RICHMOND, Va. -- U.S. Rep. Donald McEachin told reporters Thursday morning the community is still facing issues with mail being delayed from the United States Postal Service.
"My constituents have felt these effects. In less than 48 hours, we got more than 8,000 complaints about already unreliable mail service deteriorating further, including instances with priority mail such as bills and prescription medications being delivered weeks late," McEachin said, via Zoom.
Those same issues have been felt statewide for months now, as the USPS claimed they received a historic, record amount of volume over the holiday season.
Some of the delay issues also come from employee shortages due to COVID-19, according to USPS.
But McEachin said he believes the problem sits at the federal level, and thinks the postmaster general needs to be replaced.
“I don’t think this is a resource problem,” said McEachin. “I think this is a management problem at this point."
McEachin wrote letters to both the president and board of governors for actions to be taken.
"Only the board of governors can do that, the president does not have the ability to do that," McEachin said. "They [letters] both highlight the actions that Postmaster General Dejoy took in regard or has taken in regard to the post office."
McEachin stated social distance guidelines, mask-wearing and vaccines can help keep local post offices staffed and running properly in the meantime.
"All those things can be put in place at a postal facility. And we can continue to have good service and have full and adequate staffing of our various roles," McEachin said.
CBS 6 also reached out to Congressman Rob Wittman, who has said he has been aware of the same issues and has been working to fix them.
