Customers using USPS say delayed packages are just ‘sitting’ in facilities

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    LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WLKY) — Customers in Louisville are reporting significant delays in deliveries through the United States Postal Service with many of them starting long before the busy holiday shipping season.

Shipping is part of its daily operations at JSO Wood Products in Jeffersontown, according to owner Steve Kitts.

“It’s very crucial. It’s about 15% of our total costs,” Kitts said.

In August, shortly after Postmaster General Louis DeJoy cut overtime and slashed hours, Kitts started to notice major delays in his shipping.

“We had a lot of priority mail that was late. Customers were contacting us and packages had been undelivered for about a month,” Kitts said.

Things got better for a while, but by the middle of October, the delays were back and they haven’t gotten better. Many of his shipments appear to be stuck at the main distribution center in Louisville.

“About two weeks after we give them the product we will see a receipt where the customer can see that they have possession of the product and then it will still sit there for another two weeks on average,” Kitts said.

Customers have begun to lose patience, forcing Kitts to issue refunds on packages he still can’t track down.

“Some of them we’ve seen go out to about 54 days, seven or eight weeks, but most of them are about four or five weeks right now,” said Kitts.

Kitts isn’t the only one having problems. We’ve heard from several customers who have found their packages in a holding pattern inside Louisville postal service facilities.

Some customers have posted their grievances on Twitter saying they too have packages just “sitting” in Louisville — many for weeks.

A spokesperson for USPS sent WLKY this statement:

“This has been an extraordinary year of unprecedented challenges. The Postal Service is experiencing significant volume increases, while at the same time employee availability has been reduced due to the impacts of COVID-19. We are flexing our resources to process and deliver the mail as quickly as possible. We are committed to making sure gifts and cards are delivered on time to celebrate the holidays.”

Kitts says he can’t afford many more delays and is exploring other options.

“If we have to ship everything UPS, then we will ship it all UPS, but the cost of UPS is much higher for us for our type of packages,” Kitts said.

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