In some Richmond-area neighborhoods, residents have grown accustomed to having their mail delivered around 10 p.m. or later.

They’ve learned to keep flashlights nearby as they head to their mailboxes around the time most people are calling it a night or having a nightcap.

What’s behind the delays?

After the recent release of a United States Postal Service Inspector General report on the Richmond Regional Processing and Distribution Center (RPDC) in Sandston, several lawmakers, including Sen. Tim Kaine, Sen. Mark Warner, Rep. Jennifer McClellan and Rep. Bobby Scott — called on the USPS to examine mail delays and disruptions at the Richmond-area facility.

The report identifies several issues behind the delays, including a lack of coordination between USPS and staff at the RPDC.

Frustrated victims of USPS’ frustrating delays include a Vietnam veteran in Mechanicsville who failed to receive his medications some six weeks after it was mailed. In addition, a medical supply business in Richmond never received more than $1,000 worth of medical supplies, which ended its business

relationship with a key distributor.

Equally disturbing and egregious are reports of discarded cancer-screening results for veterans, disruptions in disability checks, mail theft and missing voter ballots.

Other issues cited in the report include a lack of attention to detail (pieces of mail falling off conveyor belts and being lost), to poor synchronizing between machines processing mail at the facility and the schedules of trucks transporting mail to and from the facility. Broader questions focus on whether the RPDC model is generating the cost savings and efficiency improvements this model has promised.

“Going forward, USPS must provide more resources and clearer guidance to management and staff at RPDC, among other steps,” Sen. Kaine and other lawmakers said. “We look forward to working with USPS to ensure that happens, (that) the recommendations in the IG report are implemented and mail delivery is timely for Virginians.”

The inspector general’s audit, dated March 28, raises questions about the Postal Service’s plans to modernize its processing network. The Richmond facility is the first of a planned 60 regional processing centers that USPS is launching nationwide that are supposed to streamline operations and improve efficiency.

The audit found that problems at the Richmond center, which opened in July, have contributed to a drop in on-time service that now finds Virginia ranked worst in the nation. The inspector general said only 66% of first-class mail has been delivered within two days in the current fiscal year, compared with a national average of 87%. No other region in the U.S. fell below 80%, according to the inspector general’s office.

The Postal Service has estimated that the $23 million facility will produce $15 million annually in savings by consolidating operations. But the audit found that work hours and overtime actually increased after the center opened.

“At this time, it is unclear if the Postal Service will realize the expected savings associated with consolidating operations into the Richmond” regional processing center, the audit concluded.

“It couldn’t be clearer that USPS has not been providing reliable service to Virginians, and we’ve been pressing for answers. This report pinpoints a number of issues, including a lack of coordination between USPS and staff at the Richmond Regional Processing and Distribution Center (RPDC),” the lawmakers said. “USPS must provide more resources and clearer guidance to management and staff at RPDC, among other steps.”

Let’s hope that happens soon so we all can put our flashlights away.