This morning, Representative Dutch Ruppersberger’s office sent over a debrief on a meeting Rep. Ruppersberger had with the Baltimore Postmaster, Eric Gilbert, regarding issues with the Parkville branch of the United States Postal Service, as well as other branches in Baltimore County.

What seems to be the main issue is a lack of carriers. First and foremost, out of 900 routes, 400 are currently vacant. Second, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act provides for two weeks of sick leave should someone need to be quarantined. Finally, August is a big vacation time, with a lot of vacation approved back in February. Taking all this into consideration, there are days where the USPS workforce is depleted by 30 – 50%.

Due to the aforementioned staffing issue, as well as an uptick in parcels, there are days where routes have not been reached. But Mr. Gilbert assured Rep. Ruppersberger that no route goes three days without delivery. Mr. Gilbert has also continued paying overtime, despite a directive from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy not to do so. They have even gone as far as delivering on Sundays.

It is apparent that hiring more workers is needed. Unfortunately, it also takes four weeks to train a carrier. So for the meantime, it looks like there will continue to be delayed. It sounds like Mr. Gilbert is truly doing what he can to help fix this issue, but needs additional help from PMG DeJoy, the Trump Administration, and Congress.

In the meantime, I will continue to keep you abreast to any additional information my office receives, and I urge all of my constituents to make your voice heard if you are suffering from the same issues. Also, if you are looking for employment, you can create an account and search for USPS job postings here: https://about.usps.com/careers/search-apply/.