Postal Service watchdog is auditing a Pa. mail processing plant where delays have been an issue

The independent watchdog of the U.S. Postal Service is in the midst of auditing the Lehigh Valley area’s main mail processing facility, which has been beset by mail delays and package pileups over the last year, the agency confirmed.

The U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General, which conducts internal investigations of employees and operations, said Wednesday that it began auditing the facility, located just outside Allentown, last fall and will release results this spring.

“As a standard practice, the OIG selects the most challenged USPS facilities across the country, based on both data analysis and external requests, to identify the root causes of delayed mail and make recommendations for improvement as appropriate,” the agency said in a statement. “We have several ongoing nationwide service performance audits and may review plants and facilities in PA as part of our work.”

The audit comes amid months of public and political outcry over delays that have affected small businesses’ and residents’ ability to receive important mail, like medication and bills. Mail delays became a national issue last summer ahead of the election after then-newly appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy instituted various operational changes, like removing sorting machines and cutting overtime.

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The plant’s operations, which now appear to be running more smoothly, have been affected by unprecedented mail volumes as more people shop online amid the pandemic, as well as a staffing shortage due to long-term cuts and coronavirus exposure. Three mail sorting machines were removed from the plant last summer, which limited the speed of sorting the mail.

The holiday season crushed the facility. Starting in late November, thousands of packages and letters piled up, and upwards of 10 trailers filled with mail sat in the facility’s parking lot because there was no room to unload items. Representatives from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration visited the Allentown plant in December after workers reported safety concerns.

Facilities across the region were still sorting through backlogs into late January, and customers reported receiving holiday cards in early February.

Now, Andy Kubat, president of the American Postal Workers Union Lehigh Valley area local, said the facility is mostly back on track with sorting.

“We are actually doing pretty well right now as far as getting caught up with the mail volumes,” Kubat said. “We are doing well on the packages, we are doing well on the letters.”

Kubat said magazines and 8-by-11-sized flats have been delayed, as those need to be sorted by hand. The plant received a new manager a few months ago, he said, who has helped run things more efficiently.

Last weekend, he said, 24 temporary workers became career employees. If the agency replaces the open temporary spots, he said, “that would give us another leg up on getting this mail out the door.”

Lawmakers have tried to intervene over the months. Sen. Bob Casey and Rep. Susan Wild, both Pennsylvania Democrats, visited the plant unannounced in October but were turned away.

“There is simply no excuse for folks in the Lehigh Valley continuing to suffer through long mail delays,” Wild said in a statement. “For families who get prescriptions in the mail or are waiting for their stimulus check, this audit cannot come quickly enough.”

“The USPS Inspector General’s audit is an important step to stop mail delays which never should have happened,” Casey said in a statement.