HENRICO COUNTY, Virginia, United States. – Gary Zuch has been waiting for a parcel delivery for almost a month and now worries that it could end up in the wrong hands with delays at the US Postal Service (USPS).
“You know, we didn’t ship it on a slow ship from China,” Zuch said. “We just shipped it just 70 miles away.”
The Newport News man said he and his wife sent gifts to an unattended Richmond family, hoping to cheer them up before Christmas.
“It was supposed to be delivered on Friday, Dec. 5,” Zuch said. “It includes pretty decent gift cards so they can buy presents, groceries and pay other expenses, and for us it was important that they arrived before Christmas.”
Zuch said tracking records showed the package in the Henrico area at one point, before returning to the U.S. Postal Service Distribution Center from Richmond to Sandston.
“It hasn’t moved in the last twelve days according to the system, so it has to be stuck to the back of some plant,” Zuch said.
Zuch is among dozens of people who have contacted CBS 6 troubleshooters about packages and delayed emails. A U.S. Postal Service spokesman told CBS 6 in a statement that delays and delivery problems are due to the overwhelming and historic volume of mail this holiday season, along with the lack of employees due to the pandemic covid-19.
“The U.S. postal service, similar to the broader shipping industry, continues to face short-term pressure on service performance in all categories as it manages through a historical record of holiday volume this season “, said the spokesman. “This negative impact adds to the temporary shortage of employees due to the increase in COVID-19, as well as the ongoing capacity challenges with air bridges and transportation to transport this historic volume of mail,” according to the U.S. Postal Service statement.
“I’m sure they do their best with limited resources, I just think they need to be more systematic in their approach to getting things done,” Zuch said. “You can’t stack things in one corner and think all things will go.”
The U.S. Postal Service said they also experience capacity issues with air and ground transportation, which increases delays.
Although Zuch understands this, he worries if the package will arrive at the right destination.
“I’m afraid it’s been taken or it ends up in the hands of the wrong person,” Zuch said. “No hard feelings, just a little more disappointment than nothing.”
The spokesman says USPS continues to work to resolve issues and remains focused on delivering mail and packages for the holiday season.
“In the midst of the historic volume, the postal service continues to flex its network, including ensuring that there is the right equipment to order, process and deliver a historic volume of mail and parcels this holiday season,” he continued. spokesman. “Our entire operations team, from collections to processing and delivery, has been working this past weekend and continues to work 24 hours a day to deal with the historical volume. We are accepting everything volume that is presented to us that adds to our challenges “.
Are you waiting for a packet to stop during traffic? Take a look at the WTVR CBS 6 Facebook page.