XPost: alt.postalworkers, talk.politics.guns, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
XPost: sac.politics, talk.politics.misc

For more than a decade, Tiffany Thompson, co-founder of a Parke County
soy candle business, has relied on the United States Postal Service for shipping customer orders.

But since November, Thompson and her friend Sarah Monik who co-own Crow
Hollow Scents have had to apologize repeatedly to customers annoyed by
how long their orders are taking to arrive.

The candle company has been one of many postal service users affected by
what union leaders say is chaos and disorganization in the wake of the
postal service closing its site near the Indianapolis International
Airport and transitioning to a larger facility on the east side.

The delays seem to have only gotten worse in recent weeks, leading
Indiana lawmakers in Washington D.C. to write to Postmaster Louis DeJoy
about "serious concerns" regarding mail and package deliveries in the
state. All nine U.S. representatives and both senators signed the
February 13 letter that demands that DeJoy explain the problem and the potential solution.

"These delays have had real consequences for individuals and businesses
alike. Constituents have reported late deliveries of medications,
critical financial documents and essential business shipments," Rep.
Jefferson Shreve wrote in the letter, which he posted to X.

Hundreds of people across Indiana and the Midwest have taken to social
media to express frustration with packages sitting for weeks on end at
the Indianapolis facility. Occasionally, packages wind up lost somewhere
in the mail system.

Small business owners have offered condolences to customers on social
media and tried to explain the source of the delays — a step some say
the postal service has done little to acknowledge itself.

Nearly all of Crow Hollow's orders go through USPS, and in the past
month, Thompson said at least four of the company's shipped packages sat
at the sorting facility for more than 20 days without moving.

Crow Hollow sells products online and through wholesale orders, meaning
mass delays in deliveries can prove detrimental to the business' bottom
line.

"If we have to give refunds to all these people then we are out the
money and the product because we don't have the product back and they
didn't get the product," Monik said.

The postal service has said little about the delays. USPS answered an
IndyStar inquiry with a general response for customers experiencing
delays. The media spokesman did not respond to a follow-up
email.However, some concerned customers say they have heard about the
issues from local post office workers in Indianapolis.

"The post office hasn't come out to say, 'We're aware' because they tell
me directly, 'We're aware there's an issue there,' but they haven't come
out and said that to the public," said Grant Gilman, an owner of United
State of Indiana, a t-shirt business in Meridian-Kessler. About 80% of
his sales come from online orders.

USPS congestion:Holiday mail hits traffic around USPS distribution center

The Indianapolis chapter of the American Postal Workers Union says poor
timing, bad management and a lack of staffing at the regional sorting
facility have all contributed to the problem. The APWU represents about
1,800 USPS workers, including clerks, machine operators and mail sorters.

USPS opened the regional processing and distribution in November, right
before the peak mailing season that runs from Thanksgiving to New
Year's, said Steve Vaughn, chief trustee for the Indianapolis union. The
postal service slowly transported operations from its sorting facility
next to the Indianapolis International Airport, but lean staffing levels
slowed down the transition.

The backlog over the last four months has burnt out longtime employees,
many of whom are working seven days a week as packages pile up.

"Our employees are stressed and ready to break. There's horrid
management and they are blaming the workers," Vaughn said.

The union said the former facility near the Indianapolis International
Airport has reopened to catch up on mass delays. The USPS spokesperson
did not confirm that.

While people mail fewer letters today than they used to, post office
workers are seeing more packages and "now we are overwhelmed," Vaughn said.

More:The USPS, UPS SurePost delivery contract is over. Will this impact
how you get packages?

Without an end in sight, business owners are seeking out alternatives.

Crow Hollow recently used UPS, which is typically more expensive than
USPS, for a delivery instead. But owners Thompson and Monik say they
will need a permanent solution if the problems at USPS aren't sorted out.

"By the end of this month, if [customers] haven't gotten the money, I
would think they're going to totally start asking for their money back
because they haven't received the product," Thompson said. "So I think definitely no later than March 1, we're going to have to come up with
some kind of result for them."

At United State, Gilman said delays have slowly started to decrease for
his customers. But he started a Reddit thread on the delays back in
November, when he first noticed signs of slow deliveries. He said he's
still receiving notifications of activity in that single thread — a sign
he may be more fortunate than others using the postal service for
deliveries.

"I do understand if they're opening a new thing or whatever, you're
going to have some issues, but you would think they would be pretty good
at it at this point," Gilman said.

How to report a delayed package
To report a delayed package, USPS asks customers to visit usps.com and
click on “Contact us” at the bottom of the website or send an email: https://usps.force.com/emailus/s/. Individuals may also request
assistance through the official X account of the United States Postal
Service @USPSHelp or private message on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/USPS.

Alysa Guffey covers business and development for IndyStar. Contact her
at amguffey@gannett.com.

https://www.indystar.com/story/money/2025/02/17/usps-delays-in-indianapolis-pile-up-lawmakers-tell-postmaster-to-act/78538008007/

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)