Lexington’s mail has slowed down. How much is sitting in trailers waiting for delivery?
Mail in Lexington is taking a long time to get delivered and there’s a good reason: Two sorting machines have been removed from the U.S. Postal Service headquarters on Nandino Boulevard.
“Ever since that happened, we’ve got up to 23 trailer loads of mail out on the fence in Lexington,” including many people’s medications that are sent through the mail, said Randy Bradley, state president of the Kentucky Postal Workers Union and the Central Kentucky Local of the American Postal Workers Union. “We’ve got it down to 13 trailers now.”
Usually, there are three or four.
“They say it’s to better serve the needs, but you know as well as I know it’s to cut service,” Bradley told me.
The USPS has been in financial trouble for a long time. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office “USPS’s overall financial condition is deteriorating and unsustainable. USPS has lost $69 billion over the past 11 fiscal years—including $3.9 billion in fiscal year 2018. USPS’s total unfunded liabilities and debt ($143 billion at the end of fiscal year 2018) have grown to double its annual revenue.”
In June, the new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Republican donor, announced changes, including no more overtime, which meant any mail not delivered on one shift would get delivered the next day. Or the next.
With COVID-19, the ante got upped, as states turned to expanded absentee and mail-in voting. Then President Donald Trump, who has openly opposed expanded mail-in voting, despite the dangers of voting in person during a pandemic, said the quiet part out loud on Fox News: “They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots. If they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting because they’re not equipped to have it.”
Since then, he’s walked that statement back, accusing Democrats of holding up federal aid to USPS included in the stalled COVID-19 relief bill. House Democrats are coming back from their October recess to address the problem.
Whatever the reason, the plight of the post office has real weight this year. Kentucky’s recently released voting program for the fall includes greatly relaxed absentee ballots. It’s not no-excuse absentee ballots like the primary, but any excuse, so anyone with the slightest fear of COVID-19 can request one. That could put a huge burden on an already burdened post office.
Will they be able to deliver all those ballots by election day? Well, when I emailed Nandino Postmaster Barbara Cardoza, I got no response. When I asked state USPS spokeswoman Susan Wright, she sent me DeJoy’s statement from July 27, which included: “The Postal Service has spent the last four years unsuccessfully trying to obtain reform legislation from Congress and pricing reform from the PRC, while remaining focused on the efficiency of our operations. Given our current situation, it is critical that the Postal Service take a fresh look at our operations and make necessary adjustments.”
Maybe the current complaints are working. As I was writing this column, Postmaster LeJoy said he would suspend any more changes until after the election, including fewer open hours, and removing equipment. Will equipment be restored so Lexington’s logjam can end? Let me know if your mail improves.
If not, Bradley recommends continued pressure on the Kentucky Congressional delegation.
“The public needs to complain to Congress and Senate,” he said. “That’s the only way we’ll get something done.”
In addition, we have a local connection to top USPS leadership. Robert M. Duncan of Inez is the current chairman of the USPS Board of Governors. A former chairman of the Republic National Committee, he is also the CEO of the Inez Deposit Bank, so you could leave a message there.
By the way, the reason many people know about Kentucky’s postal woes is because of a viral tweet from native Glenn Kessler, who also runs the Washington Post’s Factchecker operation.
“I shipped a package via USPS to my sister on July 30. McLean VA to Lexington KY. Generally, it take three days. Still not delivered. Tracking shows it has been sitting in the Lexington distribution center since August 5! Imagine being a small business owner dealing with this.”
Kessler’s sister, Sylvia Kessler, still had not received the package as of Tuesday.
“But what’s so funny is what’s in it,” she said. “He’s sending me a bunch of copies of his book, “Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth,” by the Factcheckers writers. Is that ironic or what?”
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 2:08 PM.
