Postal Service blames unprecedented volumes, fewer employees for mail delays since pandemic
LAKE WALES, Fla. - Kenneth Abbott happily worked for the U.S. Post Office for more than two decades. But now, dealing with the U.S. Postal Service is driving him crazy.
"It was distressing," Abbott told FOX 13. "It was distressing to get the runaround."
Abbott paid $26.60 to have a package delivered to Fort Lauderdale by noon the next day. It didn’t happen.
"It went from Lake Wales to Tampa. That was it," he complained.
Eventually, his parcel was delivered. Unfortunately, it was eight days late. The U.S. Postal Service reimbursed him what he had paid, but that didn’t compensate him for his frustration.
After Abbott complained, a postal official from Miami called him.
"I am going to quote you what he said to me," explained Abbott. "We are experiencing horrendous issues, especially priority overnight, in the entire U.S."
In Tampa, a young woman had a similar experience recently. She just got a Christmas card from her grandmother, more than two months after it was mailed.
So what is going on here? Even the Postal Service admits it has problems. Its website has a disclaimer saying it is experiencing "unprecedented volume increases and limited employee availability due to the impacts of COVID-19."
Since at least last March, more people have been turning to online shopping to social distance, which means additional package deliveries. The Postal Service says the pandemic is also creating a manpower drain in the agency.
Waves of older employees have retired early to avoid coming in contact with the virus. An estimated 14,500 of the remaining employees are in quarantine.
The agency is promising to hire another additional 10,000 new employees soon.
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