From Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)
Apr 22, 2016
Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)
At my last town hall meeting in Bellevue, we had a robust discussion about the challenges facing America. A big surprise came afterward. A constituent told me he had received the invitation to the meeting that same day. Although the invitation had been sent in a timely manner, most people in the community saw it when they returned home from work—after the event. I found the whole thing quite embarrassing.
Fortunately, through social media, email, and other forms of communication, a reasonable crowd attended the town hall. However, a similar problem occurred to a friend of mine, who stopped me to tell me about his own event, complaining that his invitations had never been received even though they had been mailed well in advance. I hear stories like this over and over again.
For the most part, my encounters with the United States Postal Service (USPS) in Nebraska, on my personal time or through my office, have been quite good. I have always found persons with the post office eager to help, professional, and kind. Unfortunately, something has gone wrong with the process of late. Prescription drugs are late, bill payments are late, and personal correspondence is late. One person told me about the delay in receiving their heart medication, forcing them to seek pharmacy help until their mail-order prescription arrives. The complaints keep coming. The disruption is real, along with the long term negative impact on the USPS.
I suspect the root cause of the problem has been the consolidation of mail processing in Omaha. Several local plants have closed. Even a letter going across Lincoln now has to go through Omaha first. According to postal delivery standards, first class letters, packages, and bulk mail dropped off in the communities of Lincoln, Norfolk, Columbus, Bellevue, and Nebraska City should be delivered in two to three days. In some cases, it is taking five to ten days. There are similar delays with first class mail in Platte and Madison counties as well. Years of declining mail volume likely triggered the changes that caused these disruptions. While I shared my concerns with the Omaha processing facility in 2015, the situation has not improved, despite a subsequent letter to the Postmaster General in Washington.
I have requested that the USPS Inspector General intervene and analyze the problems with the mail system in Nebraska. The goal is not to play the typical Washington blame game but to fix troubling mail mishaps. Not conforming to delivery standards could make the USPS less competitive, further reducing the customer base of the postal service. You deserve the highest level of service and my hope is to help the post office retain the reputation it has earned.
The USPS has been under financial stress for many years due to a variety of factors. Tension exists between the necessary movement toward efficiency and consolidation, the declining use of services, and the constitutional dictate that the USPS deliver mail across the country. One problem for us is that rural communities can become the easiest target for post office closure. But in many of these places, post offices are not only hubs to send and receive mail—they are reinforcement centers of American society. The USPS has enacted some reforms, for example embedding post offices in retail structures. Rethinking government with an entrepreneurial spirit aimed at facilitating social vibrancy could help post offices co-join with other community services.
By consolidating processing plants in Omaha to cut costs, the postal service’s reputation has suffered through a deteriorating service model. Until this year, I rarely received complaints about the mail. Nebraskans value the postal service, and the postal service personnel I know reflect a genuine professionalism and spirit of public service. However, our state deserves a postal service undiminished by utility considerations that damage mail delivery standards. Since post offices are often centers of American community life, there is a balance between retaining the connection to community while enhancing operating efficiencies.
Write me a letter and tell me what you think!
Source: Fort Report: Got Mail? | Congressman Jeff Fortenberry
Related:
Nebraska Congressmen Urge USPS to Evaluate Impact of Closing Small Post Offices
House Committee Approves Amendment To Restore Postal Service Standards
Congressman:
I don’t know if you will read this post, but it’s nice to know the sloppy way the USPS is treating its customers is getting the attention of you and hopefully colleagues in the House and Senate.
I am from another state, and I don’t want to identify myself for obvious reasons as I am a long time employee of the USPS in craft and don’t want to be tagged as a whistleblower, which happens a lot.
But the closing of the plants is only the symptom of the disease: faulty anticipation of mail revenue loss, and pressure from those who would love to see the Postal Service privatized and run like a fast food joint. Parcel business has exploded beyond anybody’s expectations and that is great, as it probably single handedly will keep the USPS healthy for the foreseeable future, but only if management pulls their heads out of their collective asses and understands that we are now understaffed, and service has decayed severely in some areas of the country.
The OIG is probably not the best route to use because they are part of the Service itself. They can “recommend” and write “findings” all day long but have little impact or authority to do anything. It’s the classic cop not giving a buddy cop a speeding ticket situation.
What we need is tough legislation that a) protects the workers, as we are constantly targeted for unfair taxes, including a retirement tax that no worker in private industry has to pay, b) supports the unions and our wages and benefits, c) forces management to reinstate the former standards of service and hire ample employees to ensure that happens, and d), creates a body that is totally independent of any postal related board that will be able to investigate malfeasance both financially and professionally in the manner craft is treated. It is no secret some in management are incredibly abusive incompetent jerks who make workplace environments incredibly toxic. They just get shifted around when it gets too hot in one office when they should be removed.
The USPS is a service, not a business, and needs truly skilled people to get the job done at every level. Employees are not overpaid, just barely middle class wage wise, and shoulder a lot of responsibility every day for the mail they process and deliver. Postmistress Megan Brennan was a prime architect in downsizing plants and offices when no such action should have happened in an ill advised attempt to “save money”. Start with her.
USPS HIRES ANYONE NOW ADAYS… Wages are not comparable to good paying jobs now… Even ex cons are employed due to lack of background check.
Eliminating Saturday delivery Mr. Fortenbery would save the PO about 2 billion/ year and then the plants most likely wouldn’t have had to consolidate or close. But I’m sure the local NALC has already given you a check to make sure that doesn’t happen. And the game continues……
I’m a postal worker and this is exactly why I pay all my bills by computer now. After paying too many late charges, I made the switch. Upper management have destroyed the postal service.