 7%, of the country’s first-class mail in the five weeks they were in effect, according to a new report published Wednesday by the Senate’s top Democrat in charge of postal oversight.

Only a month after taking charge of the Postal Service, DeJoy implemented stricter dispatch schedules on transport trucks that reportedly forced workers to leave mail behind and prohibited extra mail trips, leading to well-documented mail bottlenecks. Managers under him also cracked down on overtime, which postal workers commonly rely on to complete routes, though DeJoy has denied having a role in those cutbacks.

Before the changes, the Postal Service routinely delivered more than 90% of the nation’s first-class mail on time, according to an analysis of Postal Service data by the office of Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Two weeks later, on-time delivery rates hovered near 83%.

On-time rates continued to deteriorate, the report said, falling to 81.5% by the week of Aug. 8. And in regions that could decide the November election, service declined even more, falling 20.4 percentage points in Northern Ohio; 19.1 percentage points in Detroit; and 17.9 percentage points in Central Pennsylvania.

“The results of my investigation clearly show that Postmaster General DeJoy’s carelessly instituted operational changes to the Postal Service resulted in severe service impacts that harmed the lives and livelihoods of Michiganders and Americans,” Peters said in a statement. “I have repeatedly made it clear to Mr. DeJoy that his actions have had consequences for many of my constituents and people across the nation. My report shows his decisions were reckless and caused significant harm to the American people.”

DeJoy suspended some of the Postal Service’s cost-cutting maneuvers, including the removal of high-speed mail sorting machines and public collection boxes, until after the election, but said machines and mailboxes that were eliminated were part of a routine practice and would not be replaced. He left in place his orders on transportation schedules, the changes that postal workers and independent experts say are causing the most problems.

The Postal Service did not respond to a request for comment.

Peters’ report recommends DeJoy reverse his policy directives, including the transportation schedule, and that the Postal Service commit to treating election mail with first-class privilege as the agency has in past years.

It also recommends Congress pass the Delivering for America Act, which would prohibit the Postal Service from implementing operating changes that would affect delivery standards until the end of the coronavirus pandemic. That bill passed the Democrat-controlled House last month, but has not been taken up by the GOP-run Senate.

DeJoy “failed to conduct any meaningful analysis about how his planned changes could affect customers,” the report states. John Barger, a Republican member of the Postal Service’s governing board, testified last week before Peters’ committee that DeJoy did not inform the board of any changes he was considering, and the Postal Service for a month and a half refused to provide lawmakers any records of the decision-making process behind the policies.

As lawmakers began to ask questions of DeJoy while mail service declined, the agency denied making any large-scale operational changes, insisting instead that DeJoy was “re-emphasizing existing operational plans,” according to a July 22 letter to Peters from Postal Service General Counsel Thomas J. Marshall.