(The Center Square) — Postal performance in Georgia continues to lag, according to new numbers.
According to the Postal Regulatory Commission, single-piece First-Class Mail’s two-day on-time performance rate in the Peach State dipped to 63.7% in the second quarter, the worst in the country. That is down from its first quarter on-time rate of 80.4% and below the second quarter national rate of 86.8%.
The post office’s three-to-five-day performance rate during the second quarter stood at 51.8%, the second worst in the country. The national average stood at 69.9% for the quarter.
The United States Postal Service’s performance in Georgia has been a frequent subject of criticism. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia, has been among those who have criticized the post office and what he has called its “disastrous performance failures,” firing off letters and demands of USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
“For months I have sustained relentless pressure on USPS management to fully resolve disastrous performance failures impacting my constituents in Georgia,” Ossoff said in a statement last month. “I’m still hearing from Georgia families and businesses about the difficulty they continue to face sending and receiving their mail. I will not rest until my constituents are well and fully served by the U.S. Postal Service.”
In a June 17 letter to Ossoff, DeJoy partly blamed poor federal decisions for the current “embarrassing and unworkable condition” in the Atlanta area.
As “a result of over a decade long consequence of terrible Congressional legislation and the resulting regulation, our infrastructure and work environment in the Atlanta area has deteriorated to an embarrassing and unworkable condition,” DeJoy wrote. “It is unfortunate you could not afford the time to visit these operations to gain a more detailed understanding of the worthwhile initiative my team and I are undertaking to solve for this.”
An Ossoff spokesperson has not responded to multiple requests to confirm if the senator favors specific legislation to help fix the post office and how much it might cost taxpayers.
By T.A. DeFeo | The Center Square contributor
