Jul 15, 2024 - News

We're the worst: Georgia is No. 1 for late mail delivery

Thomas Wheatley

An individual inspects a tray filled with letters and mail in a postal service distribution center while another individual looks on — Postmaster General Louis DeJoy inspects letters center near Atlanta in 2022. Credit: Dustin Chambers/Washington Post

Georgia leads the country in late USPS mail delivery, according to the agency's on-time data.

Why it matters: Ongoing issues at a recently opened USPS facility in Palmetto have caused important letters and packages to bounce between destinations, lollygag at distribution centers, or disappear into the ether.

Zoom in: According to recently released 2024 Q2 data, Georgia's single-piece, first-class mail arrived on time 63.7% of the time in April, May and June.

Three-to-five-day delivery was even worse; only 51.8% of the packages arrived on time — a smidge better than arrivals in Kansas and Missouri, the country's poorest performers.

Yes, but: The arrival times are up from April, when U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Georgia) showed statistics that 36% of mail processed at the Palmetto facility arrived on time.

USPS postmaster general Louis DeJoy paused a systemwide reorganization plan to gather information, according to Capitol Beat. USPS also updated transportation plans and dispatched more than 100 workers to the Palmetto facility.

The latest: On July 11, Ossoff met with DeJoy and called for additional investments to resolve "disastrous performance failures" affecting Georgia residents and businesses.

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We're the worst: Georgia is No. 1 for late mail delivery

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