About 40,000 pieces of undelivered mail and hundreds of packages that hadn’t been scanned correctly were found during audits of two Greater Columbus post offices earlier this year.
The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General in January conducted audits of three Greater Columbus post office branches and the USPS Columbus Processing and Distribution Center at 2323 Citygate Drive on the city’s Northeast Side, and found deficiencies at each. Two of the audited post office branches — South Columbus and East City Annex — were cited in draft audit reports for thousands of pieces of delayed mail and improper package scanning.
The audits come amid reports by residents of slow or nonexistent mail delivery, due in part to chronic shortages of postal workers.
On the morning of Jan. 11, auditors found more than 34,000 pieces of undelivered mail at the South Columbus post office at 445 E. Innis Ave., the vast majority being letters, according to a draft report of an audit released online this month.