GREENSBORO, N.C. — "Let me say at the outset that we must acknowledge that during this peak season, we fell far short of meeting our service targets," Greensboro native Louis DeJoy said at a Congressional hearing Wednesday. At one point a congressman on the House Oversight and Reform Committee revealed only 38 percent of local deliveries arrived on time during the holiday season. DeJoy disputed that stat, but he did not offer an alternate number.
"Too many Americans were left waiting for weeks for important deliveries of mail and packages. This is unacceptable and I apologize to those customers who felt the impact of our delays," DeJoy said.
The Postal Service Inspector General blamed management and the pandemic.
"Starting in early summer, the postal service introduced various operational and organizational changes. When deployed on top of employee absences due to covid-19, these changes negatively impacted quality and timeliness of mail delivery," said Tammy Whitcomb, USPS Inspector General.
But she did say things are improving.
"While there are signs of improvement, concerns about service performance remain," Whitcomb said.
DeJoy says within two weeks, he'll release his solutions to fix all these problems.
"We have a detailed plan for such action which we will finalize soon," said DeJoy.
And the bipartisan Postal Service Board of Governors threw their support behind DeJoy.
"The Board of Governors believes the Postmaster General in very difficult circumstances is doing a good job," said Chairman Ron Bloom.
When asked how long he planned on staying on the job, DeJoy replied: "As far as my commitment to see our plan through, I'm here until I see the tangibly produced results we intended to."