Thunderstorms, some heavy during the morning hours, then skies turning partly cloudy during the afternoon. High around 85F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..
Tonight
A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
Q: How is our local USPS office faring under the new policies the organization is undergoing?
A: A bit of background: In June, Louis DeJoy assumed his new role as the United States Postal Service postmaster general. In late July, he issued a memo that mentioned the postal service’s dire financial situation, which it has faced for years.
To help alleviate this, the U.S. Treasury Department recently agreed to loan USPS $10 billion in emergency coronavirus relief funding in exchange for information on the service’s largest private-sector contracts.
DeJoy also announced new policies to try to address the issue. Some of these included saving on overtime pay as overtime trips would no longer be authorized and temporarily leaving behind packages if they could not be delivered during that day’s allotted hours.
The local post office is not completely removed from these issues as it also is reportedly a bit short staffed. So far, however, the new changes haven’t seemed to largely affect its handling of packages though some local residents on a community Facebook thread said they’d seen some short delays.
But with the coronavrius pandemic not letting up any time soon, delays also could be attributed to a number of circumstances such as distribution centers dealing with increased online orders taking longer to process and ship out packages.
Mark Inglett, a Kansas spokesman for USPS, said the post office’s financial condition will not impact its ability to process and deliver mail.
“USPS has ample capacity to adjust our nationwide processing and delivery network to meet projected mail volume,” Ingall said in an email. “... We are not slowing down on package delivery or any other mail. Instead, we continue to employ a robust and proven process to ensure proper handling of all mail consistent with our standards — which have not changed.”
You can submit a question to this column by e-mail to questions@themercury.com, or by regular mail to Questions, P.O. Box 787, Manhattan, KS 66505.