Rep. Angie Craig Rips U.S. Postal Service After Delays Increase In MN

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota ripped U.S. Postal Service leadership after they reported a decline in service levels in the state during the second quarter of the 2024 fiscal year.

Only 84.1 percent of first-class, two-day mail arrived on time in the Minnesota-North Dakota region, nearly 10 points below USPS’ target of 93 percent, Craig noted.

The Minnesota-North Dakota region ranked 40th in the nation for two-day service last quarter, but now it ranks 42nd.

“It’s almost hard to believe that USPS service could get any worse, and it’s clear to me that USPS needs to shake up their leadership," Craig said in a statement.

"The current strategy is not working for Minnesotans. I am eagerly awaiting the results of USPS’ statewide audit of Minnesota’s mail service in June, and I will not stop working to hold leadership accountable."

The news follows a federal investigation into four U.S. Postal Service offices in the Twin Cities metro area that found widespread delays, inadequate resources for postal workers from management, and mail security issues.

In January, the USPS Office of the Inspector General released the results of an investigation they announced in December following pressure from Craig.

The federal audit looked into Eagan and Apple Valley post offices, the St. Paul Processing Distribution Center located in Eagan, and the New Brighton carrier annex.

The USPS is now expanding to other areas of the state as requested by Minnesota U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith in December.

"The findings of this audit are deeply concerning, but not surprising, and I am glad the Inspector General is now expanding its investigation to the whole state as I requested," Klobuchar said. "We need answers so we can find solutions that work."

Highlights from the investigation:

"On the morning of November 14, 2023, we identified about 53,129 delayed mailpieces," at the Eagan office, the report states.

At the Apple Valley office: "Employees scanned packages improperly at the delivery unit, scanned packages away from the intended delivery point, and handled packages incorrectly at the unit. We reviewed package scanning data for scans that occurred at the unit and removed any potentially accurate scans performed."

In total, employees improperly scanned 223 packages at the delivery unit between July and September 2023, the investigation found.

Other issues at the Apple Valley office included:

• Five unmounted fire extinguishers
• Four extinguishers missing monthly inspections
• Concrete near an employee entrance was damaged, causing a potential tripping hazard

At the New Brighton office, two of the 37 carriers assigned to the unit had not reported to work for at least nine consecutive weeks between July 1 through Sept. 29, but "management did not complete the process for taking the carriers off the rolls," the report states.

Additionally, in one instance, a carrier scanned a package as delivered three miles away from the delivery point.

At the St. Paul distribution center, which is located in Eagan, investigators identified 56,205 reportedly delayed letters and flats between Nov. 14 to 16.

Read all of the USPS reports here.