Lawmakers follow-up with postal service after audit uncovered delivery, service issues in Baltimore

BALTIMORE — Maryland's congressional delegation is following up with the U.S. Postmaster General, nearly two weeks after a scathing audit found several deficiencies in how mail gets processed and distributed throughout the greater Baltimore region.

The audit uncovered delivery and service issues at nine Baltimore-area post offices including delayed mail, inaccurate reporting of mail conditions, and improper scanning.

For months residents had been complaining about the delays, leading to the audit.

RELATED: Audit of Baltimore-area post offices uncovers 1M pieces of delayed mail, inaccurate reporting, improper scanning

On Monday the delegation sent the following four questions in a letter to Postmaster Louis DeJoy.

1. Both nationally and for the State of Maryland, please provide a progress report on the number of additional package sorting machines added by the Postal Service, the number of seasonal employees hired for this holiday season, and the number of annex facilities acquired to handle peak season surges.
2. The OIG report on Baltimore post offices recommended that USPS, “Develop and implement a plan to monitor and ensure compliance with package scanning and handling procedures.” What has been done to implement this recommendation, which USPS committed to do by November 19, 2021?
3. The OIG recommended opening a new city carrier training academy for the Baltimore region. What has been done to implement this recommendation, which USPS committed to do by November 30, 2021?
4. The OIG recommended that USPS establish key metrics for when the Baltimore postmaster should request help from outside the area to deliver mail. 
   
   1. Please provide the metrics have been established to implement this recommendation, which USPS committed to do by November 30, 2021.
   2. What additional support, if any, has been provided to the Baltimore region due to lagging performance on these metrics?
   3. Please provide the established threshold and key metrics used at the headquarters level to determine Districts and units falling below the threshold? 
   4. At the headquarters level, what necessary actions are taken to address mail processing and delivery issues to regions that fall below the threshold? 

The letter comes as Christmas approaches, which is one of the postal services busiest times of the year.

Lawmakers are asking for a response by December 1.