HOUSTON — Service is steadily being restored to two USPS processing centers in the Houston area after months-long mail delay issues, the postal service said Thursday.
This announcement came after several congress members and their staff toured the facility in Missouri City on Thursday to get a better understanding of the operation challenges.
Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia said she, and Congressmen Al Green and Pete Sessions, were told that the problems at the Houston-area processing facilities began when a decision was made to move some of the operations from the North Houston facility to the South Houston facility in Missouri City.
"They told us of gridlock in some of the delivery of their trucks," Garcia said. "They told us about staffing issues. They told us about equipment issues. Well, none of us heard that before, but now we do. We understand it a little bit better, but it just means that they have to do better."
USPS told KHOU 11 in January that its plants were undergoing a network modernization, a change they said was necessary to improve service performance, workplace improvements, infrastructure modernization and cost and transportation benefits. In this transition, problems occurred between the North and South Houston plants, causing a backlog of mail delivery.
"...some in our control, some outside -- service admittedly very poor in January," USPS said.
Congress members said they've received an apology from USPS, but they want more transparency going forward. They also said the postal service told them that delays or disruptions have not been taking place for days now.
Congressman Sessions said USPS also informed them that there shouldn't be any delays with mail-in ballots amid the upcoming primary election.
Are you having issues with the post office? Send an email to mailproblems@khou.com and let us know. You can see our coverage of delays at Houston-area USPS processing centers on KHOU.com/PostalProblems.