Audit shines light on slowness of area's postal service

First Christmas cards from family and friends, postmarked in early December, didn’t come until after the new year, said Charlottesville resident Amy Stewart.

Then magazines started arriving after they appeared on newsstands. When her tax refund from the IRS never came, Stewart’s aggravation with the U.S. Postal Service grew.

“I complained and got no response,” she said. “They would just say, ‘we know this is happening. Sorry.’”

A recent audit found the roots of Stewart’s and other customers’ frustrations in the Richmond Processing and Distribution Center in Sandston, where incoming and outgoing mail is processed for customers in a 22,000-square-mile area that includes the Charlottesville region. The USPS Office of Inspector General’s report found significant mail delays were caused by inadequate staffing and supervision, failure to color code and process mail properly and failure to report delays.

In a period of two years, the plant’s volume of delayed mail more than doubled, rising from 23 million pieces in the first quarter, Oct. 1-Dec. 31, of the 2009 fiscal year to 54 million pieces in the first quarter of 2011.

By contrast, delays in similar size facilities decreased by 3 percent during the same time period.

In the 2010 fiscal year, the Richmond facility had the highest volume of delayed mail, 12 percent, of all 43 processing and distribution centers in the country, which collectively experienced delays with about 4 percent of mail.

Photos from inside the facility included in the audit show large piles of delayed mail and multiple containers marked with the wrong color-coded tag used in processing. One photo taken June 7 shows a yet-to-be-delivered newspaper dated May 28.

The Charlottesville area’s mail used to be processed at a facility in Albemarle County, but that center was shut down in April 2010, resulting in the loss of 170 local jobs.

Following the consolidation, the Richmond facility was understaffed by about 70 clerks and maintenance workers, according to the audit.

Six of 33 management positions were vacant and seven were filled by managers who were recently promoted and had little experience.

“Our observations revealed that floor supervisors did not ensure employees adhered to color-code and mail reporting requirements,” the report read. “Also, they routinely failed to promptly assess the mail volume and adjust work hours, assignments, sort plans, transportation and any other operational requirements to ensure the Richmond P&DC met customer service commitments.”

Auditors found delays were rarely reported.

While the facility reported no delayed periodicals March 9, auditors uncovered more than 7,000 delayed pieces. On June 7, 47 pallets containing more than 350,000 pieces of delayed mail had not been reported.

In light of those observations, the auditors issued a series of recommendations to improve productivity in the facility.

Under the leadership of a new plant manager, “corrective action should resolve the issues identified,” the audit read.

While both the plant manager and Office of Inspector General declined to comment on the audit, the facility has experienced “isolated incidents” of mail delay in recent months, said Michele Martel, Richmond district USPS spokeswoman.

“The goal is zero,” she said. “We want to provide only excellent service to our customers; we truly care about that.”

In recent months, Stewart said she’s seen some improvement.

“At least with the delivery of periodicals, they don’t come when they’re supposed to but they’re not weeks late, just a couple days late,” she said.

Dan Rosensweig, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville, said he’s had less positive experiences recently.

Despite multiple phone calls, Rosensweig said he’s received no word on what happened to thousands of newsletters mailed to members Oct. 21.

“A lot of volunteer, board member and staff effort goes into the newsletter,” he said. “We’d at least like to get an answer. The level of customer service couldn’t be worse.”

Martel said the facility continues to strive to meet customers’ expectations.

“We know they have alternatives and we want them to stick with us, so we want to earn their trust every day,” she said. “And we won’t stop trying. We really won’t.”

Still, Stewart remains skeptical.

“Whenever we have a choice in how something is delivered, we never do it through the mail,” she said.