HENRICO COUNTY, Virginia – Gary Zuch has been waiting for a package to be delivered for almost a month and is now concerned that it could end up in the wrong hands with delays in the US Postal Service (USPS).
“You know, we didn’t ship it on a slow boat from China,” said Zuch. “We just sent it just 70 miles away.”
The Newport News man said he and his wife had sent gifts to a needy family in Richmond, hoping to cheer their spirits up before Christmas.
“It was due for delivery on Friday, December 5th,” said Zuch. “It includes pretty decent gift cards for them to buy gifts, groceries and pay other expenses, and it was important for us to reach them by Christmas.”
Zuch said the tracking records showed the package in the Henrico area at one point, before returning to the Richmond US Postal Service Distribution Center in Sandston.
“It hasn’t moved in the past twelve days according to the system, so it must be stuck on the back of some plant,” said Zuch.
Zuch is among dozens of people who have contacted CBS 6 Problem Solvers about delayed packages and correspondence. A spokesman for the United States Post Office 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 a shortage of employees due to the covid-19 pandemic.
“The United States Postal Service, similar to the broader shipping industry, continues to face short-term pressure on service performance across all categories, as it manages a historic holiday volume record this season,” said the spokesperson. “This negative impact is compounded by the shortage of temporary staff due to the increase in COVID-19, as well as the continuing capacity challenges with air and road transport to handle this historic volume of correspondence,” according to the US Postal Service statement .
“I’m sure they are doing the best they can with limited resources, I just think they need to be more systematic in their approach to getting things out,” said Zuch. “You just can’t stack things in a corner, I think all things are going away. “
The US Postal Service said it is also experiencing capacity problems with air and land transport, which is increasing delays.
As long as Zuch understands, he worries whether his package will reach the right destination.
“I’m just afraid that it was taken or ended up in the hands of the wrong person,” said Zuch. “No hard feelings, just a little more disappointment than anything else.”
The spokesman said the USPS continues to work to resolve the problems and remains focused on delivering mail and packages for the holiday season.
“Amidst the historical volume, the Post Office continues to make its network more flexible, including ensuring that the right equipment is available to classify, process and deliver a historical volume of correspondence and packages during this holiday period,” continued the spokesman. “Our entire operations team, from collection, processing and delivery, worked throughout the past weekend and continues to work around the clock to meet the historic volume. We are accepting all the volume presented to us, which adds to our challenges. “
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