A DRIVER is sounding the alarm after finding thousands of pieces of mail abandoned on the side of a highway.
When he complained to the United States Postal Service (USPS), he was stunned by workers’ response.
Pastor Male Atkins was driving down a highway in Atlanta, Georgia when a piece of paper hit his windshield this week.
When the pastor looked across the I-285 highway, he saw thousands of pieces of mail scattered along the side of the interstate.
“It was thousands of people’s mail, IDs, driver’s licenses, mortgage payments, urns, ashes,” Atkins told Fox’s local Atlanta affiliate WAGA.
After the baffling discovery, Atkins called the police and the post office – who he said weren’t much help.
Instead of leaving all the letters on the side of the interstate, the pastor decided to take matters into his own hands.
He said he spent hours picking up the unattended mail.
Atkins then went to drop off the letters at the closest post office so that USPS workers could deliver them to the proper owners.
“I took it to the post office, and they were like, ‘OK. Next,’” he said.
“That was it. There was no ‘thank you.’ It was like nobody cared.”
When approached by WAGA, USPS said a contractor must have dropped some of its load along I-285.
Many of the letters scattered along the highway had a yellow “undeliverable” label, but not all of them, according to Atkins.
Atkins noted that even though some of the mail was labeled “undeliverable” it should not have ended up on the side of the road.
“I can pick up a piece of paper right now with somebody’s Social Security Number on it,” he said.
“Right now. Plain open. Just do better USPS, do better.”
USPS RESPONDS
According to WAGA, USPS acknowledged that even though staff had been dispatched to collect the misplaced mail, several items remained scattered along the highway as of Wednesday.
In response to the situation, the agency released a statement emphasizing their commitment to safeguarding the mail’s security and integrity, particularly during transportation in Georgia and nationwide.
They clarified that the incident involved a contractor-operated vehicle, not USPS personnel, which accidentally spilled some of the cargo while on the road.
“The material contained in the load had been deemed undeliverable to its destination. The Postal Service follows specific procedures to verify and dispose of this type of material, using contracted services.
“No mail or packages destined for delivery were contained on the vehicle. Once alerted to the situation, local postal officials dispatched personnel to retrieve all dropped material.”
It’s a concern for residents as 44% of the world’s mail volume is processed and delivered by the US Postal Service.
In 2023 alone, the Postal Service delivered to 12.6 million business addresses.
Meaning, on average, the Postal Service processes and delivers over 152 million pieces of First-Class Mail every day.
It’s unclear how much of that mail is lost in the process.
However, USPS does offer instructions for those who believe their packages or mail has gone missing or hasn’t arrived.
USPS’ full statement
The US Postal Service gave this statement regarding the situation:
“The Postal Service takes seriously the security and sanctity of the mail, including when transporting items on roadways across Georgia and the nation. In this specific instance, a vehicle which was operated by a contractor (not USPS personnel) inadvertently dropped some of its load along the highway.
“The material contained in the load had been deemed undeliverable to its destination. The Postal Service follows specific procedures to verify and dispose of this type of material, using contracted services. No mail or packages destined for delivery were contained on the vehicle.
“Once alerted to the situation, local postal officials dispatched personnel to retrieve all dropped material.”
Source: Fox’s local Atlanta affiliate, WAGA
