Did the Postmaster General Order Postal Workers to Slow Down the Mail?

USPS is working through new policies that have resulted in slower delivery times, but the delays are not intentional.

By
14

A viral tweet claims that the United States Postal Service ordered mail carriers to “”SLOW THE MAIL DOWN.” Screenshots of the tweet have also  gone viral on Facebook and Instagram. 

Dave Partenheimer, the public relations manager for Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, denied that the mail was being intentionally slowed down in a statement to The Dispatch Fact Check. 

“Despite any assertions to the contrary, we are not slowing down Election Mail or any other mail. Instead, we continue to employ a robust and proven process to ensure proper handling of all Election Mail consistent with our standards,” said Partenheimer. 

Create a free account
Access additional articles and newsletters for no cost, no credit card information needed. Continue ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT? SIGN IN
14
By
Comments (14)
Join The Dispatch to participate in the comments.
 
  1. Jaybrown

    An explicit, even if anecdotal, description of the cause of the slowdown would be useful to understand this,

    Collapse
  2. Avatar photo
    Jesse Blankenship

    USPS's major problem is that 85% of overhead costs go to labor, an unsustainable business model. By contrast UPS , also with a strong union, carries slightly more than 50% labor overhead and Fed Ex just under 50%, also with a strong union. So obviously restructuring is necessary. The shame is that it took until now to be addressed at all. Few changes brought now will be able to be fully trusted and likely will be overturned sooner rather than later.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      Kenton A. Hoover

      I believe the only union at all of FedEx is ALPA for the pilots. The Teamsters are trying again but they were decertified at some locations several years ago and I think the only current Teamsters presence it at FedEx’s freight (Drayage) operations in Stockton.

      Collapse
      1. Avatar photo
        Jesse Blankenship

        Yes. You are right. Strike out Fed Ex from the equation. Thanks.

        Collapse
  3. Avatar photo
    rlritt

    The current Post master general is an "acting" postmaster. He has not been approved by congress.

    Collapse
  4. Daniel Rabiner

    "However, there is no evidence that this slowdown is occurring because the postmaster general told postal workers to slow down the mail." I mean the new policies given by the Postmaster General are intentional as your article states. Whether he told them directly versus indirectly through policy change is semantics at this point?

    Collapse
  5. Avatar photo
    Pat Riot

    The post office ran a loss of $3 billion last year, which in the context of the US fiscal budget is virtually nothing. Republicans know they will lose if the election is fair, and they know that mail-in ballots are overwhelmingly cast by Democrats.

    And then White House makes *this* a priority all of the sudden.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      rlritt

      I read somewhere that actually in 2016 Trump got the most votes through mail in WI.

      Collapse
      1. Avatar photo
        Pat Riot

        He just flipped his stance because apparently they ran the numbers in FL and figured that it would hurt Trump more than help him.

        Collapse
  6. Avatar photo
    BW

    You may not be able to quote the Postmaster General as saying slow down the mail, but let’s put two and two together.

    For instance Steve Hayes tells, you Alec, that you can only work a set amount of hours per day, and any work you did not finish, which had a deadline of that day will carry over to the following day. That next day you have the same amount of work, (which you could not complete in the amount of hours you are allowed to work) plus the leftover work from the previous day. See how this snowballs?

    Now again the new Postmasters vocabulary may not include the words “slow down the mail,” but its clear that what is going on at the Postal Service will lead to that directly. Wether that’s intentional are not is debatable, but the effects are not.

    Collapse
  7. Avatar photo
    Wayner

    Very informative article. I'm aware of the longstanding problems faced by USPS, and it could certainly benefit from a revamping. But doing this, right before a national election, where COVID-19 will spike the number of mail-in & absentee ballots? Well.

    Claiming the "slowdown is not intentional", likely, will only assuage those wanting to be assuaged.

    The new operating policies are, verifiably, *intentional*, and their effects could have been foreseen by any logistics expert, who, in this case, is a Trump mega-donor. Couple that with Trump's constant stream of rhetoric on mail-in voting, and his history of trying to game systems for his own gain, and it's easy to understand how this story is not going to be dropped, anytime soon.

    Collapse
  8. Avatar photo
    Victor Clairmont

    So no assault on the mailmen eh? Another talking point disproven!

    Thanks Alec.

    Collapse
  9. Avatar photo
    Larry O

    :( no morning dispatch

    Collapse
  10. Pearse

    Thanks for the clarity. I think it would be worth following up on this story as we get closer to the election, as it seems more people will make more claims, and even if the slow-down or other problems are unintentional or non-partisan, they could have large effects on our political process and our republic's fracturing national culture.

    Collapse