Richmond, Va. (Newsradiowrva.com) - Virginia Senator Tim Kaine spoke to reporters Wednesday and addressed postal service issues in the Richmond area.
Kaine said a report on the investigation into the matter is forthcoming and that he will soon tour the regional processing and distribution center in Sandston along with the postmaster general. The date of the visit has not been announced.
Known issues include staffing shortages, problems with new distribution systems and mail theft. At least four former USPS employees have been charged with mail theft of obstruction of mail.
The USPS office of the Inspector General is currently auditing the Richmond Regional Processing and Distribution Center (RPDC) in Sandston because the center is one of the first processing centers in the country that was opened to centralize outgoing mail and package processing.
Sen. Kaine led lawmakers, including Senator Mark R. Warner and Representatives Jennifer McClellan (D-VA-04), Bobby Scott (D-VA-3), Rob Wittman (R-VA-01), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07), Bob Good (R-VA-05), and Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02), in sending a letter to the USPS Inspector General.
“Since last summer, we have seen a significant uptick in mail disruptions and delays within the Richmond RPDC’s covered area. These developments are especially concerning as the Richmond RPDC was one of the first implemented consolidation projects as a part of USPS’s Delivering for America initiative,” Kaine and his colleagues said in the letter.
“While we are always open to changes to longstanding practices to improve efficiency, the ongoing stream of reports we get suggests that the opposite is happening,” wrote the lawmakers.
